Hi, new guy here. Something happened recently to my 1st Gen 32GB 3G iPad w/iBooks. I've used this extensively, not by "synching" to my iTunes on my laptop but just via Wifi/3G use with iBooks.

A few days ago, the "Categories" button evaporated. It's just not there. When I go into iBooks, I see all my books in my library. I can go to the iBooks store after being prompted for my iTunes password. However, at the upper left there is just a "Library" button. No matter what I click on the bottom (featured, NY Times, Top Charts, Browse) the "Categories" button is not there. If I select "Browse" at the bottom, then at the very top I have a "Libary" button, then below that "Top Authors" is displayed, just to the left of the "Paid vs Free" buttons. On the right side pane across from the vertical listing of authors, it says "Choose an Author or Category" in bold (but not a button or hyperlink) and under that it says "Tap your favorite author in the list to browse their books. To narrow author results" and then nothing else.

I've tried everything. I can find no reference to this issue online. Frankly, iPad and iBooks support is pretty weak and I've had no luck whatsoever with this. I would appreciate any help that might be available. This is driving me crazy.

The iBooks Store is a lot like a web page. Most of what is going on is due to the site, not the app. When Apple starts fiddling with it things can get a bit weird for a while. This is probably what is going on.

However, a restart may help, or even a reset. Give them a try and see if that does the job. Otherwise, it's probably just a matter of waiting a couple days to see if things clear up.


Restart: Hold down the power button until the power off slider appears. Slide it off. When the iPad finishes shutting down, hold down the power button again until the Apple logo appears.

Reset: Hold down the power and home buttons until the Apple logo appears. The iPad will reboot. This usually takes a bit longer than a restart.