iTunes can no longer be used to manage apps?

[Shirasaki]

Before going into my questions, this iTunes is about the last version of iTunes that still has built in App Store page: iTunes 12.6.5.3 for Windows.

Just 3 days ago, when I was opening iTunes and trying to update apps from it, I got a pop up saying “The iTunes Store is unable to process purchases at this time. Please try again later”. I waited for 2 days and check again today, the same problem. The interesting part is I can download new apps, and iTunes know a lot of apps need to be updated, but I cannot update it from iTunes. Sign out and Sign in does not solve the problem.

I know a lot of people seeing this would say “hey why bother using iTunes? Just do everything from your iOS device”. The thing is, I don’t need to spend a lot of time waiting for some big games to download to my device and using up bandwidth. Local update also saves me quite a few times.

Given Apple has moved away from using iTunes since Big Sur, I highly doubt Apple will even bother to look into it, let alone fix it. However, I wonder if I am the only one having this problem.

Thanks all.

PS: Just an update for anyone who is interested. Another workaround for this is by deleting all apps in the update list, go to App Store page, click “purchased”, at the bottom right there is a “downloading” button that apparently can download every single app that is available in the current page. Yes, still more steps than one click thing, but way better than deleting each individual app and download from App Store page that way. Wonder how long this will work before it breaks lol.

 

[zahirsher]

Same here, weird thing is, it works on my US and JP accounts but others don't.

 

[retta283]

I do believe they severed the ties between the old app manager and their servers so you can't sign it anymore. You can still load apps to an iOS device via Xcode if you have a dev account and the .ipa file for the app you want to load.

 

[chrfr]

Before going into my questions, this iTunes is about the last version of iTunes that still has built in App Store page: iTunes 12.6.5.3 for Windows.

Just 3 days ago, when I was opening iTunes and trying to update apps from it, I got a pop up saying “The iTunes Store is unable to process purchases at this time. Please try again later”. I waited for 2 days and check again today, the same problem. The interesting part is I can download new apps, and iTunes know a lot of apps need to be updated, but I cannot update it from iTunes. Sign out and Sign in does not solve the problem.

I know a lot of people seeing this would say “hey why bother using iTunes? Just do everything from your iOS device”. The thing is, I don’t need to spend a lot of time waiting for some big games to download to my device and using up bandwidth. Local update also saves me quite a few times.

Given Apple has moved away from using iTunes since Big Sur, I highly doubt Apple will even bother to look into it, let alone fix it. However, I wonder if I am the only one having this problem.

Thanks all.

I'm seeing the same issue as well. If I delete the existing app from iTunes, I can still sometimes manually download a new version but updating fails.
Another edit: I've found a functional, if tedious, workaround for the failed updates: Delete the apps which need updating from your iTunes library, then re-download them from the "Purchased" section of the iTunes Store.

 

[Shirasaki]

I'm seeing the same issue as well. If I delete the existing app from iTunes, I can still sometimes manually download a new version but updating fails.
Another edit: I've found a functional, if tedious, workaround for the failed updates: Delete the apps which need updating from your iTunes library, then re-download them from the "Purchased" section of the iTunes Store.

I also just found this tedious workaround on my own lol. I feel it has something to do with updates in the backend, or updates of update system so old iTunes can no longer get the correct info and link to download.

 

[Shirasaki]

Just an update for anyone who is interested. Another workaround for this is by deleting all apps in the update list, go to App Store page, click “purchased”, at the bottom right there is a “downloading” button that apparently can download every single app that is available in the current page. Yes, still more steps than one click thing, but way better than deleting each individual app and download from App Store page that way. Wonder how long this will work before it breaks lol.

 

[bradl]

I also just found this tedious workaround on my own lol. I feel it has something to do with updates in the backend, or updates of update system so old iTunes can no longer get the correct info and link to download.

This brings up an interesting thought..

Has anyone thought to run Wireshark or something against the iTunes client and compare that to what we might see if Wireshark or HTTP Catcher is run on an iPhone or iPad? I ask, because if this is a simple case of the address or so being changed on the server hosting the updates, if that server name isn't hardcoded into iTunes, iTunes could be tricked into connecting to the proper servers for updates by just adding an entry in the hosts file on the PC, or we could find where that list of servers is listed (It has to be in a config file, as it is not in any of the preferences), get the proper hostname/IP address of the updates server that is working (which we should be able to get from the iPhone/iPad), make the change, and have it working again.

Thoughts?

BL.

 

[Shirasaki]

This brings up an interesting thought..

Has anyone thought to run Wireshark or something against the iTunes client and compare that to what we might see if Wireshark or HTTP Catcher is run on an iPhone or iPad? I ask, because if this is a simple case of the address or so being changed on the server hosting the updates, if that server name isn't hardcoded into iTunes, iTunes could be tricked into connecting to the proper servers for updates by just adding an entry in the hosts file on the PC, or we could find where that list of servers is listed (It has to be in a config file, as it is not in any of the preferences), get the proper hostname/IP address of the updates server that is working (which we should be able to get from the iPhone/iPad), make the change, and have it working again.

Thoughts?

BL.

This sounds interesting, but I currently don’t have the time to dive into it too much Personally.

Someone else has done a similar thing under macOS and I feel the situation may be more complicated than originally thought.

 

[KaliYoni]

You can still manage iOS devices on a Mac using Apple Configurator 2. I too held onto iTunes as long as possible until I was forced to switch. Configurator can only update apps though; there isn't any way to buy new apps. And if you're on Windows, I think Apple forces you to do everything on your iPhone and/or iPad now.

‎Apple Configurator

‎Apple Configurator makes it easy to deploy iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, and Apple TV devices in your school or business. Use Apple Configurator to quickly configure large numbers of devices connected to your Mac via USB with the settings, apps, and data you specify for your students, employees...

apps.apple.com

 

[Shirasaki]

You can still manage iOS devices on a Mac using Apple Configurator 2. I too held onto iTunes as long as possible until I was forced to switch. Configurator can only update apps though; there isn't any way to buy new apps. And if you're on Windows, I think Apple forces you to do everything on your iPhone and/or iPad now.

‎Apple Configurator

‎Apple Configurator makes it easy to deploy iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, and Apple TV devices in your school or business. Use Apple Configurator to quickly configure large numbers of devices connected to your Mac via USB with the settings, apps, and data you specify for your students, employees...

apps.apple.com

I checked configurator solution and it is a whole lot more convoluted and prone to error. Since I also use a decent amount of Windows, I just figure it is better for me to manage app update on Windows than on MacOS.

 

[bradl]

Apparently, this is working again! I was able to do an Update All Apps from iTunes 12.6.5.3 for windows. So whatever was broken server side Apple caught wind of and fixed.

BL.

 

[chrfr]

Updating has resumed working for me as well.

 

[GBstoic]

Thank you so much for reporting this. Deleting and re-downloading was such a pfaff. Particularly when I never quite trusted it to work.