Apps Stuck Updating after iOS 9

My last attempt to solve the problem was to erase the iPad and restore from a backup. Well, I still found some app that was stuck in "install" mode and some installed with the "blank" app icon during the restore, when I checked their state in the App Store there was the "cloud" icon near to them, so I had to reboot the iPad some times and then I had all the apps back. The Apple support suggested that this behavior occurs when there are disconnections from the network (wifi or cell) during the upgrade process, I cannot be sure that it is not true, when I upgrade the apps manually I never have this problem.

I have this same problem with my iPad Air.

What has worked for me and is relatively painless:

1. Switch off wifi in settings. Wait a few seconds and switch it back on.

2. Go to the App Store and the update option appears briefly. Click on it (sometimes double click for some unknown reason). Hey presto and the update starts and the update runs.

It works for me. A bit of a pain but not half as much hassle as having to remove apps and reinstall them etc.

Why has Apple not fixed this long ago?

Since it seems so widespread, I hope/think Apple has fixed this in the iOS 9.3 update which isn't too far away from being released.

I have been experiencing problems with app updates getting stuck since iOS 8, and still on iOS 9.2, on two different iPhones (iPhone 5 and iPhone 6), and two different iPads (iPad Mini 2 and 4). I have tried restoring, which helped things for a maybe a week, but the issue reappeared. On my phone I have manual app updates, my iPad has automatic app updates selected. I suspect the issue has to do with some corruption in iCloud/AppStore/Backup settings, since this doesn't seem to be tied to any one device or version of iOS.

I have a lot of apps installed (around 420), so I have lots of apps updating daily, and usually 1-3 a day will end up in some state of stuck. The first, and most common state of stuck installation is where an app in the process of updating stops around 2/3 complete as shown by the round progress indicator. At this point, in the AppStore update screen there is sometimes an option to "re-download" the app, which usually results in the app getting stuck again at 2/3 complete. At this point I usually have to delete the app in Settings>General>Storage & iCloud Usage>Manage Storage>delete app, then reinstall from the AppStore.

The second version of stuck app installation that I see is where an app is updating and the round progress indicator gets stuck on 100%; the circle is clear but doesn't finish to an "installed" usable app state. Deleting the app is usually necessary, though sometimes a restart will make the app go away and I can re-install from the AppStore. Both of these app update issues are annoying because it adds up to a lot of wasted time, and lost data. When Spotify got stuck, I lost 2 gigs of downloaded music which I'll have to re-download over time--hope it doesn't happen again!

I'm posting here mostly to add my experience to the group, and hopefully this will be addressed by Apple soon. I am able to deal with this, but I can't imagine how someone less technically savvy would be able to tolerate this. Anyone who is experiencing this should also send feedback to Apple directly: http://www.apple.com/feedback/

All day, every day 😟

The funny thing is that I have an iPad 2 Air (64 GB) on iOS 9.2 that as far as I remember never had this problem (just updated 20 apps in one go without problems), but on my iPhone 6 (128 GB) I see it on a regular basis, so something is definitely different between those two devices. Never had any dataloss on the iPhone 6, though. That must be really frustrating. 😟

I update apps one a time, manually, and this still happens constantly. Workarounds that delete the app bring it back can lose all your progress/unlocks/files/notes etc. True critical data loss!

I would update apps on the Mac and install from iTunes when I synch... except then I get a message like "device only has 6GB free and you need 2GB" and it won't synch! I can't even get a backup of my iPhone 6 Plus made unless I first update all (or all but a few) of the apps on the device.

End to end failures of every kind.

I'm having the same issue as well.

I having this issue too, at least since iOS 9.0, possibly earlier, but I get the feeling that it got intense since iOS 9.

right now Google Maps is in Installing... limbo.

What I usually do to fix it is restart the device. I use iPhone 6 Plus.

as far as I remember this issue never fixes itself. I have to restart the device and most of the tes it helps. I think I had a few occasions where that didn't help either. The app would end up outside its folder and such things. I don't think I experienced data loss so far. If data loss occurs, I get the feeling Apple should be responsible. What if we keep sensitive data inside an app?

hey guys, what do you know, I may be wrong but Apple just release iOS 9.2.1 which seems to address this or a similar issue.

the what's new reads like this

このアップデートには、セキュリティアップデートと、MDMサーバを使用している場合にAppのインストールを完了できないことがある問題などのバグ修正が含まれます。

このアップデートのセキュリティコンテンツについては、次のWebサイトをご覧ください:

SOrry my device is set to Japanese :-)

Yeah, I *think* it is better now in iOS 9.2.1. The updates has gone through so far on my iPhone 6 since I installed the update. But let's give it some more time to confirm.

”This update contains security updates and bug fixes including a fix for an issue that could prevent the completion of app installation when using an MDM server.”

Like you say, maybe this fixed issue has also been related to the installation problems people in this thread has been seeing,

It has been less than a day since the iOS 9.2.1 update, but I have already had over a dozen app updates with no stuck installation. Could this issue finally be fixed?

Like we concluded in the posts above yours, there is a change that's true. 🙂