Why does my iphone 5 redirect to the App Store when I'm on Facebook or safari?

I had the same issue.

Here is how I fixed go to a computer find where all your apps are at under Facebook settings, then delete any suspicious app you see from a game or a page you might have click.

Finally go to your facebook mobile, and it should work.

Keep in mind that if you accept any links or game on your FB page they also have access to all your info.

Hope this helps...

same issue

this needs to be fixed

It's because you inadvertantly tap on one of the "ads" on FB for a game or app which then, by design, opens in the App Store.

I know many people who "hover" their finger on their iPhone and it magically opens the app store for an app that was on their screen but they never actually "tapped". They hover their finger too close to the screen or inadvertantly tap on the link. It's a feature and function of the iPhone and every other touch based mobile OS.

How do you remove it? I have it too now and I've searched the web and tried all kinds of fixes (reset my phone, deleted all my apps, restored to factory settings) pretty much the whole nine yards and the problem is still persisting. I read somewhere that it had something to do with RSS feeds but I'm still not having any luck understanding how to get rid of it. Super annoying! It jumps from web site to web site and then ends up in the app store for one game or another. It's definitely some kind of virus/trojan... I keep reading that its not a software issue. Can someone explain to me what it is then? I've tried multible browsers and the problem is still happening. Please help!! Thanks

This is definitely NOT due to any kind of malware, unless you have jailbroken your phone, in which case anything is possible. There is no known malware capable of infecting a non-jailbroken iPhone.

The problem is simply due to ads. Perhaps you're accidentally clicking on them, as MLadd suggested. Perhaps the ads have a hidden JavaScript that is automatically redirecting to an App Store link. Perhaps the site itself has been hacked.

My 5s has started doing this. When browsing, it will suddenly open the App Store at a stupid Wooga Jelly Splash game. It does this when there has definitely been NO contact with any components on the page.

It's extremely annoying and it looks like some sort of exploit to me. Yes, it may be the result of some dodgy advert embedded in the page visited, but there should be a way to prevent such behaviour.

there should be a way to prevent such behaviour.

There is. You can go to Settings -> Safari -> Advanced and turn off JavaScript. That will break many websites though. Or, you can simply stop visiting the sites that are doing this, which would be my choice.

Alternately, if this is happening with every single site you visit, you may be having some problems with your network. As an example of the sort of thing I'm talking about, see:

Brazilian internet service provider hacked

Although the following page is written for Mac users, and thus some of its advice is not appropriate for the iPhone, you can still find some good information on such problems here:

Eliminating browser redirects and advertisements

I mean a "real world" solution.

Suggesting disabling functionality or having to make DNS changes in your network are not a real world solutions. Added to which, this occurs on many many sites, and users don't know which sites are affected until they visit them. In my case, I followed a link posted in Facebook which seems to have started the behaviour.

It also occurs on many network providers. It's a fairly recent phenomenon for me and - looking at other posts - for other users. That would indicate some kind of flaw.

I've almost never seen such issues. Neither have any of the numerous people I know personally and online who use iOS devices. Be aware that I spend a lot of time researching malware and security issues on the Mac, and will often load sketchy sites on my iPad, and still don't see this issue.

The problem is not iOS, it's either the sites you are visiting or a problem with your network.

Hello!

So facebook has a certain type of code where it will redirect you to apps immediately. What you are going to need to do is go to settings, safari, and then first scroll down and press clear history and clear cookies and data. After that go to block cookies. Change from third party cisites to never. This will make it so it wont redirect you to the app store. I hope this helps!

Thanks!

--AppleStore2013

I had never seen the issue until I'd seen the issue! Just because you haven't personally seen something (or almost never seen it), doesn't mean it does not occur!

Thanks. I will give your suggestion a try and report back.

One thing I will say is that this behaviour started after following a link to a website which was posted in Facebook. After that, the behaviour occurred on plenty of other sites, not from inside Facebook, so I don't think it's related to links within in Facebook.

Well, I've learned over the years that it's generally futile to try to convince someone of something they don't want to believe, or that conflicts with what they want to believe.

So, I'm not going to try to convince you further except to point out that I have at least provided a rational explanation rather than conjecture. Will it hurt you to read the information at the links I have provided and try the tests in the second of the links?

Thanks Thomas

Before posting, I read all of the similar threads in this subject, several of which you have replied to. I also read the links you provided, here and elsewhere.

The simple fact is that this behaviour or issue is something new to me too - hence I am looking for a solution. You never having experienced it doesn't really address my problem.

I'm pretty certain that the sites are indeed using JavaScript to redirect to the App Store. The JavaScript may be embedded in "rogue" adverts or content on those sites. But that does not change the fact that it is very irritating for the user and that it would be useful if it could be prevented without the need to entirely disable JavaScript.

I already know this has nothing at all to do with my network as I regularly use my iPhone on several networks and have seen this happen on all of them - including whilst on Vodafone's 3G network.

Besides completely shutting off Java script, did any of the other suggestions work for you?

It almost seems like you fully understand that what the problem is and how it manifested itself, but yet, you still want a fix from Apple for your issue with the Internet and the fact that there are rogue adverts and malicious sites out there.

Most likely it's an issue with a bad cookie in your system.