Chapter 16

When Good iPhones Go Bad

In This Chapter

Fixing iPhone issues

Dealing with network and calling problems

Eliminating that sinking feeling when you can’t sync

Perusing the Apple website and discussion forums

Sending your iPhone to an Apple Store

In our experience, iPhones are usually quite reliable; most users we’ve talked to report mostly trouble-free operation. Notice our use of the words most and mostly. That’s because every so often, a good iPhone goes bad. It’s not a common occurrence, but it does happen. So in this chapter, we look at the types of bad things that can happen, along with suggestions for fixing them.

What kinds of bad things are we talking about? Well, we’re referring to problems involving

• The phone itself
• Making or receiving calls
• Wireless networks
• Syncing with your Mac or PC

After all the troubleshooting, we tell you how to get even more help if nothing we suggest does the trick. Finally, if your iPhone is so badly hosed that it needs to go back to the mothership for repairs, we offer ways to survive the experience with a minimum of stress or fuss.

If one of the steps that follow fixes your iPhone issue, we urge you not to close the book. Rather, skim through the rest of the chapter, paying particular attention to the "Dude, Where’s My Stuff?" section near the end of the chapter.

iPhone Issues

Our first category of troubleshooting techniques applies to an iPhone that’s frozen or otherwise acting up. The recommended procedure when this happens is to perform the seven Rs in sequence:

• Recharge your iPhone
• Restart your iPhone
• Reset your iPhone
• Remove content from your iPhone
• Reset your iPhone’s settings and content
• Restore your iPhone
• Renew your iPhone in Recovery mode

If the first technique doesn’t do the trick, go on to the second. If the second one doesn’t work, try the third. And so on.

But first …

But before you even start those procedures, Apple recommends you take these steps:

1. Verify that you have the current version of iTunes installed on your Mac or PC.

   You can always download the latest and greatest version at www.apple.com/itunes/download.

2. Verify that you’re connecting your iPhone to your computer using a USB 2.0 or 3.0 port.

   If you encounter difficulties at this point, we implore you to read the paragraph in the next section that begins with this: “Don’t plug the iPhone’s Lightning connector cable … "

3. Make sure that your iPhone software is up-to-date.
   • To check your iPhone software from iTunes on your Mac or PC: Connect your iPhone to your computer, launch iTunes (if necessary), and then click the iPhone icon near the top-left of the iTunes window. Click the Summary tab, and then click the Check for Update button.
   • To check your iPhone software from your iPhone: On the Home screen, tap Settings⇒General⇒Software Update.

If your iPhone requires an update, you receive instructions for doing so. Otherwise, please continue.

If those three easy steps didn’t get you back up and running and your iPhone is still acting up — it freezes, doesn’t wake up from sleep, doesn’t do something it used to do, or in any other way acts improperly — don’t panic. The following sections describe the things you should try, in the order that we (and Apple) recommend.

Recharge your iPhone

If your iPhone acts up in any way, shape, or form, the first thing you should try is to give its battery a full recharge.

Don’t plug the iPhone’s Lightning connector cable (iPhone 5 and later) or dock connector–to–USB cable (iPhone 4s and earlier) into a USB port on a keyboard, a monitor, or an unpowered USB hub. You need to plug the cable into one of the USB ports on the computer itself or a powered hub (one that requires an AC power source) because the USB ports on your computer supply more power than ports on keyboards, monitors, or unpowered hubs.

Most powered USB hubs, the kind you plug into an AC outlet, will charge your iPhone just fine. But passive, or unpowered, hubs — ones that don’t plug into the wall for power — won’t cut it when it comes to charging your phone.

Note that you can use the included USB power adapter to recharge your iPhone from an AC outlet rather than from a computer. So if your iPhone isn’t charging when you connect it to your computer, try charging it from a wall outlet instead. In addition, some power strips by Belkin and other vendors include one or more powered USB ports that will work.

If you’re in a hurry, charge your iPhone for a minimum of 20 minutes. We think a full charge is a better idea, but a 20-minute charge is better than no charge at all. And for faster charging in any circumstances, turn your iPhone off while it charges.

