Spotify, Tinder, and a bunch of other apps are down on iOS thanks to a stupid Facebook bug

Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. It’s one of the ways we keep the lights on here. Click here for more.

If you’re trying to load Spotify, Tinder, Pinterest, or a bunch of other popular apps on your iPhone, chances are you are running into a snag. The snag is that the apps just don’t load at all. I confirmed this trying to load Spotify. The app attempts to open, but I immediately get kicked back to the homescreen.

This bug seems to be only affecting iOS. Android users are not reporting any issues. According to social media users, similar issues are affecting other apps like PUBG Mobile, Mario Kart, and more.

Apparently, the issue seems to be due to Facebook’s iOS software developer kit that’s baked into some of these apps. Essentially, this SDK gives users the ability to log into these apps using their Facebook account. Whatever the actual problem, something is wrong and is causing apps to crash.

https://twitter.com/AmyLee_thirty3/status/1281553547449061376

Thankfully, there’s a quick fix that can possibly bring some of these apps back to life. It’s as simple as switching off mobile data and WiFi and then launching the apps. This has worked for some, but if all else fails, you can also download this Lockdown App from the App Store. Launch the app and follow the quick tutorial. From here, click on the “firewall on” option. This should bring some of your apps back.

Until Facebook figures this all out, these two options are your only solutions. The Facebook bug that’s causing all these apps to crash popped up early Friday morning. This is the second time in 2020 that Facebook’s SDK nuked a bunch of iOS apps.

UPDATE 9:12 AM EST: Facebook seems to have figured it out and apps seem to be loading for most users.

Are apps on your iPhone not loading due to this Facebook bug? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• If you recently updated to iOS 13.5.1, there’s a reason why your battery is draining so fast
• You can now use Amazon’s Alexa app hands-free on Android and iOS devices, well sort of
• The best new iOS and Android apps to download in June 2020
• How to download Twitter videos on desktop, Android, and iOS

Kevin Raposo

Kevin is KnowTechie's founder and executive editor. With over 15 years of blogging experience in the tech industry, Kevin has transformed what was once a passion project into a full-blown tech news publication. Shoot him an email at kevin@knowtechie.com or find him on Mastodon or Post.