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Download Error. Tap to retry.

Whenever I try and download a song from itunes directly to my iphone I get the message: Download Error. Tap to retry.

I've checked that I don't have any t&c's to accept in itunes and that the files are under 10mb. I've also tried deauthorizing and reauthorizing my compueter which doesn't help.

Does anyone have any other ideas? I'm using a brand new 3GS which syncs with windows vista.

Thanks in advance 🙂

iPhone 3GS, iPhone OS 3.0.1

Posted on Sep 25, 2009 12:01 PM

Reply
153 replies

Dec 27, 2010 3:04 AM in response to Lukeless

Hey Luckless, mate I know that the method you described defies logic..but amazingly it worked for me. I did download again. My file was for 188Mb and when it reached 188 (for the nth time that day) I hit pause. I restarted and started processing. Then the **** thing went back to downloading from scratch..but magic and this once it downloaded, processed and I had the video in the videos folder!

Thanks mate.

Jan 4, 2011 4:34 PM in response to jenbugn

jenbugn wrote:
I just got the answer from Apple Support:
Open iTunes on your computer, connect your iPhone/iPod
At the top, where it says File, Edit, View, etc.
Choose "Store"
Then "Check for Available Downloads"

This does not always work. My iPhone downloaded more than 3.2GB out of a 3.3GB HD movie file before failing on the last few kilobytes.

Tap to resume is over in the blink of an eye and no pause button is displayed.

Switching to airplane mode gives no pause button, gives an error that the file can only be downloaded over WiFi, not 3G.

iTunes on my Macbook (where I usually sync my iPhone) reports that all purchases have been downloaded for this account. When I go into my account, in iTunes on the Macbook, it reports 1 available download for iTunes, but the "Download Now" button does absolutely nothing.

So I'm stuck in complete limbo now - my iPhone won't download any new upgrades from the App Store because there's a pending download in iTunes.

Jan 13, 2011 11:37 AM in response to Lukeless

I have been trying this solution, and I cannot seem to hit the pause button due to the fact that it only appears for a slight millisecond. Even when I'm pretty sure I've hit the pause button, my iPod touch still does not recognize that I paused the download.
This is extremely frustrating. I have three songs that haven't downloaded due to this error, one of which I've had in my downloads for about three months now.

Feb 10, 2011 12:39 AM in response to nataleegw

I kept hitting the retry button and soon found that got me nowhere and I wasn't sure what else to do. I sought help from this forum and upon reading some of the solutions people have tried the one you mention worked for me. You have to be persistant and try using your smallest finger for better accuracy, try hitting the space before the button appears. I know we shouldn't have to resort to this but it's better than wasting the money you've spent on the items. I feel badly for the people who have repurchased the items in their search for a solution.

Mar 21, 2011 3:10 AM in response to Kris238

I solved the issue using iPhone Explorer, a free downloadable application for both Mac and Windows (I'm not affiliated to iPhone Explorer's developers).

Connect your iDevice via the Dock cable and
access the Downloads folder with iPhone Explorer.

Delete all the files related to the stuck download, for example:

- the JPG cover of a movie
- the M4V of the movie itself
- the plist manifest for the download

You may want to perform a backup of these files, before deleting them, by copying the Downloads folder content to your Desktop folder.

Next and final step is restart the download; you will not be charged twice for the purchase.

Alex

Apr 15, 2011 4:50 AM in response to bengebenge

Hi Guys
I have an Ipad and I regularly download movies from Itunes, and this has happened to me quite a few times...

I find that there might not be enough space left on my ipad when this error appears, because when I delete another movie like an (old rental) or a movie I dont particularly want on my ipad anymore, I will delete it. Once this happens I tap the retry button and the movies continues to download!
This works for me anyway..

Heaps annoying but perhaps I should get 64 gb ipad anyway and then this wouldnt happen lol

May 14, 2011 8:39 PM in response to bengebenge

I tried everything mentioned above (pause button, reset, etc.) on my iPad to know avail until I tried the aforementioned iPhone Explorer trick. I had 12GB left on my 32GB iPad, so I couldn't figure out why it wasn't working.


For future reference the path for the Downloads folder is root->User->Media->Downloads . Just delete everything within the folder, and you'll be prompted to resume download the next time you open the iTunes app on your iPad. It will redownload the file and everything will work like clockwork.

May 30, 2011 11:04 PM in response to bengebenge

Not sure whether this is technically a different solution...


My 12yo daughter tried to download an album directly onto her iTouch 3. All of the songs but one worked. Plenty of room on the iTouch so that wasn't the problem.


