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iTunes cannot sync... apps installed on the iPhone could not be determined.

I am trying to activate an original iPhone. I keep running into issues (partially because the rest of the world is activating 4Gs phones). I would appreciate any help that is available.

I am working on a MacBook running OSX 10.5.8. My iTunes has been updated- 10.5.

I am currently getting a message- iTunes cannot sync apps to the iPhone “MRL iphone” because the apps installed on the iPhone could not be determined. The iphone screen shows the usb cord/plug pointing to the itunes logo whether attached to a computer or not. And says slide for emergency use.

-I have restored to factory settings several times both from a previous backup and set up as new phone.
-I have even attempted to use another Mac and a family member's windows machine with similar results on all.
-I have uninstalled and reinstalled iTunes
-I have put the phone into the recovery mode and restored from there
-I have restarted both the computer and phone numerous times
-I have replace the SIM card with a new card from the provider
-I have received an email saying the phone was activated (and have called to verify with the service provider)

I'm sure there are other things I have tried as well that I am forgetting, as I have been at this now for about 3days. There have been times when I got nothing but a breif "accessing iTunes store" and then a white screen with the grey word iPhone in the middle. At least now I have the normal summary screen when clicking on the device. Unfortunately I am still getting an error "iTunes cannot sync apps to the iPhone “MRL iphone” because the apps installed on the iPhone could not be determined." I am not attempting to sync apps, just sync the phone to get a current/clean backup. I will want to sync the apps, just haven't been able to get that far.

By the way, prior to starting this process the iphone worked perfectly- no issues. This just seems to have become an issue when I attempted to restore to factory settings for a clean start with the new line.

This is the furthest I have been able to get in the process. I really need to get this up and running soon as I will need the phone for the work week.

Please help!

Posted on Oct 15, 2011 6:52 PM

240 replies

Morac

Level 2

205 points

Oct 20, 2012 10:53 AM in response to Chaoscrdntr13

This has been happening nearly every time I go to sync my iPhone 4S and iPad 2 since upgrading to iOS 6 and iTunes 10.7.0.21 for Windows.

I'll go to sync (wired) and it will say syncing 1/x apps, but only one will get copied over during the sync process. Syncing then ends (after copy tons of genius data). If I try to sync again I get the "apps installed on the iPhone could not be determined" error and if I go to the App tab it shows "Loading Device...".

If I quit iTunes and start it again, I can sync again. Sometimes it works, sometimes it only copies one app over before giving me the error. I can also disconnect and reconnect my iPhone 4S and sometimes that works.

Last time I had to do this a few times and finally went to the "Apps" pane and waited for everything to show up and then clicked "Apply" (not sure why "Sync" changed to "Apply"). Then all 28 of my apps synced.

Morac

Level 2

205 points

Oct 20, 2012 11:08 AM in response to Morac

I think it has something to do with "Genius Data". Whenever genius data syncs, it will only sync one or two apps and then stop and start giving me that error.

So my sync process is now:

1. Try and sync.

2. Have all apps finished, if not unplug cable and plug it back in (or quit and run iTunes again) and go back to step 1.

It's really annoying since it takes 3 or 4 attempts to sync.

P33ge

Level 1

0 points

Oct 22, 2012 9:40 PM in response to Chaoscrdntr13

If it matters I'd like to add I had this exact problem and restarting iTunes did the trick.

Morac

Level 2

205 points

Oct 24, 2012 10:25 AM in response to P33ge

Yes restarting iTunes works. The problem is I have to do that numerous times almost every time I sync to get all the apps to sync.

iAlexane

Level 1

0 points

Oct 25, 2012 3:51 PM in response to Chaoscrdntr13

I just had this problem. All I did was:

-Unplug my iPhone/iTouch without ejecting it.

-Closed iTunes

-Plugged my iPod/iPhone back onto iTunes

Then voila! it's done. Don't know if it will work for you but it did for me, good luck!

DLR

Level 3

697 points

Oct 25, 2012 8:36 PM in response to kimmbo

Give the kid (alex) a break. He is trying to help and from what I am reading, he is.

Oct 27, 2012 2:54 PM in response to Chaoscrdntr13

For me, the issue was "syncing to iCloud" instead of "syncing to my computer." When I chose "sync to my computer," the iPhone 4S synced properly.

Thanks for starting this thread.

Dave Sag

Level 1

18 points

Oct 30, 2012 4:00 PM in response to Morac

Similar to you, this started after I upgraded to iOS 6. I only get the message when I try to sync via Wifi - when I sync with the cable it's all good. Now they'd dumped Scott Forstall perhaps iTunes will be improved.

Nov 1, 2012 9:54 PM in response to mzwaterski

Thanks. I reboot computer and relaunched iTunes. With my iPhone plugged in, it immediately started synching.🙂

Nov 8, 2012 1:26 PM in response to Chaoscrdntr13

So I've been having this issue every time I try and sync up my iPhone 4S with my MacBook running Mountin Lion. And everytime the issue arises where it will not sync because of the apps. I tried everything on here and it would never work. I figured out that iTunes is not transferring my purchases when i try and sync my iPhone.

The solution I found was to quit iTunes and restart it. After restarting iTunes I would go ahead and manually update all my apps through the App store. Once that is finished I then go ahead and sync my iPhone with no problem. I hope this helps some of you.

Nov 14, 2012 3:40 PM in response to Chaoscrdntr13

I had the same problem. I changed the cord that I syncing with and it worked after that.

Nov 14, 2012 3:41 PM in response to Buffettkp

I also deleted all apps that we're running on the iPad.

ashishn

Level 1

5 points

Nov 15, 2012 9:28 AM in response to NanoICON

Thanks NanoICON. your solution worked for me. Thanks

Nov 16, 2012 12:43 PM in response to Chaoscrdntr13

In my case it was simply due to plugging my iPad's USB cord into a short flexible USB extension cable which was plugged into my iMac. Plugging directly into the iMac (thanks to this thread) fixed it immediately.

pramuc

Level 1

15 points

Nov 21, 2012 4:56 AM in response to Chaoscrdntr13

itunes cant syn apps mainly gives an error its not a worth error...when we plug out and plug in it wotks fine.......or u should authorize ur computer

iTunes cannot sync... apps installed on the iPhone could not be determined.