iTunes 12.6.3. 6& 12.6.5.3 are failing to download iPhone apps. Last success was 13th March. Updates appeared to be queued but nothing is actually downloaded. Is this a problem server side and nothing I can do?
MacBook Pro, OS X 10.11
Hi nacreous,
Welcome to Apple Support Communities. I understand you're unable to download apps from the App Store in iTunes, on your computer. I'll be happy to help.
To help isolate this behavior, I recommend trying a different and stable Wi-Fi network, to see if you're able to download apps for your iPhone without any issue. In addition, I suggest restarting your iPhone: Restart your iPhone to see, if that helps resolve the behavior you're experiencing.
Kind regards.
nacreous ,
Thanks for getting back to us and for providing that update.
I recommend to sign out with your Apple ID account in iTunes and to sign back in. From there, check and see if you continue to experience the same behavior. To properly sign out with the Apple ID account, please follow the section in this article that says, "Change settings and manage your account": Get started with iTunes for Windows When performing this step, if you're a subscriber to Apple Music, music content that was downloaded for offline listening will be removed. You have the option to redownload your music.
Now if that doesn't help, the next step is to follow the section in this article that says, "If you still can't restart your downloads, try these steps": If music, movies, or TV shows from the iTunes Store, Apple Music app, or Apple TV app stop downloading Following these steps can help.
Take care.
Can you tell me which category to use when I go to https://www.apple.com/support? I picked the what I thought was the most appropriate category, and when I got a reply from Apple, the customer service person said I'd contacted the wrong team and I should go back to that support website.
Here is the best description I have seen of the problem, from earlier post by ArthurBA
iTunes 12.6.5.3 on Mac cannot download new apps or update existing apps
Recent Similar Reports: Many
Resolution: Open
Product :iTunes for Mac OS before Mojave
Issue: Incorrect/Unexpected Behavior
I've downloaded iTunes 12.6.5.3 for Mac and Windows from here:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208079
The Windows version DOES NOT exhibit this bug.
Since March 19th, the MacOS version cannot download or update iOS apps. Prior to March 19th it worked OK. MacOS High Sierra is the latest version of MacOS that this version of iTunes is supported on (as per the support note above it will not run on Mojave or Catalina).
Install new app fail
1. start iTunes
2. switch to app view
3. click on "App Store" tab.
4. purchase app/get free app (eg: TikTok)
5. window briefly flashes "downloading ..."
6. app is not downloaded
Update fail
1. start iTunes
2. switch to app view
3. click on updates tab
4. click on "Update All Apps" button
5. window briefly flashes "downloading ..."
6. no apps are updated
If the windows version works, and the mac version does not, then the implication is that Apple wants us to use the Windows version and retire our macs. I suspect this was not Apple's intention.
Hi alex_h1
Thanks for trying to help me. I've rebooting phone and MBP, but this didn't make a difference. There's no problem with my wifi, which I've been using continuously for three weeks working from home. On this laptop, I easily get 8MB/s downloads of large files. I've also tried setting up a second user account and logging in to iTunes there, but it has the same behaviour: it continues to look like it's starting the downloads, but then doesn't.
Thanks
I feel your pain, I went all thru this yesterday with Tech support on the phone for 1.5 hours, and ended up finally getting a senior tech who actually wrote up what the problem is, instead of going thru the canned answer you are likely going to get to update to the latest greatest software, which you don't want to do....
tell them you are having the same problem as this case and maybe we can get them to fix it?
[Personal Information Edited by Moderator]
I've filed an email ticket.
Interesting: the App Store works on this laptop, so it's really just a problem downloading iPhone apps via iTunes.
I also tried running WireShark whilst attempting to download an app. I can see what looks like valid traffic, although the contents are hidden by SSL so I can't tell if the end "Encryption Alert 21" is really an error or just normal termination. It talks to p46-buy.itunes.apple.com, and then to e17437.dscb.akamaiedge.net (CNAME to xp.itunes-apple.com.akadns.net). The latter has a certificate issued for domain xp-cdn.apple.com - a valid certificate issued a month ago, but different domain to the connection although the TLSv1.2 handshake seemed to succeed..
Good question, since the iTunes part of support has been dropped, except for Windows iTunes. New section for Mac is called Music, no mention of iTunes at all.
Try this link to get to the support page for Music and select Other until it lets you write what the problem is, I guess.
If I search on my Win 10 computer, I do find an iTunes page, so maybe you can start from this link
Thanks, but none of this helped.
nacreous,
We appreciate your effort. In this case, I recommend contacting Apple Support to review this further. You can contact them through this link here: Contact Apple Support
Best regards.
iTunes 12.6 not downloading iPhone apps
