Apple Event: May 7th at 7 am PT

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Unable to turn cellular data on for apps

I'm running a 32GB iPhone 5C on 7.1.2 on Verizon.


before the last update I had gone over on my data allotment and then went into the cellular data settings and turned off the cellular data for almost every app I could. Some of these included the music app, podcast app, angry birds, google drive and documents, and just any app that I don't need sucking off my cellular data allotment.


well the 7.1.2 software update changed the settings (I don't know why Apple changes these things when there's no reason to, it's getting frustrating having to learn how to use my phone after each update) and you can no longer go into cellular data and flip the switch for all the apps on one single page. So now I have apps like the Podcasts and Google Apps that I open, am alerted the cellular data is turned off for them but when I click settings (the other option is just a confirmation of the message receipt) it takes me to a section in the settings that is no longer listing all my apps with the cellular data switch.


so my problem is that I've turned off cellular data, updated

software that for no reason neutered my ability to turn it on/off for individual apps, with no way to turn the cellular data back on for those apps. I can't imagine why Apple would do this, unless app developers were complaining to Apple that people were

turning cellular data off to avoid advertisements.


I have reset network settings, scoured the settings menu for options, tried most things suggested for other problems and still nothing. And I'm not going to reset my phone because as soon as I load my backup I'll be in the same boat. Oh I've also tried uninstalling and redownloading the apps as well.


and on a side note whoever put the . Button next to the space bar during certain keypad operations is an a hole because most of the searches I do look like this:

"What is the distance.to.the.moon"

iPhone 5

Posted on Aug 28, 2014 12:44 PM

Reply
36 replies

Dec 27, 2016 11:07 AM in response to TheBRADLeyB

Hi, I realise this is an old thread, but I have experienced the exact same issue after updating to iOS10.

For my case, the app i turned off was the app store so i got pretty messed up and frustrated.

I toggled cellular data OFF for app store to save data usage. And updated to iOS10 from iOS9 with that setting.

After updating, i lost the whole list of apps in the "use cellular data for" menu except for Facetime and Wallet (exactly as your case). I can only access my app store when i'm connected to wi-fi, which is very frustrating.


For my case, I have a bunch of spare iphones and sim cards from different major carriers, PLUS i have a couple of previous backups, including those before the iOS update so i was able to experiment around quite a bit.


And yes TheBRADLeyB, you were right, resetting the phone doesn't help unless you have a copy of a backup BEFORE the iOS update that caused the issue.


I've tried all these below but to no avail.

- Reset all network settings.

- Reset all settings.

- Restore from an old backup taken AFTER the iOS update

- Switch to a sim card from a different carrier

- Tried all the above on 2 different iphone 6 plus and iphone 7

- Restore both from iTunes and iCloud


I did however, able to restore the full list and regain control to cellular data setting for all my apps when I did the following.

- Erase all data and set up as a new iphone.

- Erase all data, set up as a new iphone, restore data from an old backup taken BEFORE the iOS update


After I had successfully restored the full list of apps in the cellular data menu, I tried restoring it to a newer backup, one that is taken AFTER the iOS update and bam!, list of apps lost again.


So it is pretty clear now that TheBRADLeyB's theory is 100% correct. I called up apple store, had their engineer remotely accessed my phone, tried a whole bunch of stuff and still nothing. The engineer said it was the first time he sees something like this so i think it is a very unique and uncommon problem for a minority of users.

I doubt they will find a fix for us, but i hope this bug is brought to their attention before more users fall victim.


To summarize

- This issue CANNOT be solved by tweaking airplane mode, wifi, cellular roaming, rebooting/force rebooting, reset network settings, reset all settings

- This is not an issue caused by the sim card/cellular carrier, so don't go storm your service provider's office. This is 100% technical issue with the iOS software which can happen to different iphone models (so far i have tested on iphone 6 plus and iphone 7)

- This is also not an issue caused by any apps

The only feasible solution to regain control to cellular data settings for ALL apps after having this issue is

- To erase all data and set it up as a new iphone, losing all your apps and data, without being able to restore from a "broken/issue-causing" backup file.

- At this point of writing, I am still trying to figure a way to retain as much data as i can after a clean erase and without help from a backup file. What I am experimenting right now is that i save all my data into iCloud backup, and tried to salvage as much backup as i can for those apps that allow iCloud backup (such as LINE, WhatsApp, Notes etc). I realise that even by setting up as a new phone, iCloud automatically restore all data backed up by individual apps. I managed to retrieve my chat history from LINE, WhatsApp, all my Calendar entries, Notes, Address Book contacts.
What I am trying next is to find a way to retrieve photos and imessage history.


It really suks that iTunes and iCloud backup only allow a full restoration. It would be such a great help if we were allowed to manually and partially restore backup data.


Thank you again TheBRADLeyB for the detailed description of your issue. That really helped me confirmed mine. It is sad that I had to set up my iphone as a new phone. I have been carrying my data across many generations since the 3GS. 8 years of data, all gone because of a silly update bug.


Apple engineers, if you are seeing this, FIX THE D@MN ISSUE already. I will be heading down to the nearest apple store these days to alert them of the problem but i doubt they will be of any help. To those in cupertino, FIX THE D@MN BUG.

Unable to turn cellular data on for apps

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple ID.