iPhone [MERGED] iOS 13 - app updates stuck on "Waiting"

[Morac]

Thanks for the finds, Morac and sharp65. That's some good stuff. Much further progress than we've had so far.

That Apple thread concerns me. I spoke with a Senior Advisor today who's getting in contact with the engineering team, and they're supposed to contact me again next week. I hope they don't come back and tell me to factory reset my phone as new. That would be a pain, especially since that Apple thread proves that a factory reset as new doesn't work.

At this point doing a factory reset seems pointless, since once you sign in with your Apple ID the problem will return.

One thing I would be curious about is if logging in with a different Apple ID would allow updating. Something like the Apple TV that supports multiple accounts might be a good place to test that.

I spoke to another senior advisor today and apparently there was a mixup on when I thought I was supposed to get a callback. It is scheduled for tomorrow morning, so hopefully by then I’ll have more details. That makes sense as the SA contacting engineering last night and I wouldn’t expect a turnaround time the next morning. I’m told most Apple ID issues take at least 48 hours to fix.

 

[craigy2302]

I’ve had a call with a Senior Advisor this evening.

I shared my iPhone screen with the advisor (a cool new feature for debugging), and we double checked all the network settings, removed any VPN and Profiles and then performed a network reset. Tried to update some apps again, and then manually set the DNS to Google’s and restarted the phone again. Annoyingly none of these steps fixed the issues. They’ve sent it over to engineering, but said there’s nothing on their “internal message board” at the minute about it, he also said my Apple ID looks fine. We did discover that I can still install updates via TestFlight though!

I will post again tomorrow as they’re calling back to relay what engineering has reported.

 

[HaSch]

I have the same bug and tried successful a workaround with iMazing. With this tool it is possible to download and install updates.

 

[Morac]

I don’t know if this is a symptom of the problem, an indication that Apple is attempting to fix something or completely unrelated, but I’ve had a bunch of movies I’ve added via iTunes or Movies Anywhere over the past few months show in the Apple TV Up Next list out of the blue (twice).

Still having the problem, so I’m guessing it’s not related, but it is odd. It’s like Apple is repurchasing things I’ve bought in the last few months

 

[kurisub]

I just got off the phone with a Senior Advisor and unfortunately all she could really recommend is wiping the device and restoring…which is something I really don't want to have to do, and given that some people have already reported that not solving the problem, I'm not even sure if it's worth it. For now I'm just going to wait and hope the problem fixes itself in a few days like it did back in August for some people. (https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250574804?page=2)

If this isn't fixed in a few days, I'll wipe my old iPhone 6 running iOS 12 that's also affected by this problem and see if that fixes, if nothing more than to call Apple again and say "See, I told you so! Now what?"

 

[kurisub]

Another thing I just now noticed…the offload app and redownload workaround…doesn't actually update the app! I was noticing that the version numbers weren't changing…and while it does take the app off your list of app to update in the App Store, as soon as your refresh the list, it pops back up! So in order to update apps I have to completely delete it.

EDIT: OK now I'm confused…on my iPhone, offloading does seem to update the app. But on my iPad (which is on the public beta) offloading does't appear to update the app.

EDIT 2: OK, I figured out the iPad problem. I can't just offload and redownload from the settings app in order to get the newest app. I have to offload, then go to the app in the Appstore and download it there to get the updated version.

 

[dave14305]

That makes me think the problem is that Apple no longer thinks the apps were bought under that Apple ID. That would explain why updating doesn’t work, but if that was the case re-downloading apps wouldn’t work, which it does. Overall though I’m confused as to why this is happening.

Apple supper never called me back this morning like they said they would.

I just realized that my iPad is updating fine, but not my iPhone. Both on 13.2.2 and using the same AppleID and several of the same apps.
🤔

 

[dave14305]

On my iPad, i offloaded LastPass which had a pending update, then went to the App Store, but it was spinning endlessly. So I restarted the iPad, went back to the App Store, downloaded LastPass again. Great. Then went back to the App Store pending updates and the other updates downloaded fine.

We’ll see if it lasts...

 

[Morac]

It’s still not working for me. Worse now, when I offload and reinstall an app, the App Store still shows there’s an update, even though when I look at the version number for the app, I can see it’s the latest version.

I’ve also had the App Store show a progress circle forever instead of having the update button come back. Eventually that seems to resolve itself.

I’ve tried restarting my iPad and iPhone, but neither will update apps.

Apple was supposed to call at 9 am. They didn’t. I don’t even have my advisor’s contact info so I can’t call or email him.


Edit: restarting my devices seem to fix the offload/reinstall still showing an update, but apps still won’t update.

