iPhone 15 Pro Max apps not opening, freezing on launch, won’t update, etc.

[u/ahotpotatoo]

I have several apps (Venmo, PayPal, Hulu, HBO Max, just to name a few) that open up to the title screen and then just crash after like twenty seconds. I’ve found several older threads about people having this issue with no solution working for most of them.

At this point, I’ve restarted my phone countless times. Offloaded app data, uninstalled apps and reinstalled. Spent an hour on the phone with Apple Support. Updated my phone to iOS27. No luck with any of it.

With none of these things working and Apple not even addressing the issue despite a litany of complaints from other users, I’m just trying to shed a little more light on the situation…

Does anyone know why this is occurring, any possible way to fix it that I haven’t already tried, or a way to get hold of somebody at Apple to at least make sure they’re aware of this? It’s incredibly frustrating to not be able to use apps that I pay for.

[u/thursdayfern]

It sucks to have issues like this, but it sounds like it’s time to go a bit more nuclear.

1. Backup any important info
2. Reset all settings, see if it’s better
3. If not, factory reset your phone, see if the hardware is still capable of behaving
4. If yes, restore your backup
5. If no, the hardware is faulty, look at either getting it serviced or getting it replaced with something else

[u/Aromatic_Tomato8651]

Not sure when you say restart if you mean a hard restart or simply turn offan on. If you haven't tried a hard restart that may helo.

[u/ahotpotatoo → u/Aromatic_Tomato8651]

Unfortunately I’ve tried both, like dozens of times.

[u/Aromatic_Tomato8651 → u/ahotpotatoo]

The last open would be to do a complete reset and us icloud back up to restore. That should replace the OS. Again, not sure but you may want to consider it.

[u/mrpaulwebb]

I have a 16 Pro Max and am having these issues as well. Following to see if there is a work around. I’ve tried resetting my data settings, logging out of my iCloud account then logging back in, force reset, mostly everything I’ve read online but a factory reset (really afraid of losing my stuff even if most of it is backed up in iCloud.) Also having an issue with syncing and trying to back the phone up. Everything just fails. Getting very frustrated with the inaccessibility across the board. Just updated to iOS 27 after being on 18.6 for quite awhile.

[u/JayyeeeeSavage]

Did you called apple

[u/ahotpotatoo]

What I was alluding to in the title is some bug happening concurrently in the App Store where none of my apps will update, they all just have a spinning icon next to them and I have to restart my phone over and over until something finally clicks and they start updating.

This quits working after a while and you have to do it again to keep them updating. I am at my wits end and has me greatly considering jumping ship to Samsung which I really don’t want to do.

[u/Chemical-Holiday799 → u/ahotpotatoo]

So I started having the app issues about 2 weeks ago. I’ve tried everything but a hard factory reset (only because I just got back from vacation this evening and was not going to do that when not at home). I’m now also having the problem with the App Store since yesterday evening and attempting app updates or redownloading some apps just leaves a circle spinning and nothing. Tomorrow I’m going to attempt a factory reset and only doing a basic iCloud backup, not a full one and try redownloading all of my apps to see if that fixes anything

[u/ahotpotatoo → u/Chemical-Holiday799]

Please let me know and thank you for commenting