Restart your iPhone

If you recharge your iPhone and it still misbehaves, the next thing to try is restarting it. Just as restarting a computer often fixes problems, restarting your iPhone sometimes works wonders.

Here’s how to restart:

1. Press and hold down the sleep/wake button.
2. Slide the red slider to turn off the iPhone, and then wait a few seconds.
3. Press and hold down the sleep/wake button again until the Apple logo appears on the screen.

If your phone is still frozen, misbehaves, or doesn’t start up, it’s time to try the third R, resetting your iPhone.

Reset your iPhone

To reset your iPhone, merely press and hold down the sleep/wake button while pressing and holding down the Home button on the front at the same time. After about ten seconds, the screen will go black; when the Apple logo reappears, you can release both buttons.

Resetting your iPhone is like forcing your computer to restart after a crash. Your data shouldn’t be affected by a reset. So don’t be shy about giving this technique a try. In many cases, your iPhone goes back to normal after you reset it this way.

Remember to press and hold down both the sleep/wake button and the Home button. If you press both and then release them, you create a screen shot — a picture of whatever is on your screen at the time — rather than reset your iPhone. (This type of screen picture, by the way, is stored in the Photos app’s Recently Added folder [iOS 8] or Camera Roll [iOS 7 and earlier]. Find out more about this feature at www.dummies.com/extras/iphone.)

Unfortunately, sometimes resetting doesn’t do the trick. When that’s the case, you have to take stronger measures.

At this point, it’s a good idea to back up your iPhone’s contents by clicking the iPhone icon near the top-left of the iTunes window (on your Mac or PC), clicking Summary in the sidebar, and then choosing Back Up Now. Or you can initiate a backup to iCloud from your iPhone by tapping Settings⇒iCloud⇒Backup. Enable iCloud Backup and then tap the Back Up Now button.

Feel free to look in the Backups section of the Summary tab in iTunes, which will show you when the last backup occurred or that your iPhone has never been backed up. However, we highly recommend that you back up again, just in case.

Remove your content

Nothing you’ve done so far should have taken more than a minute or so (or 20 if you tried the 20-minute recharge). We hate to tell you, but that’s about to change because the next thing you should try is removing some or all of your data, to see whether it’s the cause of your troubles.

To do so, you need to sync your iPhone and reconfigure it so that some or all of your files are removed from the phone. The problem could be contacts, calendar data, songs, photos, videos, or podcasts. If you suspect a particular data type — for example, you suspect your photos because whenever you tap the Photos icon on the Home screen, your iPhone freezes — try removing that type of data first.

Or, if you have no suspicions, deselect every item on every tab in iTunes (Info, Apps, Music, Movies, Photos, and so on) on your Mac or PC and then sync. When you’re finished, your iPhone should have almost no data on it. We say almost because data created by apps on the iPhone — for example, documents created on your iPhone with apps such as Pages, Numbers, or Keynote — may remain on your iPhone. If you really want to be thorough, click every app in the File Sharing section of the Apps tab in iTunes and delete any documents you see in the Documents area.

If that method fixed the problem, try restoring your data, one type at a time. If the problem returns, keep experimenting to determine which particular data type or file is causing the problem.

If you’re still having problems, the next step is to reset your iPhone’s settings.

Reset your settings and content

Resetting involves two steps: The first one, resetting your iPhone settings, resets every iPhone setting to its default — the way it was when you took it out of the box. Resetting the iPhone’s settings doesn’t erase any of your data or media. The only downside is that you will probably have to change some settings back to the way they were afterward. So try this step without (much) trepidation.

Just tap the Settings icon on your Home screen, and then tap General⇒Reset⇒ Reset All Settings.

Be careful not to tap Erase All Content and Settings, at least not yet. Erasing all content takes more time to recover from (because your next sync takes a long time), so try Reset All Settings first.

At this point, you could try resetting some of the other options available on the Reset screen, such as Reset Network Settings. If you’re desperate, it won’t hurt to try Reset Keyboard Dictionary, Reset Home Screen Layout, and Reset Location & Privacy; they’re not likely to help but might be worth a try before you resort to erasing all content and settings, as we’re about to describe.

