Restarting iPhone removes default mail and browser choices on iOS 14

Mail (Image credit: Joseph Keller/iMore)

What you need to know

A major bug has been discovered in iOS 14.
Restarting your iPhone apparently resets your default browser and mail app choices back to Apple's own apps.
Multiple users have reported the issue.

Reported by CNET, one of Apple's big features of iOS 14 is being rendered difficult to use when you restart your iPhone. According to reports from multiple users, restarting your iPhone removes your default app selections for the browser and mail app.

Users appear to have found the first major bug in Apple's iOS 14 iPhone software. The free software upgrade, which Apple made publicly available Wednesday, includes features many users had long asked for, such as better ways to organize apps, living programs called widgets on the home screen, and the ability to change which default apps the phone uses to browse the web or send an email. That last one doesn't appear to work.

According to the reports, users have been able to set their default browser to Chrome or another third party as their default mail app. However, when they restart their phone, both defaults are set back to Apple's own Safari and Mail app.

A growing chorus of Twitter users has been posting about the bug in Apple's default email and default web browser options. What happens is that whenever they set the default browser to Google's Chrome, for example, it works as expected, and tapping any link in an app or browser will open Chrome on the iPhone. But then if they restart the phone, iOS 14 changes that default back to Apple's Safari.

Well, great. I was all excited to set Chrome as default browser in #iOS14 but turns out a device reboot forgets it!?Well, great. I was all excited to set Chrome as default browser in #iOS14 but turns out a device reboot forgets it!?— Mathieu Perreault (@madmath) September 17, 2020 September 17, 2020

According to Maria Henyk on Twitter, developers are recommending that people delete Apple's Mail app as a way to ensure that their third-party app stays the default.

Update from the devs. Looks like it's a bug in Safari, the workaround for now is to delete Mail.Update from the devs. Looks like it's a bug in Safari, the workaround for now is to delete Mail.— Maria Henyk (@maria_henyk) September 17, 2020 September 17, 2020

Of course, if you need the Mail app as well, this workaround isn't too useful. This also isn't even an option for those trying to use a different browser, as Safari is unable to be fully deleted on the iPhone.

Bugs are expected when new software hits millions of users, so hopefully, Apple will be quick to react and patch this issue.

Joe Wituschek is a Contributor at iMore. With over ten years in the technology industry, one of them being at Apple, Joe now covers the company for the website. In addition to covering breaking news, Joe also writes editorials and reviews for a range of products. He fell in love with Apple products when he got an iPod nano for Christmas almost twenty years ago. Despite being considered a "heavy" user, he has always preferred the consumer-focused products like the MacBook Air, iPad mini, and iPhone 13 mini. He will fight to the death to keep a mini iPhone in the lineup. In his free time, Joe enjoys video games, movies, photography, running, and basically everything outdoors.

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