Have you ever noticed that the loading icon in the status bar on your iPhone or iPad keeps spinning? Here’s a quick way to fix it.
After updating to iOS 7.1 earlier this year, you may have noticed that the little loading icon in the status bar is more active than usual. This spinning icon will help your iPhone or iPad sync data between devices, install an app or refresh data, etc. Indicates that you are currently doing something.
However, you may have noticed that the icon appears more frequently since the update to iOS 7.1. Sometimes it can be a bit mysterious, spinning in the status bar without any apps opening or anything.
Apparently, a quick Google search showed a ton of iPhone and iPad users had this problemThe spinning loading icon will not disappear even after closing all apps and leaving it idle on the home screen. Sometimes turning your iPhone or iPad off and back will get rid of the problem for a few minutes, but it will usually come right back.
What Causes This?
This spinning loading icon is actually called the “network activity icon” by Apple and appears in the status bar in the upper-left corner of your iPhone or iPad’s screen.
Your iOS device appears when downloading or uploading information over the internet, such as Photo Stream uploads and downloads, app downloads and updates from the App Store, automatic downloads (music, books, and apps), and more.
However, even if your iPhone is not doing any of these, the icon will keep spinning for some unknown reason. Many users, myself included, are having this issue after upgrading to iOS 7.1. However, there is a really easy fix that only takes a few seconds and it will get rid of the annoying rotating status bar icon once and for all.
How to Fix
All you have to do to fix this issue is to do a hard reboot. This may sound like it completely wiped your entire iPhone or iPad to factory settings, but it isn’t. Restart the device and all your data, settings and information will still be there.
Simply press and hold the Home button and Power button at the same time to perform a hard reboot on your iPhone or iPad. Keep pressing both buttons even if the device’s screen turns off. Release when you see the silver Apple logo on the screen.
Next, wait for the device to boot to the lock screen and you’ll be ready. From there you can unlock it and start using it as before. As of now, you should not see a constantly spinning loading icon in the status bar, but if it pops up again, simply do a hard reboot to clear it.
iOS 7 is not immune to any problem for its users. More recently, many users were having trouble updating to iOS 7.1.2 stating that their iPhone would freeze halfway through the process and restarting the device fixed the issues. Unfortunately, this doesn’t seem like something you can prevent in the first place, but most users agree that restarting your iPhone will fix the problem and the iOS 7.1.
That’s why we’ve put together our own handy guide on how to seamlessly update to iOS 7.1.