Now, if resetting all settings didn’t cure your iPhone, you should try Erase All Content and Settings. (Read the next Warning first.) You find that option in the same place as Reset All Settings (tap Settings⇒General⇒Reset).

This strategy deletes everything from your iPhone — all your data, media, and settings. Because all these items should be stored on your computer or backed up when you sync — at least in theory — you should be able to put things back the way they were during your next sync. But you may lose any photos you’ve taken since your last sync, as well as contacts, calendar events, and playlists you’ve created or modified since your last sync or backup. We say “may” instead of “will” because if you use iCloud, some or all of them may be in the cloud already, so they’ll be available after you erase your iPhone.

After using Erase All Content and Settings, check to see whether your iPhone works properly. If this didn’t cure what ails your iPhone, the next R, restoring your iPhone using iTunes, might help.

Restore your iPhone

Restoring your iPhone is a fairly drastic step, but it often succeeds after recharging, restarting, resetting, removing content, and resetting settings and content have failed.

To restore your phone, connect it to your computer as though you were about to sync: Click the iPhone icon, then click Summary in the sidebar, and then click the Restore iPhone button on the Summary tab.

This action erases all your data and media and resets all your settings.

If your computer isn’t available, you can trigger this step from your iPhone by tapping Settings⇒General⇒Reset⇒Erase All Content and Settings.

All your data and media should still exist on your computer or in iCloud, with the possible exception of photos you’ve taken since your last sync if you aren’t using Photo Stream and any contacts, calendar events, notes, and playlists you’ve created or modified that haven’t yet synced to iCloud. You may also lose any iTunes or App Store content you’ve purchased or downloaded on the iPhone since its last sync, but you can always download them again at no cost if they disappear. In other words, you probably won’t lose anything by restoring. It’s a hassle and your next sync will take much longer than usual. And you’ll have to reconfigure all settings you’ve changed since you got your iPhone. But other than those inconveniences, restoring shouldn’t cause you any trouble.

One last thing: You can use the Restore Backup button on the Summary tab to restore your iPhone to the state it was in the last time you backed it up. This tactic will put back everything, including all your settings, which can save you some time. But be careful because it has a downside … .

If you use Restore Backup, it’s likely you’ll restore whatever was causing the problem in the first place. If so, you’re back to square one, which is to say you’ll just have to try Erase All Content and Settings again.

If restoring your iPhone didn’t fix things, we have one more thing you can try before you give up the ghost on your poor, sick iPhone.

Renew your iPhone with Recovery mode

If you’ve gone through all the previous suggestions or you couldn’t attempt some or all of them because your iPhone is so messed up, you can try one last thing: Recovery mode. Here’s how it works:

1. Disconnect the USB cable from your iPhone, but leave the other end of the cable connected to the USB port on your computer.
2. Turn off the iPhone by pressing and holding down the sleep/wake button for a few seconds until the red Slide to Power Off slider appears on-screen, and then slide the slider.

   Wait for the iPhone to turn off.

3. Press and hold down the Home button while you reconnect the USB cable to your iPhone.

   When you reconnect the USB cable, your iPhone should power on.

   If you see a battery icon with a thin red band and an icon displaying a wall plug, an arrow, and a lightning bolt, you need to let your iPhone charge for at least 10 to 15 minutes. When the battery picture goes away or turns green instead of red, go back to Step 2 and try again.

4. Continue holding down the Home button until you see the Connect to iTunes screen, and then release the Home button.

   If you don’t see the Connect to iTunes screen on your iPhone, try again from Step 1.

5. If iTunes didn’t open automatically already, launch it now.

   You should see a Recovery Mode alert on your computer screen, telling you that your iPhone is in recovery mode and that you must restore it before it can be used with iTunes.

