App purchased on other device blank icon on iPhone

My iPad 3, iPhone 4S, and both Macs are each set to automatically download purchased content. When I purchase a Universal App on a device other than my iPhone, the iPhone will first ask me for my iTunes password, then indicate Internet usage (the spinning "fan" at the very top of the screen). After the fan is done spinning - this takes about the time needed to download and install an App - there is no icon for the app. It also does not appear if I seach for it. But the App Store app insists it's been downloaded, and if I connect the phone to my Mac, it will appear within iTunes as being on the iPhone, icon and all.

The only ways to rectify this are:

(1) reboot the phone (holding down Home and Sleep buttons) without connecting to the Mac first; or

(2) if I've already connected to iTunes on the Mac, then (a) delete the app from within iTunes and sync (b) reboot the phone (c) reinstall the app from within iTunes on the Mac.

Is this a bug, or a problem with my phone? What steps should I try short of a restore-as-new from iTunes? It has been happeing regularly for some time now. I which I could remember when the trouble started - maybe with the iOS 5.1 update but I'm not sure. Also, there are no problems with iTunes content purchases (music, movies, etc.)