As I reported in last month’s mini-rants thread in the Pit, I recently got my iPhone replaced. All seemed well for the first few days, but this past week has seen some weirdness.
Both my Firefox and my Sudoku icons went away from my home screen. When I try to get them back through the App Store, I am expecting to see a little box marked “GET” which will initate the download. Instead of this, I see in the box’s place a little stylized picture of a cloud. Clicking the “cloud” starts a process that results in my being able to use Firefox and play Sudoku, but I find myself suspicious that the “cloud icons” suggest that the applications themselves are not actually “in” my phone; only a “gateway” that allows my phone to accesss the applications, which themselves remain in the cloud.
Any idea how to obtain these applications with a GET box?
You only see the “get” icon if you’ve never downloaded the app before; it’s the equivalent of “buy” for a free app.
The cloud icon simply means you’ve either bought or ‘got’ the app on the past and it is therefore in your iTunes account. Clicking it will install the app to your phone, same as normal.
Try “Settings” -> “Firefox”. Then there should be an option named something like “mobile data” which can be toggled on and off. At least that’s what my phone has for Chrome - I don’t have Firefox on my phone.
iOS allows you the option of selecting whether you want to use mobile data as a whole or also by individual app. It sounds like the individual usage option for Firefox is off.
This is a great option if you don’t have lots of data since many apps will suck down data by sending messages / notifications and especially ads. A couple time-killer games I play run 30 second video ads every few lives. If I’m on the subway to work, those ads suck up my mobile data. Individually not much, but collectively it adds up.
Go to Settings>Mobile Data, scroll down and you will see"Use Mobile Data For" and a list of apps. Make sure Firefox is turned on.