Resolved Why does iTunes have an App section?

[countryside]

Hi,

In iTunes, there is an App tab. Why? It doesn't even contain my entire library of apps! I have hundreds of apps, but iTunes only has 5. Is it wise to have my Apps downloaded on my computer, even though they are for iOS?

Thanks,
countryside

 

[Rigby]

In iTunes, there is an App tab. Why?

So you can set up a phone via iTunes and USB (rather than wirelessly).

It doesn't even contain my entire library of apps! I have hundreds of apps, but iTunes only has 5.

Yeah, it's a bit inconsistent in the sense that iTunes doesn't show a list of apps that you have purchased but not downloaded (like it can with movies and music). You can download all your apps if you want though.

Is it wise to have my Apps downloaded on my computer, even though they are for iOS?

If you ever need to restore a phone from a backup on your computer, the process may be faster if the apps are already downloaded. Otherwise, it doesn't really make a lot of sense if you primarily manage your phone wirelessly without using iTunes.

 

[countryside]

So you can set up a phone via iTunes and USB (rather than wirelessly).
Yeah, it's a bit inconsistent in the sense that iTunes doesn't show a list of apps that you have purchased but not downloaded (like it can with movies and music).
If you ever need to restore a phone from a backup on your computer, the process may be faster if the apps are already downloaded. Otherwise, it doesn't really make a lot of sense if you primarily manage your phone wirelessly without using iTunes.

Thank you so much for the help. I guess I will just remove the few on there to get more storage.

 

[Julien]

Hi,

In iTunes, there is an App tab. Why? It doesn't even contain my entire library of apps! I have hundreds of apps, but iTunes only has 5. Is it wise to have my Apps downloaded on my computer, even though they are for iOS?

Thanks,
Noah

Sync your iPhone to iTunes and all your Apps will all be there.

 

[Böhme417]

Sync your iPhone to iTunes and all your Apps will all be there.

I don't think that's true. I recently deleted all of my apps from iTunes (freed up a few GB), and it tells you when you delete them that it doesn't affect synchronized devices. Not to mention, the next time I synced my phone, the apps didn't come back. I think you have to specifically tell it to transfer the apps.

 

[Julien]

I don't think that's true. I recently deleted all of my apps from iTunes (freed up a few GB), and it tells you when you delete them that it doesn't affect synchronized devices. Not to mention, the next time I synced my phone, the apps didn't come back. I think you have to specifically tell it to transfer the apps.

True, you get a popup screen when you hit sync that ask you if you want to transfer Apps to iTunes. Just hit OK. However you use sync to get the Apps in iTunes. Also you can manually download them from the App store to your iTunes account since you have already bought them.

EDIT: I just 'bought' an (free) App on my iPhone and synced my iPhone to iTunes. The App is in my iTunes library without any popup message.