6. Use iTunes to restore the device, as we describe in the preceding section.

Okay. So that’s the gamut of things you can do when your iPhone acts up. If you tried all this and none of it worked, skim through the rest of this chapter to see whether anything else we recommend looks like it might help. If not, your iPhone probably needs to go into the shop for repairs. But before you throw in the towel, check out the “If Nothing We Suggest Helps” section later in the chapter. And if you erased all your content in one of the previous steps, read the “Dude, Where’s My Stuff?” section at the end of the chapter for our thoughts on the best ways to restore your stuff.

Problems with Calling or Networks

If you’re having problems making or receiving calls, problems sending or receiving SMS text messages, or problems with Wi-Fi or your wireless carrier’s data network, this section may help. The techniques here are short and sweet — except for the last one, restore. The inconvenient, time-consuming restore technique, which we describe in the preceding section, entails erasing all your data and media and then restoring it.

First, here are some simple steps that may help. Once again, we (and Apple) suggest that you try them in this order:

1. Check the cell signal icon in the upper-left corner of the screen.

   If you don’t have at least one or two bars, you may not be able to use the phone or messaging function.

2. Make sure you haven’t left your iPhone in airplane mode, as described in Chapter 14.

   In airplane mode, all network-dependent features are disabled, so you can’t make or receive phone calls, send or receive messages, or use any apps that require a Wi-Fi or data network connection (that is, Mail, Safari, Stocks, Maps, and Weather).

3. Try moving around.

   Changing your location by as little as a few feet can sometimes mean the difference between four bars and zero bars or being able to use a Wi-Fi or wireless data network or not. If you’re inside, try going outside. If you’re outside, try moving 10 or 20 paces in any direction. Keep an eye on the cell signal or Wi-Fi icon as you move around, and stop when you see more bars than you saw earlier.

4. Try changing your grip on the phone.

   Apple says, “Gripping any mobile phone will result in some attenuation of its antenna performance, with certain places being worse than others depending on the placement of the antennas. This is a fact of life for every wireless phone.”

5. Turn on airplane mode by tapping Settings on the Home screen or swiping up to reveal Control Center, and then tapping the airplane mode switch to turn it on. Wait 15 or 20 seconds, and then turn it off again.

   Toggling airplane mode on and off like this resets both the Wi-Fi and wireless data-network connections. If your network connection was the problem, toggling airplane mode on and off may correct it.

6. Restart your iPhone.

   If you’ve forgotten how, refer to the “Restart your iPhone” section, a few pages back. Restarting your iPhone is often all it takes to fix whatever was wrong.

7. Make sure your SIM card is firmly seated.

   A SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card is a removable smart card used to identify mobile phones. You can change phones by moving the SIM card from one phone to another.

   To remove the SIM card, straighten one end of a fine-gauge paper clip and stick the straight end gently into the hole on the SIM tray.

   When the SIM tray slides out, carefully lift out the SIM card and then reinsert it, making sure it’s firmly situated in the tray before you gently push the tray back in until it locks.

If none of the preceding suggestions fixes your network issues, try restoring your iPhone as described previously, in the “Restore your iPhone” section.

Performing a restore deletes everything on your iPhone — all your data, media, and settings. You should be able to put things back the way they were with your next sync. If that doesn’t happen, for whatever reason, you can’t say we didn’t warn you.

Sync, Computer, or iTunes Issues

The last category of troubleshooting techniques in this chapter applies to issues that involve synchronization and computer–iPhone relations. If you’re having problems syncing or your computer doesn’t recognize your iPhone when you connect it (or your phone issue is not resolved by any of our previous suggestions), we have some more things you can try.

Again, we suggest that you try these procedures in the order they’re presented here:

1. Recharge your iPhone.

   If you didn’t try it previously, try it now. Go back to the “iPhone Issues” section, at the beginning of this chapter, and read what we say about recharging your iPhone. Every word there applies here.

2. Try a different USB port or a different cable if you have one available.

   It doesn’t happen often, but occasionally USB ports and cables go bad. When they do, they invariably cause sync and connection problems. Make sure that a bad USB port or cable isn’t to blame. And check all plugs, connectors, cables, and adapters to ensure that they’re properly inserted and seated correctly.

   If you don’t remember what we said about using USB ports on your computer rather than the ones on your keyboard, monitor, or hub, we suggest that you reread the “Recharge your iPhone” section, earlier in this chapter.

