The app will not start, or keeps quitting
Please do not delete the app. Deleting it removes the videos and images you saved, and reinstalling does not bring them back. Even while the app will not start, you can still get your files out — see below.
1. Check these first
Are you on the latest version?
You cannot check the version inside an app that will not start, so check in the App Store. Open the app's page there: if the button says Open you are on the latest version; if it says Update you are still on an older one. Crashes at launch are often already fixed in a newer build, so try updating first. The release notes show which version each fix shipped in.
Restart the device
When the device is low on memory, iOS can shut the app down before it finishes starting. Close other apps, restart the device and try again.
If you use iDig 11.17 while mirroring to an external display
There was an issue where iDig 11.17 could fail to launch while an iPad or another device was connected to an external display over USB-C or HDMI. This was fixed in iDig 11.18. If iDig starts after you disconnect the external display, this is likely the issue. Update to 11.18 or later from the App Store. You do not need to delete and reinstall the app.
2. If the logo or a white screen sits there, then drops to the Home screen
When there are a great many saved folders, building the list at startup does not finish and iOS ends the app. iOS stops an app that fails to finish launching within a fixed time. This has happened on a device with about 20,000 folders (600 GB saved) and on one with 330 GB.
This is what it looks like:
- The logo or a white screen stays put and the Home screen returns after about 10 seconds
- It starts sometimes and not others — it is a race against the clock, so depending on the state of the device it occasionally finishes just in time
Free space on the device is not the cause. There is no need to delete videos or images, and deleting them will not help. The cause is the number of folders.
I have identified the cause and fixed it, so that a large number of folders no longer stalls startup. The fix shipped in iDig 11.13 (September 7, 2026) and iCap 8.5 (September 15, 2026) — please update from the App Store.
If updating does not help, you can work around it: open Files → On My iPhone → the app's name and move some folders out of the app — to iCloud Drive or a computer. With less to load, the app can start again, and nothing is lost by moving them.
Opening the app from Settings → iPhone Storage / iPad Storage may crash the Settings app itself. That happens on the iOS side when there are many files and cannot be fixed from the app, so please skip that screen.
3. What not to do
Do not use "Offload App".
It looks like a safe way to reinstall while keeping your data, but mistaking it for "Delete App" right below it loses your saved videos and images for good. On top of that it only swaps the app binary — your settings and data stay exactly as they are, so it is very unlikely to fix an app that will not start. All of the risk and none of the benefit, so I do not recommend it.
4. Get your files to safety first
In case the investigation takes a while, it is worth copying your files out now. Even while the app will not start, Files → On My iPhone → the app's name lets you copy everything somewhere else.
5. When you write to me
Since you cannot open the app, please use the contact form. Adding your iOS version, the app version and your device (iPhone 15, iPad, and so on) makes this much quicker to look into. If you know when it started, or which action triggers it, please say so too.