Very slow downloading of any applications from the App Store

I have the same problem on my iPAD Air 5th, 17.4.1. On Thursday, I turned on Developer mode as Apple help article says, to input sandbox data, it's all worked fine.

And on the Friday, May 10th tadaaa: I have no option to download any app from Appstore/Testflight, the download is eternally on start.

I did everything besides flushing device to the factory condition.

When I turn on any VPN the download is happening as usual. Seems this is country+provider issue no one going to fix.

I found similar issues reported since 2021, so draw your own conclusions.

Chat support literally said I have to call at my own expense to other country and speak in Spanish, because they can't schedule call back for me to resolve the issue. I can buy device, but I can't have a support here.

All of my work with Testflight builds is stuck for 2 days.

SELFUPDATE 20 mins later: HAH! I realized 17.5 is standing ready for install and all fixed magically after update! This stucked OS installation prevented all Appstore/Testflight downloads. Whoa.

Lawrence Finch wrote:

AndriiKa wrote:

Hi.

For me everything is downloaded from App Store super slow on WI-FI, but immediately on LTE.

So it is definitely an Apple bug because the WI-FI connection works fine in all other cases.

Really? No, it is definitely a problem with your router or some garbage you have installed on your phone, such as VPN, an antivirus, or some app that claims to speed up your phone. If it was definitely an Apple bug you would see thousands or millions of complaints about it.

So first, delete any junk apps that I have described from your phone and restart it (for VPN, delete the profile, don’t just turn it off.

Next, go to a friend’s, Starbucks or equivalent and see if you have the same problem on a different Wi-Fi network.

There are thousands if not millions of users with the same problem, just google it or look at it here. You keep repeating the same thing... how much does they pay you for these garbage comments?

Аналогічно і для мене, вимкнув приватне реле і нормалізувалась швидкість завантаження.

Same here,

Since the End of July 2024, the APP STORE Downloads, or Updates are superslow on Wifi, but pretty normal on LTE (Cellular).

This situation is ONLY VALID on downloads or updates from "App Store thru Wifi." It is very important to understand this.

All the other stuff on the internet works just fine both on Wifi, or Cellular (4G/LTE)

For the past few days, App Store doesn't like to work with WIFI Connection.. It Still Loves the Cellular, though :)

Very weird issue...

Updating to iOS 17.6.1 did not resolve this issue.

I deleted the VPN profiles on my iPhone and iPad and that has restored my app update speeds on both devices.

As you apparently posted without reading ANY of the 4 pages of this thread, you might find it enlightening to do so.

As a start: Do you use VPN? If so, delete the VPN profile in Settings/General/VPN & Device Management/VPN. Don't just turn it off; delete the profile.

zeruspocus wrote:

Yes, and those thousands and millions (which I doubt) are all using either a “helper” app or VPN, or have very slow Wi-Fi or an obsolete router. And it is still a tiny percentage of 1.5 BILLION.

You "Doubt" and you base all your statements in just suppositions. You say you are a computer scientist for the past 50 years, well then honor your title and don't state BS without studying properly what is actually happening. You are blaming VPNs and/or bad router configurations or whatever pointed to the user without even knowing if they user has a VPN or a bad router and when most are stating that everything else works fine in terms of connection. I'm also a computer scientist but I'm not being paid by Apple. You have 87,000 replies on this community only, that is quite a lot and sounds like a full time job, so whatever you say has zero realistic and scientific value, you are just a troll.

I’m not paid by Apple either. I’m a user like you. And from answering hundreds of posts about this symptom (and it is a SYMPTOM which can have many possible causes - something that you as a computer scientist can understand) it has almost always been the things I have mentioned; a router that needs restarting, a VPN profile that is corrupted, just using VPN (which, as a computer scientist you must know cuts bandwidth to 25% or less of available bandwidth) or a “helpful” app like a memory manager, antivirus or cleanup app (all of which are useless except as revenue enhancement tools for their developers).

Sixjumps wrote:

This worked!!

VPN, among other problems it can create, always slows your internet connection to about 1/4 of the speed you are paying for from your ISP.

My issue has been resolved.

In my case, it was indeed My Internet Service Provider's error. They fixed it, and now its back working normal.

Thank You for guiding me to the right direction..🙏🏻

Thanks Aliens, was having the same problem. Enabling Private Relay and restarting the download worked.

I've been facing a similar issue for at least the past 6 months or more. All app store downloads, be it on my iPhone 14 Pro, 2017 MBP 15", 2023 Mac mini or one of those recent iPads, they are very very.. very slow! I have a 400Mbps connection, and all downloads are generally okay and match the speed of my internet except for from the App store. I'm not sure if its the VPN, since I've had them installed in my systems for the last 4+ years. This issue is a recent development. However, I must point out that on my iPhone, as soon as I switch off the wifi and it connects to my 4G / 5G, the download becomes lightning fast immediately. So not sure what is the fault here. I hope Apple can give an explanation soon, as it is starting to get really annoying especially for use on macs where I cannot switch to my cellular network.