 

[shidevil]

Guys, I’m having the same issue on my iPhone 11 Pro Max running iOS13.2.2, iPad Pro and MacOS Mojave as well.

just a question are you guys using the old Apple ID without email?? Just username?
Like my account it’s without @<gmail/hotmail/yahoo.

 

[Morac]

Guys, I’m having the same issue on my iPhone 11 Pro Max running iOS13.2.2, iPad Pro and MacOS Mojave as well.

just a question are you guys using the old Apple ID without email?? Just username?
Like my account it’s without @hotmail/yahoo.

My Apple ID is an email address, though the account is old (predates the iPhone).

 

[shidevil]

My Apple ID is an email address, though the account is old (predates the iPhone).

I’m guessing it has to do something with our accounts. Guess have to wait for more people to report in.

 

[craigy2302]

I had a call back from the Senior Support agent I spoke to yesterday, they said that they hadn't heard anything back from the engineering team other than the suggestion to keep an eye out for any further iOS updates and install them when they become available, and to keep trying to install updates as this might be a server side issue.

They didn't suggest wiping my phone/doing a factory reset though! They also said that they'll keep me upto date with any further information when it becomes available.

Makes me think they are aware of something not being right.

 

[Morac]

I still haven’t gotten a return call and I don’t have my advisor’s contact info.

There have been numerous people reporting this “purchase failure” response in the logs, so I can’t see how Apple isn’t aware of this.

It looks like based on a thread in August that it eventually started working after about a week, but I don’t trust that will happen.

I’m going to reach out to Apple again today.

 

[Morac]

Two things:

1. I installed a TestFlight app that I have subscription for. Since doing that, every time I open the app, it signs me into the Sandbox account with my real Apple ID. This problem started prior to that happening though. I did “subscribe” via the Sandbox account a few months ago, but that expired. I then subscribed via the real App Store account. I can see the subscription there. I’m still able to redownload apps and make purchases, though updating is still failing.

2. I reached out to a different senior care person as I hadn’t heard back. He told me that engineering hadn’t responded yet. He said it usually takes 2 business days, so he wouldn’t expect anything till Monday.

Still having the problem.

 

[TravelerHD]

He told me that engineering hadn’t responded yet. He said it usually takes 2 business days, so he wouldn’t expect anything till Monday.

I got that "two business days" estimate when I talked with a Senior Advisor too. I'm expecting a call on Wednesday. Which is kinda funny because if things follow the pattern that they did in August then the problem will fix itself a day or two later.

I finally checked my MacBook today and as expected I'm having the same Update issue on it too. I haven't jumped through all of the hoops of logging in & out and update macOS, but I doubt doing any of that would help anyway.

 

[Morac]

Before I go down the rabbit hole, is anyone who is having this issue never tested a TestFlight or developer app? More specifically has anyone never logged into the Sandbox account with their real Apple ID?

I ask because back in Feb 2019, while testing the Tapatalk Beta app in TestFlight, I got a prompt to subscribe to get rid of ads. I did as it said beta testers wouldn’t be charged. I got an iTunes login prompt, which I thought was odd, but entered my Apple ID and password. The “purchase” went through, but it caused the “Sandbox” section to appear in the iTunes and App Store Settings page and showed me logged in with my Apple ID. I logged out, but ever since then that Sandbox section has been there.

At some point I installed the App Store version of Tapatalk and on November 5, I purchased a trial subscription in that app. Yesterday(Nov 15) at around 3 pm, I checked and I was not logged into the Sandbox account. In the evening I saw there was a new TestFlight version of Tapatalk and installed it. Today (Nov 16) I noticed I was logged into the Sandbox account again. I logged out, but every time I open the Tapatalk app it logs me back in. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling it, but it still does that. I believe what’s happening is that it is checking my subscription and since it’s a beta app, it’s logging me into the Sandbox account.

Now my problems started on Nov 13, which is before I got logged into the Sandbox account, but I’m not wondering if the problem is related to getting a subscription for an app in both the Sandbox and real App Store.


I found a page that states using a sandbox account to log in to the real App Store breaks the Sandbox account, but nothing about the reverse. Still....

Sandbox Testing - Apple Pay

The Apple Pay Sandbox environment allows merchants and developers to test their implementation of Apple Pay with test credit and debit cards.

developer.apple.com

Important: If you mistakenly use a sandbox tester account to sign in to a production environment, like iTunes, on your test device instead of your test environment, the sandbox account becomes invalid and can’t be used again. If this happens, create a new sandbox tester account with a new email address.

