How do I stop itunes from transferring apps from my ipad or iphone to my pc ?

queerchameleon wrote:

Any app I ever want is always available in the cloud so what's the point of having them on my PC in the 1st place?

Faster restore in the event that the device needs to be restored.

Saving of in-App settings.

Ability to re-install the app in the event it is no longer availabe in the iTunes store.

Why would you not want them backed up?

Not having a local backup in addition to the ability to re-download from iCloud is silly.

I want to know this also, if somebody HAS the answer... Even when "Sync Apps" isn't checked, itunes will store all the apps and I don't have that much space un my macbook so I'd like to use the space for other things, storing all those apps on my computer is useless.

TY!

Gabo

i'm having the same issue. i simply do not have the luxury of being able to store hundreds of apps on my computer. they are useless on there anyway. i only sync the apps to icloud that i want to ensure i dont loose my saved game or whatever. thinking about it, it just doesnt make sense to have 14GB worth of space used up for no apparent reason. seems silly

I'm having that problem too. Do you know if the apps get installed to the hardrive of the computer or if it just sits in iTunes and doesnt take up any space on the computer?

Bad *** Workaround:

1. Delete the folder ~/Music/iTunes Media/Mobile Applications
2. Create an Alias with the name "Mobile Applications" pointing to somewhere on your disk.
3. When you click sync, iTunes should act like it is transfering the files, but in fact the linked folder stays empty.

Do this only if you now what you are doing (as far as you can now given that creepy itunes). This workaround plays to bugs against each other.

I'm pretty sure that the space is used up on your computer's hardrive.

Anyway my solution to this nuisance of apps/itunes transfer was to allow itunes to download the apps from my phone...

...First of all I had tried to uncheck a few boxes in itunes a) automatically sync when device is connected (in the summary section) b) prevent devices from syncing (edit>preferences>devices) and c) Automatically sync new apps (apps section of device)

HOWEVER, when I would click sync in any section, apps tried to transfer to itunes from my iphone.
So after all my apps went on my computer (approx. 9 GB), I checked the boxes back, disconnected my device and deleted all the apps from itunes and my computer simultaneously (by clicking del/move to recycle bin).

Now when I connect my iphone it does it's backup/sync thing automatically ...but no apps try to transfer 🙂

Note: apps from your library cannot be set to sync with your device

I can now also click sync in any section and no apps transfer.

(This problem started when I downloaded an app from itunes rather than my device and I later transfered the app to my device. My apps section in itunes is completely empty now and no apps appear in windows explorer either)

the only thing I am unsure of now is; what's going to happen if I purchase an app from itunes on my pc again ...I'm guessing I'll have to repeat the process (might want to avoid that)

Is there still no adequate solution for this issue? It's very sad there is no option to disable transferring apps.

1. I just don't want to wait while many GBs of apps finish transferring. Too much time needed.
2. I don't want to waste free space on my HDD.
3. I actually don't see the point of copying the apps to HDD. Yes, they can disappear from iTunes store, but I don't care. I don't think the most useful apps will dissapear.

I am very disappointed in iTunes 😟

Ha!

jones_von_stone- awesome! That fixed it!

1. Deleted my "Mobile Applications" folder from my iTunes library directory.
2. Created an alias to an empty directory nearby (I called mine 'null' 😉 )
3. Renamed the newly created alias to "Mobile Applications"
4. Popped the new alias back in the iTunes library directory

Works like a charm! The iPhone syncs correctly, but the apps don't get copied to disk.

I work on a MacBook Air, and keep my iTunes library on an SD card, so this workaround gives me gigs more space for music!

Thank Jones!

1. Connect iPad, open iTunes, go to the "View" menu, select "Show Sidebar" (if not already showing).

2. Right click or Control key + click on the iPad under the "Devices " category, select "Reset Warnings" Note: if your iPad is currently syncing or backing up this option will be grayed out. Stop the sync/backup in progress by clicking the small " x " next to the sync/backup progress bar. That should make it stop. You should now have "Reset Warnings" as an option when right clicking (Control key + click) on the iPad.

3. Select Reset Warnings from that option menu, then click the "Backup Now" in the "Summary" section (which should be over to the right of the sidebar at this point.)

4. When the warning prompt pops up asking you if you want to transfer applications select "Don't Transfer Apps" and you're done.

Tried that multiple times and it didn't work. iTunes still copies all the apps on my iPad to my MBP 😟

Here's what I did:

1. Delete all apps from Apps section of iTunes

2. Go to finder, delete ~/Music/iTunes/Mobile Applications

3. Click 'Reset Warnings' under Options on Device Summary screen in iTunes

The app section of iTunes is now empty and after a few trial syncs over both USB and wifi it has not been re-populated. Hopefully it stays that way, as this has freed up more than a gigabyte on my MacBook Air!

Ok I realize this thread is a little old but Im having this issue on a PC.

I think its absolutely ridiculous that we no longer have the option to NOT sync apps to the computer when we so choose.

Has anyone figured out a workaround to this?

Or did apple re-add the ability to NOT sync apps to the computer?

Very annoying that all this space is being used to store apps which are useless since I sync my stuff to the cloud!

Im using iTunes 12 BTW

This is what I did and it worked.

When your device is plugged in there is a "Summary" screen. Under the "Options" heading (scroll down) there is a button that says "Reset warnings." Click it.

In the section titled "backups" hit the button "Back Up Now." When it asks if you want to backup apps click no.

The one caveat to this is you have to find the "Mobile Applications" folder and delete it's contents (I'm on a Mac and it's in the iTunes library folder). The space will be freed up and there won't be more apps added to it.

Open a terminal and run the following command. Enter your password when prompted.

sudo chown root ~/Music/iTunes/iTunes\ Media/Mobile\ Applications

This will elevate permissions on the directory where iTunes copies the apps from your device. Rather than ask you for authentication, iTunes will simply bypass the copying entirely during the sync.

To revert this, run the same command but change "root" to whatever your username is.

Tested with iTunes 12.0.1.26 but will surely work with other versions.