Never happened in my entire list of Galaxy devices.

600 MB/s downloading from any other device.... 400 kbps from Iphone 15 PM.

in fact it NEVER downloaded a thing from the appstore at full available network speed.

Im quite sure is an optimization issue as 99% of people do not care if an app downloads slowly, but I care and check from another app how fast things are going, and are going at said speeds. SLOW

The culprit was found when I finished downloading a game from the appstore (around 1 Gb in 8 minutes) Entering the game and dowloading the remaining 30 GB! Takes less than 4 minutes. All in the same device, same network.

Intentionally slow app store servers for _optimization_

The download speed depends completely on your internet connection speed; looking at your Wi-Fi icon it shows less than perfect signal strength. What can also slow it down is if you are using VPN (or even have a VPN profile installed, even if you are not using it), or if you installed any worthless security apps or apps that claim they will make your phone faster or clean it up.

This has been ongoing for me for the past month as well. Each Apple device I use (iPhone 11Pro Max, iPad Pro 12.9", 16" MBP, and 14" MBP) is bafflingly slow downloading updates from Apple—not from Adobe, not from MS, not from any vendor or client with whom I exchange large files—only software updates from Apple.

To illustrate, the 17.4.1 update on my iPad and 14.4.1 on 14" MBP have never been completed, no matter the time of day I try or how long I allow them to run. And this is across days of allowing them to try. All apps with software updates by MS and Adobe during that time have proceeded as expected, quickly, without undue pause or delay.

Re-configuring TCP and DNS and even rebooting all devices have not changed this. A few minutes ago, Adobe updated 3 apps in the CC in 10 minutes. Before that, Apple could not download a Pages update more than a MB or two after 15 minutes. After trying repeatedly over three days, the MBP stated 4 days for the 14.4.1 update. A Surface Pro 2 updated its OS and apps after 2 months offline in about an hour, using the same WiFi and settings.

Recap:

Multiple Apple devices cannot update Apple software despite hours/days of attempts.

Adobe and Microsoft updates of apps and OS all proceed without issue, on Apple and MS devices.

Apple and MS devices on the same network are experiencing vastly different outcomes, despite a stable network and 250+Mbps DL speed.

My next step will be to take a device or two to a wholly different location and attempt to download the recommended Apple updates, but the evidence thus far indicates a significant issue at Apple, not the ISP or devices.

EDIT: I should also note that updates to Parallels and the resident VM OSs and apps all proceeded as expected.

Sasamafrass wrote:

Ummm never had a problem with my VPN before. Everything ran perfectly. My problem now is after the 2 updates in May 2024! Every app loads at dialup speed, if they load at all! Basically unwatchable/useless ever since.

Have you TRIED deleting your VPN? Below will be a very long explanation of why you can have a VPN problem now when you never had one before. But try first to see.

=============================

VPN frequently creates more problems than it solves. But one important fact is that when you install VPN it configures itself to the specific hardware, iOS version and network that the phone uses. If any of those change it can break the VPN. So any time you change any of these you may need to delete the VPN app and profile, restart your phone then add them back (if you still want to use VPN) so it can configure itself to the new environment.

Here's Apple's advice on VPN→

Check VPN (Virtual Private Network) and third-party software to help resolve network connectivity issues - Apple Support

Something to think about→Don't use VPN - GITHUB

Here's Brian Krebs on VPN security (or lack thereof)→Why your VPN may not be as secure as it claims

There are two legitimate purposes for using VPN:

• To allow access to a private network such as a school or business when you are not on site. 
• To allow access outside of a country with a repressive government that has restricted Internet access. (This has suddenly become more important)

Any other use is risky, and can lead to problems like the one discussed in this thread. VPN disguises your location by making you appear to be somewhere else in the world. But you usually can’t control that “somewhere else”, and if it is in a location that an app isn’t approved for the app won’t work. Plus the fact that the provider of the VPN knows everything about you and your location, as well as what sites you access through the VPN. So you are totally dependent on the VPN provider’s honesty. As a start, if the VPN is free, DON’T USE IT. The provider has to make money somehow, and if you aren’t paying them then they are selling your private data to make money. 

But even those that charge can’t necessarily be trusted. For example, a few years ago Avast was caught selling user browsing data. They claim they have stopped doing so, however, they lied 🤥→ FTC Order Will Ban Avast from Selling Browsing Data for Advertising Purposes

You don’t really need VPN when using public Wi-Fi, because all communications between your device and the servers it accesses are end-to-end encrypted.

If you want VPN for privacy about the sites you visit, that’s not a good choice as discussed; instead you should download and use the TOR browser.

The other use for VPN is to “steal” content that is not available in your area. I leave this question to your personal ethics.

With iOS 15.2 and later for iOS/iPadOS and MacOS Monterey 12.2 and later Apple now has iCloud+ Private Relay, which is not VPN, but provides a safer browsing environment than VPN, and it doesn't spy on you→About iCloud Private Relay - Apple Support