iOS 18.4 appears to be restoring deleted apps and installing new ones

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Since the release of iOS 18.4, an unknown number of users are reporting the appearance of apps on their iPhones that they either previously deleted -- or have never installed.

Hand holding a smartphone with colorful app icons on the screen, including messages, calendar, photos, and settings.
Apple's iOS 18.4 is allegedly installing apps users deleted before, or never bought



Apple released iOS 18.4 on March 31, 2025, and alongside bringing Apple Intelligence to the EU, it also included important security updates. But an unusual issue is now being reported by users who say they are seeing apps they shouldn't.

As first spotted by MacRumors, the reports all concern the appearance of unwanted apps. In some cases, they are apps that were previously installed but deleted by the user, while others seem to be entirely new installs of random apps.

"My phone automatically started installing Squid Game," says one user in a thread on Reddit. "Today I feel like I'm using some cheap... mobile where after software update, some random application installed in my phone for no reason."

Most of the unwanted apps appear to be games, though that is most likely to be simply because of the volume of games on the App Store. One user says Dropbox was installed on the iPhone, while another reported getting the game and recipe app, "Cooking Mama."

In at least most of the reported cases, users have been able to rule out typical reasons for unexpected apps appearing. It doesn't appear, for instance, to be that they installed an app on a different device and have iOS's automatic app installation feature turned on.

Users are also saying that their iPhones have not been jailbroken. Nor have they ever used third-party app stores.

Consequently, the issue appears to be a genuine bug, although it's impossible to know how widespread it is. This type of issue, though, would seem more likely to be a problem with the backend database of the App Store rather than an iOS update.

So far, there have been no similar reports of unwanted apps appearing from users on older versions of iOS. Apple has yet to comment on the issue. We have not been able to reproduce the issue, across any of the devices we own, or on devices owned by any of the people we spoke to this morning.

If you are seeing the issue, we recommend contacting Apple support about the matter, so it can be logged and assessed by the company directly. The company does not pay attention to media reports, nor anecdotes on social media.



Read on AppleInsider

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 5
    ConradGconradg Posts: 1member
    i have an old Apple iPad 2 from 2012 or 2013 and it is stuck on iOS 12.4 and we deleted Brawl Stars and for some odd reason it installed it on that device even though Brawl Stars was added and deleted from every device while it sat with a dead battery and never powered up since 2020 and nothing can be downloaded or updated on it anymore. when you try to open Brawl Stars, it just immediately crashes, as it is not compatible with a device of that age. wtf is going on.
    williamlondon
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  • Reply 2 of 5
    garageband, keynote and a third app I don't remember now, due to it's insignificance, installed themselves after the update.
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 3 of 5
    After updating to iOS 18.4 for the iPhone and iPad I cannot stay connected to my home WiFi . ( it keeps bouncing, connects then drops continually) However, tvOS 18.4 is fine with the WiFi connection.... I called and reported it to Apple. 
    williamlondonyyzguy
     0Likes 2Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 4 of 5
    danoxdanox Posts: 3,634member
    I’ve had an older DJay 2 reinstall, and it works better than some of the later incarnations of DJay thank you I just use this program to playback playlists from my music collection. It’s simple fast and easy to use. Unlike some of the other Djay incarnations that came later that we’re trying to up sell you subscriptions and additional services.

    Double check your software collection you may find that you got back a better working forgotten program from the past in some cases, Gravilux, Wolfram Stars came back also.

    I double checked my iPad and 16 other Oldies but goodies showed up and at least a dozen of them are still very good. I think they just got lost in the shuffle over the years when upgrading I found these programs in the recently added folder.
    edited April 2
    neoncat
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  • Reply 5 of 5
    yyzguyyyzguy Posts: 54member
    tikitechy said:
    After updating to iOS 18.4 for the iPhone and iPad I cannot stay connected to my home WiFi . ( it keeps bouncing, connects then drops continually) However, tvOS 18.4 is fine with the WiFi connection.... I called and reported it to Apple. 
    How is this relevant to the article?
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
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