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Wrong icons showing up for apps...and a possible work-around.

I just upgraded to the iPhone 3G S from an iPhone 3G, and have run into a problem where some apps are showing up with icons from other apps.

I did some searching, and there are a several threads with many other people saying they are having the same problem, so it looks like this needs to be "run up the flagpole" so to speak. I also think I found a common thread that could be used to track down the problem.

I have tried rebooting the iPhone, syncing the iPhone, deleting and re-installing the apps from the iPhone app store, and they still just show back up with the incorrect icon.

Right now Bejeweled 2 shows the Statefarm app icon, Hero of Sparta shows the Flight Control icon, and the Kinda app shows the Trixel icon.

The common thread is that I downloaded all these apps directly from the iPhone app store and not through an iTunes sync. Two of them I already owned prior to the download (kindle and bejeweled2), so it doesn't seem linked to buying them NEW now, but in fact DOWNLOADING them.

If I delete the apps (through the home-screen, or by unchecking them in the iPhone/iTunes application tab) and then reinstall them through iTunes instead of the iPhone app store, they show up just as they should.

It appears that it's an icon caching issue to me. I didn't have Trixel, Flight Control, or Statefarm installed at the time, but their icons showed up on those apps when I downloaded an app from the iPhone app store.

My wife's 3G(non-S) 3.0OS phone doesn't seem to have this issue, she she has, and has had, few fewer apps installed than I have.

iPhone 3G S, iPhone OS 3.0

Posted on Jun 25, 2009 8:34 AM

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62 replies

Jun 27, 2009 8:21 AM in response to EdsNotHere

Same problem as well in all listed manifestations. I've gone through most of the drills listed here and on other threads, but problem persists randomly whether I restore, delete, download from iTunes store to iTunes and sync or from iTunes to 3Gs....... Thanks for spending the 2 hours with Apple to get the problem in queue for a solution. And thanks for all the responses offering solutions and showing that this is a systemic problem. Now, I'll wait for the patch at least until so many icons change their spots that my irritation threshold is reached and am pushed to do another delete and restore. I expect Apple will get on this one pretty quickly.

Jun 25, 2009 1:44 PM in response to Hickeroar

Just a comment on your possible fix... I had a 3G that I'd updated to the 3.0 software. I then synced and created a new backup in iTunes. Next I synced my new 3GS and did a restore to the 3G backup and, after the restore completed, I synced all the remaining content (music, audiobooks, Apps, etc.). So, at that stage, ALL the Apps were loaded onto my new 3GS via iTunes and not over the air via the iPhone App store.

Everything has been awesome with the iPhone for almost a week now and today, out of the blue, all my non-Apple default icons are mixed up throughout all my Home screens. No hard reset, no nothing... just happened for no apparent reason. Not a single one of those Apps were installed via the iPhone App Store application.

Not trying to shoot holes in your theory, it just seems like loading them from iTunes hasn't been the trick for me. This is something Apple will need to correct, and hopefully real soon.

Jun 26, 2009 11:59 PM in response to Hickeroar

I am having the same problem with the dHoroscopes app.

If I delete the app on the phone and reload it through iTunes, it has the wrong icon.

If I delete the app on the phone and then reload it through the app store, it has the correct icon until it's fully installed, then it changes to the wrong one.

If I delete the app through iTunes and on the phone, then reinstall via iTunes, it still has the wrong icon.

Jun 27, 2009 7:26 AM in response to Hickeroar

i've had the same problem...2 of my apps had different icons of other apps i didnt currently have installed on my iphone. Furthermore, since this problem occured I could no longer access my iphone via itunes, it would just freeze everytime i connected my iphone via usb....Ive currently just completely reset and restored my ipohne...now reinstalling apps etc and awaiting, hopefully, a good result!

Jun 29, 2009 7:32 AM in response to Hickeroar

i'm having the same problem - it just showed up today that apps i installed directly using the appstore app on the iphone show up with a false icon - after restarting the device. as an alternative phenomenon some show up with a correct but dimmed icon. this occured today for the first time, the past weeks with os 3 i did not notice something similar.
a corresponding problem might be the phenomenon that when buying a whole album via the mobile itunes store and switching to the ipod app right after the download has finished, not all downloaded songs appear under the album's listing. switching between different views within the ipod app leads to a completed listing. quitting the ipod app might kill it: i experienced that i was unable to restart the ipod app again and had to do a full restore.

Jun 29, 2009 12:21 PM in response to Hickeroar

I'm only replying because I figure that if more people comment on this, a fix will come quicker.

Not only are some of my installed 3rd party apps showing up with wrong icons, but also some of my webapp icons are showing up with wrong icons...it's quite annoying, especially for those of us that painstakingly arrange our home screens in a very specific way!

Please help us from going insane, Apple!

Jun 29, 2009 1:19 PM in response to Hickeroar

Throwing support in for this as a confirmed problem.Icons get mixed up with no apparent pattern to it.The suggestion of deleting from the phone thro' itunes ( unticking and syncing ) then reloading the same apps from itunes has worked, and the icons have returned to their correct apps. This is however, a problem as a going forward solution, as I have "lockbox" with a lot of info which is eliminated on the delete, so I need the problem solved properly before I put in the effort of loading it up again

Wrong icons showing up for apps...and a possible work-around.

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