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iTunes will not let me sync apps to my iPhone because it says I am not authorized on this computer, however my account is authorized!?

When I try syncing my apps onto my phone I get the message:" The app(s) were not installed on the iPhone because you are not authorized for it on this computer. To authorize this computer for items purchased from the iTunes storem, choose Store > Authorize this computer. "



So I went ahead and did what the message said and this is the message I get after I try to authorize: " this computer is already authorized. Including this one, you have authorized one computer of your available 5."



So its telling me to authorize my account on this computer but yet its already authorized! I'm really fustrated. I just updated my computer software and the iphone soft ware, so maybe this is a bug in the new software?


Can someone please help me, cause this is really fustrating!


I've restarted itunes, I've restarted my phone, and I have restarted my computer and I still get the same problem!

iPhone 4, iOS 5

Posted on Oct 14, 2011 9:09 PM

Reply
69 replies

Oct 17, 2011 9:56 PM in response to itsTiffanny

Okay so I realized that all the apps I had on my computer were under my boyfriends apple ID. I decided to change my phone to my own ID... not knowing that I would not be able to sync the apps that were under my boyfriends ID, back to my ID. Therefore I had to delete all the apps and redownload them back to my own ID and then was able to sync my phone normally.


It did take along time to redownload all my apps back so maybe there is another way for other people with the same problem?


Another bad thing about me having to delete all the apps under my boyfriend ID... was that I lost all the apps that were not free 😢


Hope someone finds a better solution but this is what I did to make it work.

Nov 25, 2011 9:12 AM in response to itsTiffanny

For anyone still encountering this isssue, here is a brief explanation.


Symptoms:

  • Apps downloaded to iPhone and iPad won't sync back to iTunes on Mac.
  • "The computer is not authorized" it keeps saying.
  • Attempt to re-authorize Mac (Store > Authorize This Computer) return with "This computer is already authorized."
  • Attempts to de-authorize and re-authorize Mac do not solve problem.
  • Attempts to manually "Transfer Purchases" also give authorization warning


The issue really IS that the account used to download the apps to your iPhone or iPad is different than the one on iTunes on your Mac. At some point, a software update for iPad and iPhone added some preferences for "Store" in the Settings, and set that to MobileMe account by default.


Check Settings > Store on your iPhone and iPad. There you will see the account used to download those apps that aren't syncing. Most likely, this different than the iTunes Store account, which can be checked under the Store menu in iTunes.


Remove the apps from iPhone and iPad and re-download from App Store. This will fix the sync'ing problem.

Dec 24, 2011 11:23 AM in response to ocarlsen

i'm still having this problem. for me, it shows up when i try to sync tv episodes i've downloaded to my macbook onto my phone (not the other way as ocarlsen described above). they play fine on my macbook, so at least it thinks they're authorized.


i double-checked my account info on the phone and the macbook, and they match. this doesn't happen with my music or podcasts, and in fact i've had a season pass for multiple years of a tv show and this error only shows up on episodes from this year. other episodes sync fine.


anyone else have any other ideas to try?

Feb 14, 2012 3:43 PM in response to nscollins

I am having this exact problem too - TV episodes purchased on Mac will not sync to iPhone or iPad.


I have seen this with both indiviual episodes and season passes.


I have the same AppleID on every device. I have checked this in the settings.

In the iTunes Store I see all of my devices listed with the same AppleID.


I can download them separately to the iPad via 'purchased' in the store, but that is not optimal because i have to remember to do it when i have wifi). kind of defeats the purpose of syncing.


I have deauthorized and re-authorized my computer.


I have deauthorized all computers from my AppleID and re-authorized my computer.


I have tried deleting the /Users/Shared/SC Info folder as recommended here (http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1389)


My best guess at this point is that this issue may be related somehow to using the Migration Assistant when I upgraded my MacBook last year??? I know that at some point I had to rebuild my iTunes index or some such file.


If anyone has found a solution, please share. Thanks!

Mar 31, 2012 4:36 PM in response to itsTiffanny

Hey All,

I've just found a solution... You will all probably recall a while back that our usernames with iTunes was our full email address... Now they have since changed it to be just the first part of our email address (well mine is anyway)... So if you input your old username (email address) & password in the authorise this computer area, this should work... My apps are syncing FROM my iPhone to my iTunes as we speak :-)

Good Luck all :-)

Apr 5, 2012 6:25 PM in response to itsTiffanny

I cannot sync some of my apps. Some of them, I hit autherize this computer, it says I am authorized and then they sync. On some of my other apps, this doesn't work. My username is my full email on both my computer and iphone4s, and I cannot double click my apps to get them to reauthorize. What else can I do to get my apps to sync?

iTunes will not let me sync apps to my iPhone because it says I am not authorized on this computer, however my account is authorized!?

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