Yeah, it could be better.

I (like many others) have a bazillion apps. But, I only keep four screens of apps on my iPhone at a time. And, if I’m honest, I could probably pare it down to three, perhaps even two. Sure, I do love all those games I’ve bought over the past year or so, but I just really don’t have the time to polish my chops at Ramp Champ. Four screens of apps are enough ADD-fodder for me. So, in iTunes, I un-check the boxes next to all the apps I don’t want on my iPhone. Great!

The only problem is, on any given day, those apps will all mysteriously start syncing back onto my iPhone for apparently no reason. Usually, it happens after I’ve updated one or two apps, though it doesn’t matter if I’ve done the update in iTunes or on the phone.

For a while, I was under the impression that removing the apps from the Springboard was a more reliable method than the iTunes checkboxes, but that didn’t hold true over time. Also, this problem has persisted across several devices, including multiple original 8GB and 16GB EDGE iPhones, and a couple of 32GB iPhone 3GSes. Same thing happens after firmware restores from backup, and after a “setup as new phone.”

I wrote up this whole post on BART this morning, and it was summarily destroyed by TheTumbler.app’s occasional propensity for failure. Plus, I have a feeling the problem will be solved once I’ve had a chance to update my iTunes and iPhone OS with today’s new versions. If it’s solved, I’ll be very, very happy.