iPad 4.2.1 folders lost, breaking after making custom folders and sorting..

Question

Level 1

14 points

iPad 4.2.1 folders lost, breaking after making custom folders and sorting..

Grabbed the new iPad 4.2.1 update the other day. Excellent feature list -- multi-tasking and FOLDERS being the best additions.

Up until this update, I had 20-40 apps spread across 4-5 screens. Individual icons for single apps. Sorted to a screen each for each type -- most often used, games, news, etc.

After installing the new update, I made a few folders and WOW, suddenly I realized I could load dozens more apps onto the device and sort them into fresh folders.

Within two hours, I'd loaded more than 100 apps and had them nicely sorted into folders.

I backed up all of my work to iTunes (10.1 version running here on my Macbook) via a sync, and figured I was all set.

iTunes surely recorded both the apps AND the folders (most with custom names to boot) I'd just sorted them into. Right?

Not so much.

After syncing, then adding about 12 more apps to my 'pad so I could sort them my new folders, I synced again and headed back to my iPad.

FUBAR'd. There were 5-10 new folders on the home screen, with 1-2 apps in each, renamed things I haddn't set, and all my apps were unsorted and thrown into more than 8-10 new screens. Ouch. All that work. Lost.

Guessing we'll need a patch to fix this problem? Any tips so I don't do all this work and have a sync mess it all up, again?

Message was edited by: Tim Mc.

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.5.1)

Posted on Nov 25, 2010 8:22 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Dec 1, 2010 8:16 AM in response to Tim Mc.

My problem is 'folder related' but, different: my folders don't sync to or from iTunes, but iTunes isn't removing my folders when I sync.

Was hoping to find some fix (I was hoping to use iTunes to manage folders since it's faster) but I guess this is in 'bugland' and needs an iOS or iTunes fix.

Reply

Answer 2

Dec 5, 2010 7:11 AM in response to Tim Mc.

Same experience here: after restructuring all the apps in folders and syncing on an iMac the result seems allright. But after a shut down and restart of the iPad all the app's are scattered all over the place and the folders are lost.
This happened several times.
My suggestion is: Do I put too many apps in one folder (more than nine) or too many folders in one session is too much for the syncing proces?
It seems like a BUG to me.

I would be very interested in a solution or a BUG-fix

Reply

Answer 3

Dec 5, 2010 7:20 AM in response to donderdaan

donderdaan wrote:
Same experience here: after restructuring all the apps in folders and syncing on an iMac the result seems allright. But after a shut down and restart of the iPad all the app's are scattered all over the place and the folders are lost.

Are you restarting your iPad because of some other problem? I only ask because, for most people, I suspect, that's the only time they shut down their iPads. If there is some other sort of problem that's causing you to need to shut down your iPad, that could be related.

Reply

Answer 4

Dec 5, 2010 8:10 AM in response to Tim Mc.

I had the same problem during a sync after I had spent a great deal of time sorting numerous apps so that I could end up with 9 folders divided evenly across three pages. A sync of my iPad the next morning left me with exploded folders. All of a sudden the folders were gone and I was left with the iPad app version of "52 Pick-up" (you know, a deck of cards thrown into the air). I straightened everything up and hoped that would be the only time that would happen. Now I find after checking a few apps, that I have also lost audio in many of them -- anything from musical instrument apps to sound in news/reporting apps. I'm looking very unenthusiastically at the prospect of restoring my iPad, which I've only had for about a week. It wouldn't be so bad if I hadn't also set up email accounts and stored pdf files in it. It won't be fun. I hope Apple is working on this. (Kind of ironic in light of the new rule on no beta programs in the Apple stores. This update feels like a beta. Not venting, just not thrilled. I do love my iPad, and I'm just looking forward to getting all the use out of it I can.)

Reply

Answer 5

Dec 5, 2010 8:28 AM in response to sbeagle (a.k.a. ssbeagle)

Do you, by any chance, have the Mute switch on? It mutes notifications, system sounds and game sounds. It's the slide switch above the volume rocker that bused to be used for the orientation lock.

