One solution is to delete the problem app from the iPhone. Without the document to open, the app should default to showing the file list on launch. You will also now have access to any settings within the app itself. Indeed, this is exactly how GoodReader responded when I tested this theory out.

How did I delete the document? I connected the iPhone to my Mac and launched . (I could also have used .) Because I was accessing files that I had transferred via USB, I could easily locate the folder that contained the relevant PDF file (it was in the Media DCIM folder) and select to delete it. Had the file been transferred wirelessly, this would not have been possible (as such files are stored in different locations, inaccessible from these apps by default, as I describe in ).

If you are willing to jailbreak your iPhone, your chances of success increase dramatically. Now, you can locate the relevant folder, using the same DiskAid or PhoneView apps, no matter where the folder is on your iPhone. Alternatively, you could bypass your Mac altogether and use iFile (a Finder-like app you can download to your iPhone after jailbreaking) to locate the folder and delete the document. For example, using iFile, I entered "GoodReader" as a search term and quickly found the desired folder location for its wireless-transferred files.

Even if you manage to delete the problem document or otherwise regain control of the file viewing app, your problems may not be over. What if the symptom recurs with most or all documents? In this case, even turning off automatic launching is not an ideal solution. You'll still have to quit and relaunch the app each time you want to switch to viewing a different document. How do you completely fix this problem?