Steve Jobs described the app folder management on the new iOS as something out of the world and magical. Well, for those who have several hundred apps on their iPhone, it actually is. But that’s only till something goes wrong and you need to restore your iPhone. This is because restoring your iOS 4 brings back all the apps, but the app folders go missing. This means you will have to redo your folder management all over again.
Why does that happen? Apparently, it is because of an elementary problem that even a first-time developer may have done correctly. While performing a restore, the system tries to create the folders first and then restores the apps. The problem with this method is that the folders will need to know the apps that they will hold and consequently, creating the folder at first throws an error since there are no apps to begin with. The simple remedy is thus to perform the restore twice. The first restore brings back all the apps and during the second restore, the folders will be created correctly since the apps are already available. Do remember to not sync your iPhone between the two restores though.
Here is a step by step guide
1. Connect your iPhone to iTunes
2. From the left menu on iTunes, right click on your iPhone model and select ‘Back up‘. Wait for the backup process to complete
3. Now right click on your iPhone device on the left menu once again and select ‘Settings‘. Here, pick ‘Restore‘. Please remember this is only if you also need a firmware restore (Applicable to those who have unlocked their phones). Otherwise, from the ‘Settings‘, pick ‘Restore from Backup‘
4. If the system tries to sync files, cancel the process. Wait for the restoration to complete
5. Now perform Step 4 once again. Remember to pick the backup file created in Step 2. Wait for the process to complete
You are done. The iOS 4 restore will be done with the app folders.