iPhone app keeps downloading

Yup. This is happening to me too. A few apps finally just updated and were fine but only to be replaced by more that won't update.

I'd like to add to this thread that I'm also having the problem with my 3G (latest OS) and a Win7 desktop running the latest version of iTunes.

It first started maybe 2 or 3 weeks ago. The fisrt app I remember noticing it with was Rope'n'fly 2. It was showing up on both my iPhone and my desktop as requiring to be updated no matter how many times I did. Since then I've had a few apps that I had to download multiple times before they would stop showing up. Often if I have more than one app needing downloaded then one or two of the batch will have the re-download issue but not all of them.

It's very frustrating. Like maybe it knows it needs downloaded but when the device goes to download it's getting a cached version somewhere?

I've just begun experiencing this problem also. Today, two apps (one free and one paid) were shown as having updates available. When the updates had been downloaded in iTunes, the free one cleared just fine. But the paid one (Air Sharing Pro) keeps being shown as requiring an update, no matter how many times it's downloaded. Syncing my iPhone 3G successfully transfers the new version (2.1) of this app, though again it's still shown on the iPhone as requiring an update.

Time for a bug fix, Apple!

Add me to the mix! My ITunes keeps on downloading movies that I already bought and downloaded! Please tell me how to stop this!!!!!!!

Nevermind!

Message was edited by: krazymage

I'm also having this issue with the Air Sharing Pro 2.1 update. The update was first offered to me on 11/28 and was stuck in my queue after downloading at least 3 times. The version synced to the iPhone was correct, so the update was taking. Waited about 12 hours and downloaded again. This time it went away. Definitely something on Apple's end.

This is obviously a huge problem as I had been dealing with this for weeks now. It's November 30, 2009 and apparently this has been happening since the beginning of this month. Is there ANYTHING being done about this?

same here.this ia the 2nd time.
the first time i contacted apple and they told me to delete the app from my iphone and from itunes and then install it again through itunes and sync it.
that worked but i haven't tried it again.
still, that's not a solution.
if i have to do that everytime with every app then i'll be wasting my time!
apple better has a fix fro this in the next update!!

That's another instance of this today. Pocket God downloaded 3 times on the iPhone and it still says it needs an update. Flood it needed done twice before it registered.

Do Apple actually read their forums?

Yes, me too. If there is a list of updates it is always the last application updated that this happens to. The latest is Tiger Woods Golf - an 180Mb download that I don't want to repeat!

My problems started about two or three weeks ago as well. iTunes tells me there an update, I download the app, and after it is still showing in my side bar that I have updated app's to download. I did see something different tonight. While I was trying to update Crazy Snowboard, I saw that it was downloading the old version. I can tell because the app changes the last part of he's name when he updates.

Please fix this ASAP Apple along with the enter your password over and over bug!

I keep having this problem; a few apps that download over and over and over...

I'm reasonably sure that the version I keep downloading via iTunes is actually the previous version, not the new update. For example the "Oz Weather" application is currently listed on the iTunes store as version 2.0, but the version I have in my library is 1.7.1. Another application, "Awesome Note (+Todo)", is version 2.0 in my library while the store suggests it has version 2.5 as the latest. When I check the "Mobile Applications" folder in my iTunes library, the files have the last modified date as the time I downloaded them (i.e. it does seem to be downloading them and putting them in the right place as far as I can tell), and the file sizes are approximately the same (within about 5-10 bytes) as the version I started with before the update process.

So I'm fairly sure this is either a problem with the app store; i.e. it's saying it has the new version but when the app is requested for download it's not actually the new version.

Or, it's a problem with iTunes (and the app store) where iTunes is requesting an older version for download (which I would think is pretty stupid if the app store actually supplies an older version). I'd be very surprised if this was the case.

The odd part though is that I dont' think this problem is happening for everyone... so my guess is that:
a) the app store is actually situated on a very large number of servers, or pushes files out using the Akamai service or similar.
b) one/some of the distributed servers is/are failing to keep up to date and are serving up out of date software

The fact that it seems to keep happening over and over to specific people might suggest that it's specific mirrors/akamai servers in specific locations (e.g. servers within particular ISPs, so all their customers will be getting data from that one server).

Of course a lot of the later part of this post is pure speculation, but hopefully this is of some use to the Apple support people who I'm really hoping actually read these threads.

Finally, I would suggest people try downloading applications in a few different places in case I'm right.
i.e. if you have a laptop with iTunes on it, try updating your apps at work, or at a friend's house, or a public wifi hot spot. Alternatively, just try downloading updates over the air if you have an iPhone (or again some other wifi location) to see if there's a reliable way to make the updates download properly. I found a little while ago that my updates all suddenly worked when I downloaded them over the air on my iPhone, but that might have just been coincidence...

it happens to me frequently, both in desktop itunes and iphone appstore. i have no idea what's going on. i just wait till it eventually goes away after several days. but it wasn't like before that it removes itself from available updates after you have downloaded. i hope apple can fix it.

Add me to the list. I've experienced this with Done and today with Shazam Encore - when accessing the App Store on my phone, I'm notified of an update; I download and install it (no error messages, no odd behaviour). Yet the Store still says the update is available, and the app doesn't appear to have been updated to the new version. I've tried this over wireless, 3G and EDGE connections in different parts of London with no change in the results.

When downloading updates to my MacBook I get a similar problem, but far less frequently (maybe one update in three), and the downloaded updated apps sync to my phone without a problem.

I'd rather avoid having to backup/restore/resync given 15+Gb of music and videos.

I am having the same problem. This is what I posted in another thread on this topic. The problem started for me on Tuesday or Wednesday. I am continuing to have a problem with apps downloading and updating properly.

I started having this problem yesterday. I emailed Apple and their suggestion was to delete the app and re-download it. I had already tried that, which I had stated in the email. I also contacted the creator of one of the apps and their response was this is problem on Apple's end and they have been notified and should have it fixed soon.

I thought it was fixed as the apps I tried to update yesterday, downloaded fine today. All appeared well until other apps started popping up to be updated. I tried to update them but they are not downloading properly and disappearing from the list as they should.

Very frustrating.