Also:

Testing In-App Purchases Ruins Your Phone

To guarantee a good experience you must rigorously test. However, there are many pain points involved in doing this. Each individual issue is only irritating, but together they create enough friction that properly testing in-app purchases is a miserable experience.

www.revenuecat.com

 

[TravelerHD]

Before I go down the rabbit hole, is anyone who is having this issue never tested a TestFlight or developer app? More specifically has anyone never logged into the Sandbox account with their real Apple ID?

I know that dave14305 in these forums doesn’t have any TestFlight apps installed. He might be able to answer.

In the past I've been signed in to Sandbox with my real Apple ID, just like you (if I'm reading your message right). I've never done a subscription in testing apps but I have done other in-app purchases. And there have been some apps where I have swapped back and forth between TestFlight versions and App Store versions.

 

[K3y]

Before I go down the rabbit hole, is anyone who is having this issue never tested a TestFlight or developer app? More specifically has anyone never logged into the Sandbox account with their real Apple ID?

I ask because back in Feb 2019, while testing the Tapatalk Beta app in TestFlight, I got a prompt to subscribe to get rid of ads. I did as it said beta testers wouldn’t be charged. I got an iTunes login prompt, which I thought was odd, but entered my Apple ID and password. The “purchase” went through, but it caused the “Sandbox” section to appear in the iTunes and App Store Settings page and showed me logged in with my Apple ID. I logged out, but ever since then that Sandbox section has been there.

At some point I installed the App Store version of Tapatalk and on November 5, I purchased a trial subscription in that app. Yesterday(Nov 15) at around 3 pm, I checked and I was not logged into the Sandbox account. In the evening I saw there was a new TestFlight version of Tapatalk and installed it. Today (Nov 16) I noticed I was logged into the Sandbox account again. I logged out, but every time I open the Tapatalk app it logs me back in. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling it, but it still does that. I believe what’s happening is that it is checking my subscription and since it’s a beta app, it’s logging me into the Sandbox account.

Now my problems started on Nov 13, which is before I got logged into the Sandbox account, but I’m not wondering if the problem is related to getting a subscription for an app in both the Sandbox and real App Store.


I found a page that states using a sandbox account to log in to the real App Store breaks the Sandbox account, but nothing about the reverse. Still....

Sandbox Testing - Apple Pay

The Apple Pay Sandbox environment allows merchants and developers to test their implementation of Apple Pay with test credit and debit cards.

developer.apple.com

Also:

Testing In-App Purchases Ruins Your Phone

To guarantee a good experience you must rigorously test. However, there are many pain points involved in doing this. Each individual issue is only irritating, but together they create enough friction that properly testing in-app purchases is a miserable experience.

www.revenuecat.com

I also have that sandbox section, and I assume it appeared when I did an in-app purchase on the TestFlight version of Toolbox Pro.
As you said, it asked for my username and password, but it didn’t charge me.
It was my first time using a TestFlight app, so I just assumed it was normal.

 

[dave14305]

Before I go down the rabbit hole, is anyone who is having this issue never tested a TestFlight or developer app? More specifically has anyone never logged into the Sandbox account with their real Apple ID?

I haven’t done any TestFlight, etc. and I don’t have the Sandbox account visible.

 

[Morac]

I haven’t done any TestFlight, etc. and I don’t have the Sandbox account visible.

The Sandbox isn’t on any of your devices (it’s only on my iPad)? I’m assuming you haven’t done any app development then?

If not, then I’m guessing the Sandbox thing is a red herring.

 

[HaSch]

It seems NOT to be a problem of iOS 13. My iPhone 6 is on iOS 12 and the problem is the same.

 

[tweedledivo]

The Sandbox isn’t on any of your devices (it’s only on my iPad)? I’m assuming you haven’t done any app development then?

If not, then I’m guessing the Sandbox thing is a red herring.

Thanks for all of your sleuthing, @Morac ! I also do not have TestFlight/Sandbox on any of my devices.

 

[sledgehammer89]

I haven’t done any TestFlight, etc. and I don’t have the Sandbox account visible.

From your description in your other comment, you probably don't have the same problem as we have: you get the round circle and nothing happens. We jump back immediately to the "Update" icon when taping on it.

Maybe our problem is related to a developer account issue. My personal developed app (for own usage, not in App Store) won't start anymore since the problem with Update icon jumping back to Update, when taping. My App just crash. My App worked for months. But I don't have done anything last week. My developer account is valid and paid.

 

[Morac]

Thanks for all of your sleuthing, @Morac ! I also do not have TestFlight/Sandbox on any of my devices.

Which issue do you have the one where the download hangs or the update never even starts and tapping update simply shows the update button again?