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Helpful answers
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Aug 27, 2015 9:00 AM in response to pagemakers4by Pickinic,Here is my updated version of what Pagemakers is referring to. It incorporates Chris's, Pagemaker's and my language. It will either help you or confuse you, sorry. We'll see how long it lasts before being edited...
Here is the solution that is time proven for most people and I can verify that it has worked for me and others with no zombies reappearing after many months now:
- Backup iPhone to iTunes (Do this with a direct connection to your computer, not a backup to iCloud).
- Install the app iBackupBot on your Mac or PC and open it (the app can be found by googling iCopyBot).
- Navigate to System files > KeyboardDomain.
- Delete the "CoreDataUbiquitySupport” folder (it contains the corrupted CloudUserDictionary file(s) that are causing the zombies).
- I had a couple more keyboard sounding files from 2013 in the KeyboardDomain folder. One was another CloudUserDictionary.sqlite (I forget the other 2). If you find any of those old files from 2013, delete them as well.
- Exit iBackupBot.
- Restore the iPhone from the backup created in step 1 that now has the corrupted files deleted.
- Do the same process for the iPad or any other devices you have other than a Mac.
- When done reboot both everything.
- Clean up your shortcuts on all devices including Macs - They may not be the same.
- I deleted all shortcuts on the Mac as they were stubborn. Don't worry the Mac will begin to sync and restore only your non-zombie shortcuts.
- Go to bed! Stuff takes a long time to fully sync.
- Once everything has synced I found it easier to just delete all of my shortcuts and only type in the ones I wanted to keep into one of the devices (and let it sync them to the others) as there were duplicates on various devices including the Mac.
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Aug 27, 2015 9:06 AM in response to iCocoby Pickinic,Unfortunately iCoco's solution will not be a permanent fix. Been there and tried that. Hopefully Apple will in fact fix this in iOS 9, but I wouldn't hold my breath regardless what they have told you. We are all unhappy with how Apple has handled this and just trying to help each other. I'm not a poet like crmac, but share the same feelings. I wish I could write like that!
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Aug 27, 2015 10:03 AM in response to rdub76by gregory202,So another stupid question and please with all respect to lyrics, no answers unless you are the one, but anyone here have that problem with one apple device (iphone/ipad)? Not when multiple collections of shortcuts merge, but only one source for those files exists.
And to lucky one if found - are you using icloud ?(free service - not itunes match or some sort of other fun stuff)
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Aug 27, 2015 7:49 PM in response to Pickinicby XianNewman,What's the word on whether using the iBackupBot software to modify the backup file? Will it void my warranty?
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Aug 28, 2015 10:56 AM in response to Pickinicby crmac,Thank you, Pickinic, for the kind comment about my writing. It is ostensibly what I do for a living, so it's nice to see that it's sometimes effective. But for now I am a writer in search of work, and perhaps that's why I am spending (too much) time trying to fix Apple's problems.
And no, there's been no word yet from anyone about a fix, though I was excited to see an article in today's New York Times about all the exciting Apple stuff that's supposed to be happening in September. Woohoo. Here's hoping they also fix at least this one, small problem...
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Aug 29, 2015 3:49 PM in response to XianNewmanby Pickinic,It will NOT void or have any effect on your warranty. You are not JB'ing your iPhone, merely deleting some corrupted files.
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Aug 30, 2015 5:11 PM in response to Pickinicby EnFu3go,This fix seems to have worked, for the most part. I have 6 iPhone/ipad devices I use and had to do this to every single device. It was not a fun chore. However, it seems to be working on all devices. I have rebooted every device several times to see if zombie shortcuts made their way back to me. None to speak of throughout the entire weekend as I started this project last Thursday. Before I started though, I did call Apple to see what solutions they had. The only thing they can do about it, to date, is wipe all your shortcuts off your iCloud account. And that takes them days and days to complete. It's still not done and will not have any effect on the issue, anyway. That is why I chose to continue on with this solution you proposed. So, nice work and thanks for posting a solution that seems to get the job done. Good work!
