I do not want to sync apps in iTunes11

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Level 1

24 points

I do not want to sync apps in iTunes11

I thought that there was a "sync apps" box I could check/uncheck in iTunes 10, in the "Apps" tab under "Devices". Now that box seems to be gone. This is very inconvenient.

1. I have several iDevices and I do not want all aps on all devices. That was working fine before. There was no interaction between apps on iDevice and apps in iTunes on computer. Now iTunes11 wants to either put or remove apps from my iPhone depending on what the tab next to the app says. For example, if the tab says "install", it will install it on my iPhone. Maybe Apple's thinking was to only install the app if I hit the tab and explicitly turn "instal" into "will install", but it certainly doesn't work that way. I got lots of aps on my iPhone that never made it there after a Tunes10 syncs.

I have all apps I ever bought on my computer just in case iCloud dies, but I do not want to sync them to my iDevices. Just like in iTines 10.

2. It's a big waste of time to wait for apps to sync when my goal is only to sync smart playlists from the computer to the iPhone. I can easly skip the backup for example as backup is stage 1, but syncing music and apps are part of stage 7, so it is either both or none.

Q. Is there a way NOT to sync apps?

Thanks in advance

MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2), 2.6 GHz Core i7, 8GB RAM

Posted on Dec 9, 2012 5:19 PM

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Answer 1

unixnerd09 Author

Level 1

24 points

Dec 9, 2012 5:42 PM in response to unixnerd09

Well maybe it was a one-time glitch. I repetead the experiment and it seems like "remove/will remove" and "install/will install" behave as expected.

Still, I hate having to wait to transfer recently updated apps from my iDevice to computer. I set my iTunes to automaticlly download everything. but it seems it doesn't do it before syncing.

Bottom line, the "sync apps" box in iTunes 10 was good and it is gone from iTunes 11.

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Answer 2

bryanccy

Level 1

0 points

Dec 29, 2012 9:49 AM in response to unixnerd09

seems I found the "check box" finally!!!

That's in iTunes > Preferences... > tab "Store" > section "Automatic Downloads" in the middle, there is a check box "Apps". Switch that off and then click "OK". However, please be careful that it seems need some time (after click "OK") to really store the updated preference. It would be better to first double check by selecting Preferences again.

Then plug in the iPhone/iPad, it'll first *CONTINUE* the step 7 if you ever cancel it in the last sync. Please wait patiently until it finished (which already ruinned your App list in iTunes, sorry for that). Then in the next sync when the iOS device plug in, step 7 would never appeared again.

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Answer 3

unixnerd09 Author

Level 1

24 points

Dec 29, 2012 6:59 PM in response to bryanccy

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

It seems to be working fine now (all automatic were off when I did the first sync).

It may have been a one time glitch because of the unusual way I set up my iTunes on the new computer (manually copy the folder from the old computer) and/or simply the upgrade from iTunes10 to iTunes11 just does not go smooth. I am saying that because the new "app sync" paradigm in iTunes11 is different from iTunes10 (I like it better).

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I do not want to sync apps in iTunes11