iPad dock hidden on home screen iOS 11

I updated my iPad mini 4 to iOS 11. The dock is always hidden on the home screen and I have to swipe up to see it. I have heard it’s supposed to always be visible when you’re on the home screen. Any ideas on why it‘s always hidden when on the home screen? Its really annoying because I now have to add an extra step to get to the apps in the dock from the home screen, and I have this big empty space at the bottom of the screen where the dock used to be. Pic shows the missing dock and the empty space where it should be.

Posted on Sep 21, 2017 7:54 PM

Top-ranking reply

jenevenej

Level 1

4 points

Posted on Mar 22, 2018 3:27 AM

As a follow-up....It's been about 3 days since I used Mscreant's suggestion to take everything out of the dock, restart and put everything back in. This didn't correct my problem. But here is what has:

I was able to identify my offending App, which wasn't that difficult as it always happened right after I used that App. It was NOT, as some suggested, the App that puts a "recently used" timer icon on my dock. But, it IS an App that organically opens in 'portrait' view, but I use it in 'landscape' view, so it is always "forced" to change orientation. (I did not try playing the game in the portrait orientation). What I DID do was to delete the offending App, "hard restart"ed my iPad (with iOS11.2.4) and then downloaded a clean version of the App.

This has solved my issue and as it turns out, it is NOT an Apple issue!

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87 replies

Feb 1, 2018 5:34 PM in response to Rysz

Okay, so far so good. Update may have fixed the problem today. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Glloq33

Level 1

14 points

Feb 5, 2018 4:16 PM in response to Rysz

This does not fix the issue of it happening in the first place. Given that it comes back every day... How do we fix this once and for all?

Feb 6, 2018 5:24 AM in response to Rysz

Well, update did not work. Come on Apple. This needs a fix.

Feb 15, 2018 4:29 AM in response to Moshe Gottlieb

moshe, still ok?

Feb 15, 2018 4:36 AM in response to dport5853

No, the problem resurfaced a day after the upgrade, so I take it back: 11.2.5 doesn't fix this issue.

Feb 25, 2018 11:39 AM in response to seesharpnl

exactly...same exact behaviors on mine... wth is up with no fix?

Mar 1, 2018 6:12 PM in response to Skydiver119

If you turn it to portrait, and bring up the dock like that, turning it upside down will put the dock in the middle of the screen. It seems like the positioning is wrong.

Mar 6, 2018 5:50 PM in response to flcoasterguy2

Yes this is happening on iOS 11.2.6 also and people keep closing the problem as solved by restarting, This Is NOT solved only a work around.

Apr 11, 2018 9:02 AM in response to flcoasterguy2

I just bought a brand new iPad 17, ive only had it for a month, i just noticed 4 or 5 days ago that the bar disappeared from the bottom if my desktop, it took me another 2 days to catch on that it would appear if I turned the screen vertically, but it floats in the middle, in other words, I have the same f”ing issue and I am not happy. I read through this thread, and i saw many different ideas and outcomes, so I’d like to ask for clarification purposes ”What’s the final word on the solution to ”The Mystery of the Floating Dock?”. Was it concluded that it was an Apple issue or an app thing?? I just updated my phone and iPad with the latest fix the other day but it’s still floating around, doing whatever it wants without permission, lol. I’m going to try resetting my iPad again, see if that helps. I was wondering if anyone else still has the issue or was it fixed with the last update?

Apr 11, 2018 9:36 AM in response to Catrionafl

I have not seen this issue since updating my iPad to iOS 11.3.

Before this update I had the same issues you describe, the dock moving either completely off screen, off center, or somewhere in the middle of the home screen.

I traced the issue to a particular app which would mess up my dock if I watched ads in that said app, but it seems Apple implemented a fix so it doesn’t happen anymore. I’m not 100% sure however as the app that caused the issue for me was also updated around the same time iOS 11.3 was released.

Apr 11, 2018 10:08 AM in response to Catrionafl

seesharpnl is Correct, I have the iPod Touch 6th Gen, iPad Mini 4 Gen, and the iPad Pro...only the Mini was experiencing the issue but with a simple power down and back up it would temp fix (Shutdown not Standby). Make sure you are running at least iOS 11.3 to solve the issue. I say at least because different bugs were discovered in 11.3 and a 11.3.1 is expected shortly according to devs. To upgrade go to Settings > General > Software Update. On this screen it will either say iOS 11.3 your software is up to date or it will have additional steps to upgrade. After upgrading iOS if you are still experiencing issues try Setting > General Settings > Reset > Reset All Settings. This will default your iPad without your personal data being erased. A lot of times this dislodges settings or options that were stuck from previous iOS versions “After upgrades. This is the first I’ve heard of the issue happening on the 2017 iPad but it is scaled backed hardware from the iPad Pro and possibly could have resolution issues like other previous models.

Jan 31, 2018 2:00 PM in response to abrantner

Did NOT work for me. Only restarting will work after using third party apps.

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iPad dock hidden on home screen iOS 11