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How to download older compatible version of Pages?

I

ian87w

macrumors G3
Original poster
Feb 22, 2020
8,704
12,638
Indonesia
Mac: 2012 Mac mini
macOS: Catalina
Catalina is the last macOS that supports my mac mini.

Problem: I want to download Apple Pages, and the recent version requires Big Sur.

I read that there might be a way to download older last compatible versions since they might be listed in the purchased app list. The thing is, the list on my account is empty. Any apps that I have downloaded/purchased are not listed, although I can go to the page of the app I have purchased, it shows the download icon instead of get/purchase. This is the case with Pages, it showed the download icon, but then it said it requires macOS11.

Chatted with Apple support, and all they said were "get a new mac." :(

Any ideas? Or is this completely impossible to do? My workaround is to use Pages on iCloud.com in Safari... so it's not a complete dead end. But it would be nice if I can at least download the last compatible version, knowing that Apple still supports Catalina...
 
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Nermal

Nermal

Moderator
Staff member
Dec 7, 2002
21,005
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New Zealand
ian87w said:
The thing is, the list on my account is empty.
Click to expand...
This doesn't really help you, but that's not normal. The list shows up correctly for me, and I'm on an even older OS than you are (10.14.6).

Does signing out and back in help at all? You could also try deleting the two App Store directories (com.apple.appstore and com.apple.appstoreagent) from ~/Library/Caches.
 
I

ian87w

macrumors G3
Original poster
Feb 22, 2020
8,704
12,638
Indonesia
Nermal said:
This doesn't really help you, but that's not normal. The list shows up correctly for me, and I'm on an even older OS than you are (10.14.6).

Does signing out and back in help at all? You could also try deleting the two App Store directories (com.apple.appstore and com.apple.appstoreagent) from ~/Library/Caches.
Click to expand...
That didn't work. :(
 
I

ian87w

macrumors G3
Original poster
Feb 22, 2020
8,704
12,638
Indonesia
Apparently there are other people having similar issues as well, not having their purchased apps list appear. But anything I do, it doesn't make a difference. :( Oh well, I guess I'm sticking to the Pages in the cloud for now.
 
I

ian87w

macrumors G3
Original poster
Feb 22, 2020
8,704
12,638
Indonesia
I

ian87w

macrumors G3
Original poster
Feb 22, 2020
8,704
12,638
Indonesia
I even created a new account with a different iCloud account, download Pages from my iPhone using that iCloud account, go to the mac app store, and same thing, nothing is listed.
 
CoastalOR

CoastalOR

macrumors 68040
Jan 19, 2015
3,030
1,150
Oregon, USA
ian87w said:
Mac: 2012 Mac mini
macOS: Catalina
Catalina is the last macOS that supports my mac mini.

Problem: I want to download Apple Pages, and the recent version requires Big Sur.

I read that there might be a way to download older last compatible versions since they might be listed in the purchased app list. The thing is, the list on my account is empty. Any apps that I have downloaded/purchased are not listed, although I can go to the page of the app I have purchased, it shows the download icon instead of get/purchase. This is the case with Pages, it showed the download icon, but then it said it requires macOS11.
Click to expand...
Exactly how are you entering the "Purchased" section?

I had to do something similar to what you are trying to do recently.
The steps I had to do were:

1. Enter the Purchased section in my App Store Account (click on the my account icon in the lower left corner of the App store page).

2. Scroll down to purchased apps to find Pages. If it shows "Open" then Pages is currently installed in your Applications folder, drag the app to the Trash. Now the Pages app in the Purchased section should show a cloud icon with a down arrow, click on it and the app store will say something like the latest Pages is for Big Sur or later but it offers to let you download the latest version that works on you installed macOS.

EDIT: Make sure you log in to the Apple Account that you used to purchase the apps before starting the above process.
 
headlessmike

headlessmike

macrumors 65816
May 16, 2017
1,438
2,838
ian87w said:
I even created a new account with a different iCloud account, download Pages from my iPhone using that iCloud account, go to the mac app store, and same thing, nothing is listed.
Click to expand...
That's because the iOS and macOS App Stores are separate from one another, so purchases in one do not show up in the other. You will have to use another Mac for that to work.
 
I

ian87w

macrumors G3
Original poster
Feb 22, 2020
8,704
12,638
Indonesia
CoastalOR said:
Exactly how are you entering the "Purchased" section?

I had to do something similar to what you are trying to do recently.
The steps I had to do were:

1. Enter the Purchased section in my App Store Account (click on the my account icon in the lower left corner of the App store page).

2. Scroll down to purchased apps to find Pages. If it shows "Open" then Pages is currently installed in your Applications folder, drag the app to the Trash. Now the Pages app in the Purchased section should show a cloud icon with a down arrow, click on it and the app store will say something like the latest Pages is for Big Sur or later but it offers to let you download the latest version that works on you installed macOS.

EDIT: Make sure you log in to the Apple Account that you used to purchase the apps before starting the above process.
Click to expand...
That's exactly what I did. When I click the my account icon, the resulting page is empty. And looking at Apple forums, it happens to many people as well. Unfortunately I don't have a second mac to test.
 
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