We found this thread and she tried Lukeless's solution repeatedly, but couldn't hit the "pause" button in time (the 0.1 second that someone mentioned above seemed about right).


Finally she just started tapping repeatedly... not really trying to hit the pause button, just tapping it as quickly as possible. Dozens of times.


The song WENT AWAY. She panicked.


(I know we could have just tried to buy the song again, but I'd have hated to do so, on principle. Hate to pay them twice. And there was always a chance it'd fail the second time too.)

After a couple minutes... the song came back, and downloaded properly!


So maybe one of her taps paused and another restarted it, like Lukeless recommended. Or maybe she just overloaded the user-action queue, and that helped reset the download. Or something else. In any case, it worked.


Good luck.


Quick comments:

1. Come on, Apple, get on this. Really. Horrible user experience. The second-to-last thing anyone wants it to buy something and not get it... the *last* thing is when that unsuccessful download is fouling up the ability to download other stuff!

2. Don't assume the user's running out of room and that must be the error.

3. Don't assume the user can connect to a PC or Mac. That's not a solution! That's a workaround that might work for some people. iDevices are supposed to be able to download without being sync'd, that's inherent functionality.

Jul 9, 2011 5:48 AM in response to Lumpy_man

From the iOS device (iPhone or iPad), you can use a horizontal swipe across the specific download item to bring up a delete icon.


This swipe works similarly to the Mail client, when deleting messages in the message navigation window.


The horizontal swipe does not register readily, so try it a few times. I've had the swipe finally register and bring up the delete button after a couple of tries to as many as a dozen horizontal swipes.


Based on some testing, this does clear a stuck download, and it can also clear an in-progress download.


No Mac iTunes connection is required.


Tested with iOS 4.3.3 (8J2)

Aug 20, 2011 6:25 AM in response to bengebenge

i've had the same problem...i've had songs in my que for almost a year now. Stumbled upon this http://http://www.eddieoneverything.com/articles/how-to-fix-the-ipodiphone-downl oad-error-tap-to-retry-error-without-using-your-pc.php


works awesome. You have to be quick when pressing pause. Don't wait until you see it. Hit the tap to retry and then just keep hitting there with your finger!

Sep 1, 2011 4:50 AM in response to bengebenge

Hey:-) i had that problem with a couple of songs!


i know how to get rid of it,

1. connect your ipod/iphone to your pc

2. open itunes

3. log in to the store

4. then in the top right corner of the store, where it should say your email address, click the arrow that points down when your hover over it.

5. then go to account

6. then it should say downloads whn it brings up your accounts page

7. press download now


to transfer them to your ipod or iphone

1. go to purchased in the side bar underneath the headline itunes store

2.drag them to where your put your music onto your ipod


i really hoped this helped cuz im rubbish at explaining :') bye!

Dec 12, 2011 1:50 PM in response to Alex Pupin

I've had a rented movie (Inception) stuck in my iPad downloads since last May, when I tried to download it in the airport at the start of a long trip. 2.1 GB! Finished with minutes to spare! Oh wait. "Download error. Tap to retry".

I have to admit, I spent a good part of that plane ride cursing Apple's software...

Yes, I had enough memory free.

For me Lukeless's wonderful trick never worked, and I tried it a lot. Like, every evening in my motel room, for a week.

Today, I'm about to go on another trip, so I wanted this cleared up. For one thing, there's 2.1GB of 'Other' in the iPad's memory.

I talked to a delusional newbie at Apple support - the guy explained that my iPad can't download a big movie like that, 'cause it doesn't have enough processing power. He also told me the iPad "isn't a computer". I gave up, you can't argue with the insane.


Finally, thanks to Alex Pupin's answer above, I downloaded & installed iExplorer (used to be called iPhone Explorer) on my Windows box at work, deleted the Inception-related files in my iPad's Download folder, and in 5 minutes the problem is fixed. Maybe 4 minutes. Well, not fixed - I still can't download & watch Inception, but at least my Download screen is empty, and I have 2.1GB more free memory.

Thank you Alex, and thank you Chris Devor and Macroplant!

Dec 30, 2011 1:01 AM in response to bengebenge

I was having the same problem towards cannot be downloaded please retry Issue and it wouldnt let me.

So what i did was this simple..

Go to your music on your phone or ipod or ipad

And go like if your going to play one of the songs and instead of having a play button it has some sort of a stop button Press it and the song will erase from the ipod and erase from your downloads..

Then go back to itunes and go to purchases and start to re-download once again..

Hope this helps as it helped me

Download Error. Tap to retry.

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