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Helpful answers
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Apr 25, 2016 7:01 PM in response to mltngunmtlby OriginalName022,★HelpfulIf you're using an iTunes backup, you may have a problem with apps due to a feature called app thinning. This may give you problems because apps no longer transfer from your phone to your computer, so iTunes is unable to restore these apps to a phone that doesn't already have them installed. You should cancel the restore and download all the apps you want either on your phone or in iTunes, then restore again. If you have an iCloud backup, you may use that instead and you won't run into this problem.
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Apr 25, 2016 7:01 PM in response to OriginalName022by mltngunmtl,Ah, it's been awhile since my last iPhone... didn't know that they changed the backup process like that. But iCloud doesn't backup everything though... so I would still need to plug it in right? Or is there another method that I don't know about?
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Apr 25, 2016 7:14 PM in response to OriginalName022by Philly_Phan,OriginalName022 wrote:
If you're using an iTunes backup, you may have a problem with apps due to a feature called app thinning. This may give you problems because apps no longer transfer from your phone to your computer...
Interesting. My iPhone-6 (9.3.1) DOES transfer apps to my iTunes 12.2.3.17 on a 10.11.4 El Capitan Mac.
Can you document your use of the term "app thinning?"
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Apr 25, 2016 7:15 PM in response to mltngunmtlby OriginalName022,Here are the general differences between iCloud and iTunes backups: About backups in iCloud and iTunes - Apple Support
For the most part, iCloud backups will be just fine. I use iTunes because I have quite a few songs that aren't on the iTunes Store, so I need to use my computer for that anyways.
If you prefer using an iTunes backup, you can download/update to the current version of all the apps you want to restore either on your phone or in iTunes before you restore your phone. Downloading the apps to your phone first will allow them to take up less space (known as app thinning) and the iTunes backup will restore the data that those apps generated.
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Apr 25, 2016 7:25 PM in response to Philly_Phanby OriginalName022,Explanation of what app thinning is: App Thinning - Apple Developer
Also I just found this: If your apps aren't transferred from iTunes to your device after updating to iOS 9 - Apple Support
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Apr 25, 2016 7:26 PM in response to OriginalName022by Philly_Phan,Again, can you document your use of the term "app thinning?"
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Apr 25, 2016 7:27 PM in response to OriginalName022by Philly_Phan,The iPhone is an Apple product. Can you document your use of the term "app thinning" in an Apple document?
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Apr 25, 2016 7:34 PM in response to Philly_Phanby OriginalName022,The first link I provided is from Apple's developer website. App thinning is a developer feature that typical users don't need to fully understand. A consequence of this is that apps cannot be transferred from iPhone to iTunes directly. Turning on automatic downloads will work, but if a user has not done this, then they won't have all the current versions of their apps readily available in iTunes.
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Apr 26, 2016 11:27 AM in response to OriginalName022by mltngunmtl,I've been using the iTunes backup specifically because oh all the songs I have that's not through the iTunes store, and since I usually update all app directly in iTunes. All my apps were updated before I backed them up, and then also before I tried restoring to my iPhone. I ended up having to reinstall the apps individually on my iPhone regardless if my iTunes app library was updated or not... and it took forever! Also, I had to do it overnight 'cause it wouldn't allow some apps to install due to their file size. (I have unlimited data)
All this just feels redundant to me... and I'm not really concerned about the app thinning 'cause I don't have a ton of apps, but the apps I do have I need, and that concerns me.
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Apr 27, 2016 6:26 AM in response to mltngunmtlby OriginalName022,★HelpfulAccording to this If your apps aren't transferred from iTunes to your device after updating to iOS 9 - Apple Support, iTunes is not used at all to restore apps to your phone. Instead, they are downloaded directly onto your device. This article was last modified on April 5, and some of the information that I have already told you comes from before this date, so it is possible that this process has changed. I apologize for any confusion caused by this. App thinning is a developer feature and you, as a user, have no control over its use, as it's supposed to work without you knowing about it. What is supposed to happen is that these apps will automatically begin downloading if you're connected to the Internet (instead of being transferred from iTunes).
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Apr 27, 2016 6:26 AM in response to OriginalName022by mltngunmtl,Ah, just read the article... so does that mean that I can delete my apps in iTunes since they're basically fazed out? At least get some more space on my hard drive and not have to see those update notices.
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Apr 27, 2016 8:17 AM in response to mltngunmtlby OriginalName022,You probably can delete your apps in iTunes. However, if an app you use is later removed from the App Store, there would be no way to get it back. I was able to transfer the original Flappy Bird (no longer available in the App Store, but still on my computer) to a new iPhone running iOS 9 in October, so it's probably not entirely true that iTunes isn't used at all for this. I read through the article again and it seems that this might only be true for apps that use the thinning feature. It's impossible to tell if an app uses it or not, and at some point most, if not all, probably will. If you're using popular apps, there is very little chance that they will get removed, so you should be okay to delete them from your computer if you wish.