   Apple has used the same USB cable for iPods and iPhones for many years and also used that same cable for iPads, so if you happen to have one of those cables handy, give it a try. Unless …

   Unless, that is, you purchased your iDevice after September or October 2012, when the iPhone 5 and the 2012 models of the iPad, iPod touch, and iPod Nano were introduced. These devices (as well as the iPhone 5s and 5c) sport the new Lightning connector instead of the same USB–to–dock–connector cable we’ve known and loved all these years. To use an old cable with these new devices requires a Lightning–to–30–pin adapter, which Apple sells for $19 or $29.

3. Restart your iPhone and try to sync again.

   We describe restarting your iPhone in full and loving detail in the “Restart your iPhone” section, earlier in this chapter.

4. Restart your computer.

   We have found that restarting your computer often fixes issues with syncing your iPhone.

   Restarting your computer can fix non-iPhone issues as well. It’s a good idea to reboot your computer before you do any kind of troubleshooting, be it with your iPhone or your computer.

5. Reinstall iTunes.

   Even if you have an iTunes installer handy, you probably should visit the Apple website and download the latest-and-greatest version, just in case. You’ll always find the latest version of iTunes at www.apple.com/itunes/download.

More Help on the Apple Website

If you try everything we suggest earlier in this chapter and still have problems, don’t give up just yet. This section describes a few places you may find helpful. We recommend that you check out some or all of them before you throw in the towel and smash your iPhone into tiny little pieces (or ship it back to Apple for repairs, as described in the next section).

First, Apple offers an excellent set of support resources on its website at www.apple.com/support/iphone. You can browse support issues by category, search for a problem by keyword, or even get personalized help by phone, as shown in Figure 16-1.

While you’re visiting the Apple support pages, check out the discussion communities at http://discussions.apple.com. They’re chock-full of questions and answers from other iPhone users. Our experience has been that if you can’t find an answer to a support question elsewhere, you can often find something helpful in these forums. You can browse by community — Using iPhone, iPhone Hardware, iPhone in Business and Education, or iPhone Accessories; browse by subcategory, as shown in Figure 16-2 for the Using iPhone community; or search by keyword.

The three dots below FaceTime in the figure indicate that two more pages of subcategories are available. To see the next page, click the > to the right of Internet Tethering/Personal Hotspot.

You’ll find thousands of iPhone discussions about almost every aspect of using your iPhone (for example, over 500,000 on using the iPhone alone when Figure 16-2 was captured). Better still, frequently you can find the answer to your question or a helpful suggestion.

Now for the best part: If you can’t find a solution by browsing or searching, you can post your question in the appropriate Apple community. Check back in a few days (or even in a few hours), and some helpful iPhone user may well have replied with the answer. If you’ve never tried this fabulous tool, you’re missing out on one of the greatest support resources available anywhere.

Last, but certainly not least, before you give up the ghost, you might want to try a carefully worded Google (or Yahoo! or Bing) search. It couldn’t hurt, and you might just find the solution.

If Nothing We Suggest Helps

If you tried every trick in the book (this one) and still have a malfunctioning iPhone, it’s time to consider shipping it off to the iPhone hospital (better known as Apple, Inc.). You can send it in or visit your nearest Apple Store. (Hint: Make an appointment online first.) The repair is free if your iPhone is still under its one-year limited warranty or you purchased AppleCare (or AppleCare+).

You can extend your warranty up to two years from the original purchase date. To do so, you need to buy the AppleCare+ Protection Plan for your iPhone. You don’t have to do it when you buy the phone, but you must buy it before your one-year limited warranty expires. The cost is $99.

Here are a few things you should do before you take your phone in to be repaired:

• Your iPhone is erased during its repair, so you should sync your iPhone with iTunes before you take it in, if you can. If you can’t and you entered data on the phone since your last sync, such as a contact or an appointment, the data won’t be there when you restore your iPhone upon its return.
• Remove any third-party accessories, such as a case or screen protector.
• Remove the SIM card from your iPhone (as described in the earlier section “Problems with Calling or Networks”) and keep it in a safe place.

