How to fix Stock Apps when they are crashing on iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch

This article explains how to fix stock apps when they are crashing on iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. Unfortunately, with every operating system out there, you will find bugs and those bugs often cause apps to crash. There is an easy way to fix 3rd party apps (the apps that you install) when they are crashing. I have previously written an article about this and you can find it here: How to fix a crashing app. However, it gets a little more tricky when you are dealing with a Stock App (the apps that come preinstalled on your iOS Device – Maps, Messages, Mail, Calculator, Camera, etc.), partly because you can’t delete and reinstall these apps. So, how do you fix stock apps when they are crashing? Here are the steps.

1. Close App from Multitasking Tray

This is the first step and it is the same step that needs to be done with a 3rd party app that is crashing. When an app crashes, simply double press the home button and then swipe up on the app that is crashing. This force quits that app and allows it to boot up fresh the next time you open it. Often times this will fix a crashing app, whether 3rd party or stock. If this doesn’t work, then move to step 2.

How to fix Stock Apps when they are crashing on iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch

2. Close all Apps and Perform a Hard Reset

Again, this is the same for Stock Apps as it is for 3rd Party Apps. If step one doesn’t work to fix the crashing app, then you will need to force quit all apps from the Multitasking Tray. To do this, simply follow the instructions for step 1, but do it with every open app. If you have a lot of apps open, there is a trick to close multiple apps at the same time. Just use 2 or 3 fingers and swipe up on the screenshot of each app in the Multitasking Tray. This will force quit 2 or 3 apps at the same time.

Once you have closed all the apps, you should just see just the Home Screen in the multitasking tray. Now, push and hold both the Power Button (the button on the right side of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, or the button on top of all other iOS devices) as well as the home button. Keep holding down both of these buttons until the screen goes black and the Apple Logo appears in the middle of the screen. This is called a hard reset.

Once your device has rebooted, try to open the crashing app to see if this has fixed the problem. If it hasn’t, then move to step 3.

How to fix Stock Apps when they are crashing on iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch

Close multiple apps at once by flicking up with 2 or 3 fingers in the Multitasking Tray

3. Reset All Settings

How to fix Stock Apps when they are crashing on iPhone, iPad, iPod TouchThe last step for fixing a crashing app is to Reset All Settings. Now, a quick note before you do this. All Settings holds your preferences for Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Notifications, Brightness and Wallpaper, Privacy, Do Not Disturb, Sounds, and General Preferences. If you perform this reset, you will lose all of these settings. This is simply settings that you lose and not media content – like Music, Videos, Email Accounts, Apps, App Data, etc. Again, this only deletes settings but keeps all of your files and apps in tact. Also, regardless of the reset performed, it is always good to perform a backup to iCloud or to iTunes before you Reset All Settings just in case anything goes wrong with the process.

The last time I used the “Reset All Settings” trick to fix a crashing app was when my wife’s built in Maps App was crashing. There was nothing we could do. I tried steps one and two and the app kept crashing. So, I did a bunch of research and discovered that resetting all settings would often fix a crashing stock app. So, I tried it and the Maps app immediately started working again.

To reset all settings, follow these steps: Back up your iOS device to iCloud or iTunes. Then, open the settings app on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch and navigate to General –>  Reset –> and then tap on Reset All Settings. Do not tap on Erase All Content and Settings as this will erase your entire device and restore it to original condition. You will be required to complete a two step warning process to Reset All Settings just to make sure that you really intend to do this.

Once this Reset process is completed, your iPhone will reboot. You will see the default wallpaper images and all other settings will be reset to their default settings. Now try to open whatever stock app was crashing and it should work again!

Now you know how to fix a crashing stock app on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.