iOS Device Not Detected over USB

This article discusses solutions for when your child's iOS device is not being recognized when plugged into the computer.

The most common form(s) of this issue:

You plug in your child's iOS device into your computer, yet it does not show a green USB symbol under the child's iOS device monitoring on your parent app / dashboard.

If Bark did connect with the device over USB, it would look like this:

Troubleshooting Solutions

1. Make sure your child's iOS device is turned on, unlocked and on the Home Screen.
2. If you see a Trust this Computer message, unlock the device and tap Trust. 
3. Try a different Apple USB cable.
4. Unplug all USB accessories from your computer except for the child's device. Try each USB port to see if one works.
5. Unplug your child's device, and open their Settings app. Navigate to Touch ID and Passcode, Face ID and Passcode, or simply Passcode > Allow Access When Locked > enable USB Accessories or simply Accessories. If your child does not use a lockscreen passcode, you can skip this step.
6. Restart your computer. 
7. Restart your child's iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.
8. Check that you have the latest software on your Mac or Windows PC. If you’re using iTunes, make sure you have the latest version.
9. If still no luck, check out our additional troubleshooting solutions for Mac and Windows below.

Additional Steps for Mac

1. Go to Finder > Preferences from the Finder menu bar, then click Sidebar at the top of the preferences window. Make sure “CDs, DVDs and iOS Devices” is checkmarked.
2. Now verify that Finder is displaying your child's iOS device on the left side.
3. If it is, refresh the Bark dashboard to see if it's detecting the device over USB now.
4. If Bark is still not seeing the device over USB, try this:  Unplug your child's iOS device. Tap on Settings on your child's iOS device, tap on General, tap on Reset (or "Transfer or Reset iPhone/iPad/iPod"), tap on Reset again if applicable and select Reset Location & Privacy.
   NOTE: This will NOT delete any messages, pictures, or data -- just reset the phone remembering the computer when plugged in as well as location services settings.
5. If the computer is still not detecting the iOS device over USB after the above steps, then contact Apple Support. 

Additional Steps for Windows

1. Disconnect the child's iOS device from your computer.
2. Unlock the child's device and go to the Home screen.
3. Then reconnect the device to the computer. If iTunes opens, close it.
4. Right-click the Start button, then choose Device Manager.
5. Locate and expand the Portable Devices section.
6. Look for your connected device (such as Apple iPhone), then right-click on the device name and choose Update driver.
   
7. Select Search automatically for updated driver software.
8. After the software installs, go to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update and verify that no other updates are available.

9. Refresh the Bark dashboard to see if it's detecting the device over USB now.

   If Bark is still not seeing the device over USB, try this:  Unplug your child's iOS device. Tap on Settings on your child's iOS device, tap on General, tap on Reset (or "Transfer or Reset iPhone/iPad/iPod"), tap on Reset again if applicable and select Reset Location & Privacy.
   NOTE: This will NOT delete any messages, pictures, or data -- just reset the phone remembering the computer when plugged in as well as location services settings.
10. If the computer is still not detecting the iOS device over USB after the above steps, then contact Apple Support. 

Still no luck?

We're here to help! Please reach out to us with screenshots of the issue and the steps you've tried.