macOS 10.14.6 Mojave - can't update mac apps from the Apple Mac Store

@red,

Might be a dumb question, but you have you tried typing "apps" in the search field on the upper right of the Activity Monitor window. If the process appears when you launch and then disappears, but you don't have the name listed in search as a filter, it might just be getting lost among all the other zero or low cpu cycle processes.

Thanks for the suggestion--that worked. Typing apps or any further spelling in the search bar brings up appstoreagent. And killing it works for one-time use, although the second time I tried after killing app storeagent I had to refresh the app store page before it kick in. Closing the app store and reopening and it may show the open button but they're not functional and then they disappear altogether after closing a couple times. But once is all you need, and I assume it would work for several apps at once if they need updating. It's good that you still get messages about updates available, apparently.

PS I think I overlooked the search bar option because when I first tried it under CPU, nothing came up--it's under Network, at least in my system.

I just had a Live Chat with Apple / App Store about this and they told me I had to upgrade to Big Sur before any of these Apps would download. That sounds awfully like they are aware of this issue and have no intention of retrospectively allowing it to work in Mojave or earlier!

I did this fix and it has saved my day, though, as I've just bought some expensive hardware that needs an App to work at all - without this fix, I would either have a very expensive doorstop, or lose access to a 2 million+ photo library!

PS. WhatsApp Desktop finally updated at last, too

Thanks a million 👍

@vapresto,

I wouldn’t take that chat too much to heart. I’ve been working with Apple Engineering and have an open case with their enterprise team.

They have never mentioned Big Sur and given that Mojave remains a supported OS it would be surprising and unacceptable to tell individuals and companies they have to suddenly and without warning shift to a new OS just to keep using Applications that were previously working.

keep the faith...this should get fixed

I'd prefer not to get someone into trouble over it, but I've just checked the transcript and the Apple Support person suggested that I try in Safe Mode first, but if that didn't work they said "But to me it sounds like you need to upgrade".

I objected quite strongly, but no apology was made, or any reference to looking into a fix of any description.

PS. My software was also described as my "outdated version".

I have to say I'm seriously considering whether to persevere with Apple in future: we're back to the early days now, where 3rd party software is all designed for Windows and developers resent bringing out Apple versions and/or they have reduced functionality. Now that Aperture has gone, there's no real advantage any more and I notice more and more Pro Togs have switched back to Windows, where there's more choice of hardware and software, you don't need a port adapter for every bloody device and ethernet (or a dock), and they still have SD card slots and DVD drives built in, in most cases!

I can also confirm that this works. I've been practically tearing my hair out as I needed to install some software that was only available on the AppStore and it simply would just stick on a revolving circle with no progress.

I did a re-install of Mojave - should have searched the community first. I do hope that Apple fix this soon. I'm still using Mojave on this machine as my printer isn't supported in later versions of the OS and although I will replace it, it just isn't practical at the moment.

Two days ago I also called AppleCare. The first adviser was clueless; I asked to speak to a senior adviser, and after a few minutes one came on the phone, and I went through the issues again. It seems like it takes them a while to understand what the issue is. He said he never had any complaints about that, and didn't know anything about it. After I mentioned I think it happened after the last security update and wondered if it was intentional, he asked if you had a hole in your backdoor wouldn't you patch it? Ridiculous stuff like that. I told him if it was unintentional they need to fix it. If it is intentional that's outrageous because there are numerous people that can't up date passed Mojave for various reasons. I also wondered why they had to deactivate 32-bit apps in the first place. He wanted to do a screen share to see the problem, and I said I'm not going to do that and I just described it again in detail, and I told him the workaround although I wasn't sure I wanted to at first (in case it is intentional and they negate the workaround). I asked if my complaint will be passed on. He said he was making notes, but I asked is this being handled as a complaint, and it seems like he had to do something different to do that and create a case number, but I had asked him a few times before I wanted to file a complaint. I told him that someone in chat was told that they weren't going to fix it and to update to Big Sur; at the end he said his recommendation is to update to Big Sur, and I got rather angry and said if I have to do that I'll have to buy another computer and keep this one as it is. I had also mentioned a previous issue with not being able to update my mid 2012 MacBook past Mavericks, or thinking I couldn't, not sure if El Capitan would work with the app I need, but definitely can't after Mojave (which I discovered would work with a slightly later version of the still obsolete app) because the app can't be replaced or updated, and explained what it did. I told him his insistence on updating to Big Sur after I explained the situation was being passive aggressive and he said he wasn't being passive aggressive, just giving Apple's protocol.

I can confirm that Apple Engineering applied a fix yesterday. I was able to confirm myself today and then asked for root cause analysis that I could share here.

From Apple:

As it has been explained to me with the recent security update for Mojave when the App Store launches, it asks appstoreagent for adoption eligibility. The issue seemed to stem from a wrong file type that was being provided by the process which caused a hang. After that was readjusted by our engineering team to be a compatible file type the issue seems to now be resolved.

If anyone has a reoccurrence of the issue, they can reference Ticket #: 214029

This actually worked. To be clear, in the list of processes, when you have selected appstoreagent, you must click the little X at the top of the Activity Monitor window. At this point I had to "Force Quit" this process. The garden variety "Quit" did not work. Once I clicked "Force Quit," immediately, I went back to the App Store andI was able to update WhatsApp with no problem. The appstoreagent process re-appears on the list of processes.

Very Interesting! I just tried this and was able to download one of my apps.

I had this problem before i did the 2021 security update, I do not believe the security update had anything to do with it.

Perfect, worked for me!