Reply

Answer 6

Dec 5, 2010 10:30 AM in response to IdrisSeabright

No, the mute button is not on. I get audio in some apps and audio sounds for things like mail coming through or updates. I haven't had a chance to restore the iPad yet, but I'll write back if that corrects the audio problem. I haven't seen anymore problems with folders -- so far. iTunes and many of my most-used apps are fine. I wouldn't know why some work and some don't. I downloaded the 60 Minutes app, which works except there is no audio at all. CBS Nightly News runs fine. NPR (National Public Radio) runs fine. Apps such as the dulcimers have no sound, but SMULE (fiddle) and a piano app are working as expected. It seems to have affected some things, and maybe it's the way they were programmed. Maybe there is a flaw in their design that did not show until the update. They did work before the update.

Reply

Answer 7

Dec 5, 2010 2:09 PM in response to Tim Mc.

I'm back. I've restored my iPad as "new", not from any backup. I chose to only sync items I've selected. (Boy, is it quick to try to zip through everything you own and sync it all! I unchecked "sync all" for each type of media and hit "apply".) I put in one app before putting in anything else. I put in the 60 Minutes news app. It works, but the audio still doesn't. I would not recommend restoring your iPad. I now have everything to put back in place the way I had it, and that's very time-consuming when you have other things you should be doing instead. I would look for a another update. Hopefully, it won't be a long wait. You really don't have much choice even if it does mean a long wait. It has to get better eventually. Keep your fingers crossed that the folders won't explode everywhere again, and use the apps that work for you. At least I tried it this out.

Reply

Answer 8

Dec 5, 2010 3:19 PM in response to sbeagle (a.k.a. ssbeagle)

Back again, and only getting worse now. As I work with putting all my apps back in to my iPad, the virtual folders disappear each time I add a few apps and hit "apply", which syncs my iPad. It doesn't matter if I make the folders on my computer or on my iPad. Each sync throws out folders and leaves me with a pile of unorganized apps spread across many pages. Anytime is a bad time to have to deal with such a mess as this. Today is particularly bad. I had so many other things that needed to be taken care of besides this mess. (At least we have the Beatles, right? All you need is love. Sigh....)

Reply

Answer 9

Dec 6, 2010 5:10 PM in response to sbeagle (a.k.a. ssbeagle)

This should be my last time back to this thread, but I had to come back and say that my problem was user error. It wasn't the apps, and there was really no need for a restore. It was that I thought I understood something I had been asked about. I found out today after more research on it that I was not using the new software update correctly. I didn't realize, until someone here mentioned it, that there was a NEW user guide for the iPad explaining it in terms of the 4.2.1 update. I apologize! I get it now. I lost audio in some apps, but not all of them. I couldn't understand why. Was my iPad muted? Yes, but I did not understand the new way that it all worked. I had gone through the system prefs and thought that controlled it. I didn't understand the changes in the buttons that people kept referring to. Really, thank you to those who tried to explain and help. Anyone else having trouble, forget that you read the original user guide, especially if you are a new owner like me. Go to the iPad Support section and download the user guide for 4.2.1. It explains more than you'll ever know. (And I should have known better!) I'm still not sure why folders exploded and apps went everywhere, but it's not happening now that they are all through being "set". No more complaints here!

Reply

Answer 10

Dec 18, 2011 10:46 AM in response to Tim Mc.

The "iPad 52 pick up" problem still exists in 10.5.2.11. In my case, iTunes defolderized all folders with more than 2 apps in them. It doesn't look like iTunes changed the name on any of my existing folders, nor did it add any new ones with mystery names. It just scattered my carefully arranged folders into pages 5-9.

So this is bug, and a long-standing one.

Tom

Reply

Answer 11

Mar 4, 2012 11:03 PM in response to Tim Mc.

Help! I have been iTunes defolderized.

I set it all up. For no reason I shut it down.

When I restarted my iPad, to my horror it was defolderized.

That has to be the coolest word I've heard in a while. iTunes defolderized

And it uniquely defines the problem, no need for further descriptions.

My iPad has started to do the same blanking thing that my iPhone does.

It will be fine, suddenly it will stop. It goes blank, power off ---blank,

Then returns sometimes to the exact place it was before the blank.

Sometimes to the app it was using.

Which is the bad one.... It kills all of your uncopied files.

And which one is the milder cleans up system stuff?

Reply