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I have a single app that needs to be reinstalled. I have tried all tricks known to man in attempts to get it to work, but all have failed. There is a lot of data in this app that I'd rather not lose. It isn't explicitly iCloud-enabled, and it's not a game, so there's no hope of Game Center restoring anything. How, if possible, can I reinstall it without losing my data?

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Why do you believe that reinstalling it is necessary? – bneely Feb 3 '12 at 5:35
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Which app is it? – Graeme Hutchison Feb 3 '12 at 11:05
@bneely I've tried everything else. – timothymh Feb 3 '12 at 23:02
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This is just my opinion, but I'm skeptical that reinstalling an iOS app is the solution. How do you think the contents of the application were incorrectly modified? The way iOS is designed and implemented makes this unlikely. – bneely Feb 9 '12 at 8:30
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User data is modifiable and the application itself (I expect) is not. You could have a case of data corruption, and after reinstalling the app with the same data, you may find you have the same problem as before. (I should point out that I'm still not clear on exactly what problem you are experiencing.) I don't know of a way to accomplish your goal. PhoneDisk as mentioned below sounds like a good option and I think you should find a computer where you are able to use that. Just prepare for the possibility that the data is the problem (not necessarily your fault; could be programming error.) – bneely Feb 9 '12 at 20:07
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4 Answers

up vote 6 down vote accepted

While I never tried it myself, in theory you could use something like PhoneDisk to open the app's private folder and copy all the content to your computer. Then, after deleting and reinstalling the app, you should be able to copy the content back.

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That's a good answer, but unfortunately I don't have access to a computer which I have admin privileges for, which would be necessary to install PhoneDisk. – timothymh Feb 3 '12 at 23:08
up vote 1 down vote

The only way to reinstall an app is by deleting the app and all it's data and then installing again. Unless you have a way to export/copy the data (for example: in app export/import, iTunes file transfer, DropBox/iCloud sync etc).

I would try to do a full backup and restore of the device to see if that fixes it for you (I don't know if all tricks known to man included this).

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Thanks, but that doesn't help. It doesn't have any export feature, and as a matter of fact a restoring to backup was actually what caused it. – timothymh Feb 3 '12 at 23:10
up vote 1 down vote

Reinstalling the application will almost certainly not solve your problem. iOS applications are digitally signed. If even a single byte is changed, iOS will refuse to run it. What you will be reinstalling will be identical to what you currently have installed.

The problem is far more likely to be with your data or the interpretation of it. There's probably a bug in the application that has either deleted your data or fails to recognise it. You should contact the developers to try to diagnose what is happening here.

You can get your data off your device by using a tool like iExplorer, or, if the application has enabled it, iTunes File Sharing (which is available in the Apps tab for your device in iTunes).

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up vote 0 down vote

If your iPhone is jailbroken, you can delete the apps metadata and then re-install the app.

You can use sbsettings to find your apps path then in ifile go to this directory and del iTunesMetadata.plist then appstore will no longer see your app as instaled you can reinstall and keep your data

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Can you please add some details (maybe using one specific application as a sample) on how to do this? – patrix♦ Feb 11 at 6:43

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