White App Icons After iOS 18 Update

I had the same exact issue after getting my new phone on IOS 18. I found somewhere on reddit that if you drag one of the apps out of that folder and place it on the home screen, then put the app back in that folder, then all oof the apps in that folder will show again when minimized. This worked for me, hopefully it works for you as well.

Removing apps and putting them back in only worked for a day then it started happening again. Still trying to find a permanent fix for this.

Another quick fix I found is under the “customize” option for editing your Home Screen, changing icon size from small to large and back seems to reset the icon images. Not sure if that’s a permanent fix. Will likely see apps go white again in a day or so. :)

For me I found a tip from somewhere else on the forum but cannot remember where. Sorry… this worked though. Resize the folders on the screens from all to large back to small by customising ( hold down and edit on screen). This has resulted in the folders not going back to white since I did this.

hope this helps someone and Apple iron out the glitch

A quick fix I found is under the “customize” option for editing your Home Screen, changing icon size from small to large and back resets the icon images. This seems to have permanently fixed it for me.

stoopid-labrat wrote:

Same issue here after 18.1 update. Not happy having to restart phone. Come on Apple don’t you check this stuff before you unleash it?

I would recommend doing a force restart after any update. This clears caches and performs cleanup that does not happen with the simple restart after updating.

Force restart iPhone - Apple Support

aaronstout7 wrote:

Restarting my iPhone also fixed it, but only for a day or so. Started noticing it happening again at random. Kind of annoying.

First verify you are not running low on device storage, then perform a Force Restart. This may take a couple of attempts to get the speed and sequence of the key presses correct and the last step of holding the side button until the Apple logo appears could take up to 15 seconds. Ignore anything else on the screen during that time.

Force restart iPhone - Apple Support

If you have enough storage on your device and the Force Restart did not work, then Restore from a backup using a Mac/PC.

Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch from a backup - Apple Support

83ashbat wrote:

Force restart and a restore only worked temporarily. I have over 250Gb of storage available in my phone too.

Thanks for the info. It would appear that there is data corruption that for some reason is causing the problem by showing the default icon for the apps. I would suggest a Factory Reset using a computer if possible and restore from a backup as that would also be done by Apple Support if you scheduled an appointment. Of course you want to have a backup before doing that.

Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod to factory settings using a computer - Apple Support

aaronstout7 wrote:

Oh no, now I lost my About icon!

Did you Force Restart your phone yet? This may take a couple of attempts to get the speed and sequence of the key presses correct and the last step of holding the side button until the Apple logo appears could take up to 15 seconds. Ignore anything else on the screen during that time.

Force restart iPhone - Apple Support

When I originally updated to iOS 18 I only noticed it on one app, but now multiple apps are being affected (including ones in the folder from the original app which I would have noticed from the beginning. It affects both native apps like Settings and ones downloaded from the app store.

18.1 hasn't resolved the issue for me, only seems to affect the iOS mail and outlook app I have in a mail folder.

I've moved apps in and out of the folder every few days to temporarily get the icons back but nothing so far seems to fix the issue.

Interestingly, when I open the Apple Watch app, all the settings' icons show white for a few seconds, then gradually fill in. there's something very wrong here

How are you doing a free space for device storage?

Bad things start happening when storage is limited that affects the space used for cached files. That is why for many Force Restarting solves the problem by clearing those cache files and giving the OS more breathing room.

stoopid-labrat wrote:

Did hard reset, turned it off and on, still the same problem. Glitch and faulty software upgrade me thinks.

If that was happening to everyone, then absolutely, but since it is happening to the few here, it is best to determine the common denominator. How much free storage are you showing on our device?

I have the same problem at least once a day after the device switches from dark to light mode and back.

I can fix the problem temporarily by switching to large icons and back to normal icons. This clears the icon cache (until it happens again).

A force restart does not fix the problem permanently. At least not for me.

I first encountered the problem after updating to 18.1. I didn't have the effect on iOS 18.

Initially, changing the icon size to small then back to large or vice versa would fix it, but that no longer works. Only way I found to fix it is to download the app as it’s only the offloaded apps with this issue.

I reported it to apple back on 9/20 and the status has been “potential fix identified- for a future os update” but they still haven’t resolved it.

[Edited by Moderator]