iPhone Won't Turn Off or Open Apps? 10 Ways to Fix

User Concern

“I was using iPhone 13 and all of sudden no apps can be opened and turned off, and the phone can't restart. What should I do? Please help!”

Apps are integral part of the iPhone and other smartphones as they help us in various ways. However, sometimes you may find an app doesn't respond when you click it or it opens but immediately closes.

It can be a big hassle if the apps stop working on your iPhone. If you are facing issues with apps won't open or turn off on your iPhone, you're in the right place. Here we will explain the reasons behind this problem and what to do if your iPhone won't turn off or open any apps.

Part 1. Why Is My iPhone Not Letting Me Open Apps or Turn Off?

In most cases, your iPhone aps won't open or turn off because of problem with the app itself. What actually happens is the app crashing in the back-end and gets stuck on a specific screen.

And, when you come back to the home screen, the app terminates its process and solves the issue automatically. However, this is not the only problem that can make the app stuck.

Sometimes the software problem of your iPhone can also cause this issue. It especially happens when the iOS is outdated. Besides, if your iPhone screen is broken or the home/power button is malfunction, the device may also refuse to open or turn off apps.

Part 2. Fix iPhone Won’t Open Apps When iPhone Is Working Normally

Below, we will walk you through some of the possible solutions that you can try to get the iPhone apps back to their normal state.

2.1 Force Quit the Problematic Apps

This is the first solution you can try to fix the malfunctioning apps on your iPhone. Follow these steps:

• Open the App Switcher by swiping up from the bottom of the screen and pause in the middle. For iPhone 8 and older models, just double-click the home button.
• There you can view all recently opened apps. Find the problematic apps and force close them by swiping the card up.
• Wait for a while, open the apps again and check if them work properly.

2.2 Turn Your iPhone Off and Back On

Restarting the iPhone is one of the top solutions you can try for any issues with the device. Turning off the iPhone will stop all the opening apps, including the problematic ones. And, when you turn on the iPhone again, it will start the app correctly. To turn your iPhone off:

• For iPhne X, 11, 12, 13, press and hold the side button and either volume button until the slide to power off appears.
• For old iPhones, just press and hold the side or top button until the slide to power off appears.

Drag the slider to shut down the device. Wait around 30 seconds and turn the iPhone on again by pressing and holding the side or top button.

2.3 Check for Updates of the App

If the issue is caused by a bug with the app itself, updating the app may help you solve it. App developers release regular updates to fix issues like this one.

To update the app, open the App Store and browse the Update section. Find the particular app and update it. Or you can update all the apps by pressing "Update All".

2.4 Delete and Reinstall the App

If the app update is not available, you can consider deleting and reinstalling the app. Find the app you want to remove from the app menu and long press on it. Now press "Delete App" from the popup menu.

To reinstall the app, open the App Store and search for it. Press on the app and then press "Install".

Note that this solution might not be a good option if you are facing it on all the apps on your iPhone. In this case, skip this method and move forward.

2.5 Reset All Settings

Resetting all the iPhone settings may also help solve the apps not working issue. Doing this will delete all the customized settings and reset them to factory settings. Here is what to do:

• Open Settings and go to General.
• Scroll down and click on "Reset".
• Then click on "Reset all Settings" and enter the device's passcode to confirm.

2.6 Update iOS Version

As we mentioned above, you may can't open or turn off apps if your iPhone is running an outdated iOS version. So it can be a good idea to update your iPhone to the latest iOS version.

To do this, you can head over to Settings > General > Software Update. If there is a new iOS version available, tap on "Download and Install" or "Install Now".

2.7 Check the App Store Server

App Store is the most important app on any iOS device. That means if it is down, you cannot do a lot of things, including searching or installing the app. Although rare, sometimes the App Store server can be down and cause errands.

You can check the server status from Apple's official website. There will be a yellow or red mark aside from the server's name if there are any issues with it.

Part 3. Fix iPhone Won’t Open Apps When iPhone Doesn’t Work

In this case, there might be an issue with your iPhone. Keep reading to find out what you can do to solve the issue.

3.1 Using FoneGeek iOS System Recovery

FoneGeek iOS System Recovery is a robust and professional software that can help you to deal with any system-related issue in the iPhone without erasing the data. Here are some of the other benefits of the tool:

• Fast, efficient, and secured iOS system repair tool.
• Work with all popular iPhone models and iOS versions.
• Fix 150+ system issues without deleting the data.
• Don’t require Finder or iTunes to do the fixes.

FoneGeek iOS System Recovery is also very easy to use. Here are the steps that you need to follow to solve any issues:

1. Download and install the software on your Windows/Mac. Launch the app on your computer and select "Standard Mode".
2. Connect the iPhone with your computer with a USB cable. Then pick the preferred firmware version and then press "Download".
3. Once the package is downloaded, press "Fix Now" to start repairing.

Your iPhone will come back to a normal state within a while. And you will be able to open or turn off apps properly.

3.2 Restore iPhone with iTunes

Another way to fix this problem is restoring your iPhone through iTunes. Here are the steps:

• Install the latest version of iTunes on your computer and launch it.
• Connect your iPhone via USB cable and click on the device icon.
• Press on "Summary" and then choose "Restore iPhone."
• Confirm the option by pressing "Restore".

Note that this method will erase all the data of your iPhone. If you want to keep the data, make sure to create a backup before doing the restore.

3.3 Contact App Developer

If you have tried all methods above and still have problems to open or turn off apps on your iPhone, try to contact the App developer for assistance. You can visit the app's official website or open the app's page in the App Store to find the contact info.

Conclusion

It can be very disturbing when apps won't turn off or open normally on your iPhone. As we discussed above, there are several things you can do to fix it. And if you guess that the problem is with your iPhone, you can easily solve it by reparing the device using FoneGeek iOS System Recovery. We hope you will be able to fix the issue with the app following the solutions of this article.