- Apple’s iOS 14 update has a new feature that allows users to set third-party mail and browser apps as the default, but bugs have affected the feature since launch.
- Every time your default browser or mail app receives an update from the App Store, your iPhone will reset the default browser to Safari and mail app to Mail.
- The issue persists in iOS 14.1, but will hopefully be resolved in iOS 14.2
iOS 14 is another noteworthy evolution of Apple’s mobile operating system, complete with customizable widgets, a new App Library, and a better Messages app, but one of the most exciting additions still doesn’t work quite the way it should. iOS 14 makes it possible to set a third-party app as the default browser or email app on your iPhone, but just after the update rolled out last month, users discovered that their choice was resetting every time they powered their phones off and back on again. A few days later, Apple seeded the iOS 14.0.1 update to fix the bug.
Unfortunately, the issue still wasn’t resolved, and iPhone owners began to realize that whenever they updated the app they had chosen to be the default on their device (Chrome, Gmail, Edge, etc.), the default app reverts to the Safari or Mail app. The issue persists on iOS 14.1, which became publicly available earlier this week:
https://twitter.com/DCOneFourSeven/status/1318878038113816577
There have been far more serious bugs in the early days of numbered iOS releases than this, but it’s still a frustrating problem that needs to be resolved. Plus, many people have automatic app updates turned on, which means you likely won’t know if your default app has been reset until you try to open an email or a web link and end up inside the wrong app. iOS 14.2 is already deep into beta testing, so perhaps that update will fix it.
In case you didn’t know about the new feature or have yet to test it out, here’s a guide we wrote last month:
- Make sure your iPhone is running the latest version of iOS 14.
- Download the most recent version of any compatible browser or email app.
- Go to the Settings app on your iPhone.
- Scroll down until you find your app of choice on the list of apps and tap it.
- Tap on the menu option that says Default Browser/Mail App.
- Tap on the app you want to use as your default.
Some of the browser apps that work with the new feature include Chrome, Firefox, Opera Touch, DuckDuckGo, and Edge. As for the email apps, you can set Gmail, Edison Mail, Outlook, Airmail, Yandex.Mail, and more as your default. More apps will be added over time, but until Apple fixes this bug, you’ll have to manually reset your default apps every time they update. We wouldn’t be surprised if iOS 14.2 came sooner than later to address this.