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Sep 1, 2015 8:17 AM in response to Pickinicby edwardfromcalgary,Pickinic - thanks for posting! Well, here's a problem for me. I don't have a PC or a MAC to do this on - all I have are three iPads and two iPhones. Where exactly am I going to launch this application if I don't have a computer to do this 'HACK'?
It's like Apple is telling us to hop on one foot, blink quickly with your left eye then hop backwards two steps while rubbing your tummy at the same time...
It's abhorrent that Apple hasn't fixed this... been going on for a year. I can't even edit my shortcuts because they just return back to the previous versions.
So for me, no fix yet and I'm not hacking my backups to fix it. Apple needs to FIX IT, plain and simple.
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Sep 1, 2015 8:28 AM in response to edwardfromcalgaryby pagemakers4,You are stuffed them I’m afraid. You need a PC or a Mac.
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Sep 1, 2015 8:33 AM in response to edwardfromcalgaryby gregory202,Or stop using free service from Apple with name of iCloud like I did.
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Sep 3, 2015 9:43 AM in response to edwardfromcalgaryby Pickinic,Pagemakers is right, you need a Mac or PC, but you can download it to any computer (at work?) use iTunes there and then delete. But you do need to get your hands on a real computer. It's really not a "hack" you're just removing some corrupted files like you do on any computer from time to time.
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Sep 3, 2015 9:45 AM in response to gregory202by Pickinic,Not using iCloud won't solve the problem once you have the zombies.
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Sep 3, 2015 1:52 PM in response to Pickinicby gregory202,Pickinic wrote:
Not using iCloud won't solve the problem once you have the zombies.
Did you try? If you didn't how do you know? if you did, how soon after you turned icloud off they came back?
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Sep 5, 2015 8:18 AM in response to rdub76by absolutmaddness0914,Had this problem too. Drove me crazy!!!!! Deleted all my old & defunct short cuts, they come back in hours some times days later. Even the Apple Store couldn't stop them from coming back. Tried everything. Until it hit me, if iCloud is the problem then just delete the iCloud back ups & start over. Genius.
Settings>iCloud>Storage>Manage Storage. Click on your backed up devices and delete the back ups.
Set the shortcuts and everything else how you want. Plug up your phone/iPad whatever, connect to wifi and back up. It's like you just got a new phone & never backed it up. Problem solved. Somebody give me an award ☺️
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Sep 5, 2015 12:17 PM in response to absolutmaddness0914by crmac,If that worked/works for you, then you're not suffering from the same problem as the rest of us here, or there is something inherently different about your digital circumstances.
Among the various fixes tried by those users here (and there are many, both fixes and users), the "it's simple -- just turn off iCloud" approach has been tried, tried, and tired again, always with the greatest of hopes, but it has always failed in the end -- though just exactly when "the end" comes and the zombies return is not consistent. Hours, days, even weeks for some, but they come back, dragging their bloody, bandaged feet right into the next text or email you write. (Noodle around here in the thread for the parent whose smarty-pants kids replaced common words with profanities, and you'll get a sense of how the problem can go from annoying to truly damaging.)
The solution? We know what it is not: It is not iCloud (the storage facility), or iCloud (the proactive backup function), but rather is the a part of the linkage/syncage (my term) "cloud" through which all mobile devices (and some non-mobile device) connect, and this connectivity is necessary for their functionality. This "unintentional backing-up," which is entirely out of the control of the end user, results in "libraries" and files that are stored in places not readily accessible to the end user. Perhaps in some odd-sock drawer in Cupertino. You can't get there by just changing settings on a mobile device, because that's not where the files -- and their nasty little zombies shortcuts -- live.
Some people have had some success using a third-party program to dig into these deeply stored files, and they appear to have annihilated the zombies. Some of us, myself included, are bullheadedly waiting for a native Apple fix. That fix has been recently promised to more than one user. Promised more than once. Over and over. For months. Apple says. Again.
Best of luck to you, but I think you will eventually find that you are not free of the digital walking dead.