  Do not, under any circumstances, forget to remove your SIM card. Apple doesn’t guarantee that your SIM card will be returned to you after a repair. If you forget this step, Apple suggests that you contact your local AT&T, Verizon, or Sprint store and obtain a new SIM card with the proper account information. Ouch.

Although you may be able to get your iPhone serviced by your provider or by mail, we recommend that you take it to your nearest Apple Store, for three reasons:

• No one knows your iPhone like Apple does. One of the Geniuses at the Apple Store may be able to fix whatever is wrong without sending your iPhone away for repairs.
• The Apple Store will, in some cases, swap out your wonky iPhone for a brand-new one on the spot. You can’t win if you don’t play, which is why we always visit our local Apple Store when something goes wrong (with our iPhones, iPads, iPods, and even our laptops and iMacs).
• Only the Apple Store offers an Express Replacement Service (ERS) for iPhones needing repairs. The AppleCare Express Replacement Service costs $29 when your iPhone is under warranty or covered by an AppleCare Protection Plan. This service provides you with a new iPhone when you have to send in your old one for service.

If your iPhone isn’t under warranty or AppleCare, you can still take advantage of the Express Replacement Service — it costs you a lot more, though. Visit http://support.apple.com/kb/index?page=servicefaq&geo=United_States&product=iphone for current pricing and more information on the ERS service.

If visiting an Apple, AT&T, Verizon, or Sprint store isn’t possible, call Apple at 1-800-MY-IPHONE (1-800-694-7466) in the United States or visit www.apple.com/contact to find the number to call in other countries.

If you choose the AppleCare Express Replacement Service, you don’t have to activate the new phone and it has the same phone number as the phone it replaces. All you need to do is pop your old SIM card into the new phone, sync it with iTunes or iCloud to fill it with the data and media files that were on your sick iPhone, and you’re good to go.

If you’ve done everything we’ve suggested, we’re relatively certain that you’re now holding an iPhone that works flawlessly. Again.

If at this point you aren’t holding an iPhone that works flawlessly and has most (if not all) of your stuff on it, it’s time to break out the big guns and make an appointment with a Genius at your local Apple Store. Call the support hotline (800-275-2273) or visit the support web page at www.apple.com/support/iphone. That said, some or all of your stuff may not be on it. If that’s the case, the following section offers a two-trick solution that usually works.

Dude, Where’s My Stuff?

If you performed a restore or had your iPhone replaced or repaired, you still have one more task to accomplish. Your iPhone may work flawlessly at this point, but some or all of your stuff — your music, movies, contacts, iMessages, or whatever — is missing. You’re not sunk, at least not yet. We still have a couple of tricks up our sleeve:

• Trick 1: Sync your iPhone with iTunes, and then sync it again. That’s right — sync and sync again. Why? Because sometimes stuff doesn’t get synced properly on the first try. Just do it. If that doesn’t set things right, try Trick 2.
• Trick 2: Restore from backup. Click the iPhone icon near the top left in the iTunes window, and then click Restore from Backup. The Restore from Backup dialog appears and offers you a choice of backups. Select the one you want, click the Restore button, and let the iPhone work some magic.

If you have more than one backup for a device, try the most recent (undated) one first. If it doesn’t work or you’re still missing files, try restoring from any other backups before you throw in the towel.

Note that these backups include photos in the Recently Added folder or Camera Roll, text messages, notes, contact favorites, sound settings, and more, but not media such as music, videos, or photos. If media is missing, perform Trick 1 again.

And finally, if neither Trick 1 nor Trick 2 did the trick, try this:

• Trick 3: Sync one media type at a time. Start by syncing (or downloading from the App Store) apps you use regularly. Test the iPhone for a while and, if everything seems okay, sync another type of media — music, movies, contacts, calendars, photos, or whatever. Test the iPhone again, and if everything seems okay, continue until the problem recurs or you’ve synced all your media. If the problem comes back, you should have a good idea of what media type is to blame.

We hope you have resolved your iPhone issues by this point. If not, we’re sorry to say that this is all we’ve got.