can't download apps over wifi at home on iPhone or iPad

I have the same problem on an iPod Touch 6 which started about September 2016. The iPod was originally on iOS9 but during my attempts to sort the problem myself I updated it to the latest dot release of iOS10. I am able to browse websites using Safari and connect to email on the iPod. But I can't sign in to iCloud: there is a spinning wheel for 1 minute in the top right hand corner, the top of the screen says "Verifying" and the error message is "Verification Failed. The connection to iCloud timed out". Interestingly, it knew when I was entering an incorrect password and the error message was different.

In App Store, navigating to Updates and Purchased I can see all the previously downloaded apps. Selecting an app, then pressing the cloud to download, the progress circle spins very quickly all the way round to complete, and the message displayed is "Unable to Download App. <appname> could not be downloaded at this time". For a new purchase it was the same result.

I've tried everything...

Two separate support calls with Apple senior support.

Complete resets

Using a different DNS on my iPod Wifi and also on my router

Date and time moved forward a year, or back a week, switched auto back on

Turned of find my iPod / iPhone

Nothing worked, until I contacted Apple again but this time I was in work and had to use a mobile Wi-Fi device rather than my home broadband and router (Asus RT-68U). Went home, tried it on my home wi-fi, and it wouldn't work. Hmm.

- tried iPod on different wi-fi (it works)

- iPod connected on home wi-fi (error described above)

- other Apple devices on home wi-fi (all work fine)

- My Apple and iCloud ID on this iPod on home network (can't sign in)

- My Apple and iCloud ID on this iPod on different network (able to sign in)

- My Apple and iCloud ID on other devices on home network (all work fine)

So why does this specific iPod not allow sign in to iCloud or allow me to download new or previously purchased apps when I'm connected to my home network (where other Apple devices work perfectly fine) but it works when I'm connected to a different Wi-Fi? I just don't know!!

But I found a reply on stack exchange that suggested trying a VPN. Having never used one I did a bit of reading and download a VPN app. Of course, I had to use my Mi-Fi device to download the app, but only after trying to download it when connected to my home wi-fi and getting the familiar "Unable to Download" error.

It worked!! Any suggestions as to why this worked would be greatly appreciated.

Having the same issue.

My iPhone 4 has come extremely close to be thrown out the window driving on the highway since they've started changing things with iOS.

First of all, most apps show up in my App Store as "?" with no picture,

ZERO apps download anymore on both my iPad and iPhone 4 on wifi, ONLY 3G.

I know for a fact it isnt my wifi because it doesnt download anywhere

restoring does nothing

and downgrading firmware is now impossible

so thanks apple. you've managed to **** off a lot of cutsomers

Any guidance on this? Exactly the same issues unable to download any app using AppStore on Ipod Touch with iOS 5 over home wifi.

Hi, im both glad and annoyed i found this post.... i am also in the same shithole...

So all worked fine before, suddenly it all stopped. Both ipad and iphone, and turning of wifi enables download.

But on large programs it says connect wifi to download... And the i got stuck.. So now i cant use some apps, they are in download state and i cant get out..

I also have problem on some apps like RDP on home network, it dont connect.. But works fine with laptop.

So apple, get your crap togheter and fix the problem!

Dlink router, or netgear here.

I just started experiencing this problem today and am PO'd about it. Any fix?

Try setting the DNS setting on your router to 8.8.8.8

If it works at work but not at home then it's clearly a compatibility issue between your device and your home WiFi setup. And there's not a whole lot you can do to get the two to communicate with each other.

I've been experiencing this for past several weeks on my D-Link router at home. Updates over 3G work.

Whoa! Changing DNS on iPhone to 8.8.8.8 as someone suggested fixed it for me.

this seemed to work for me

Was facing a similar issue with my friend's iPad (Latest one). Forcing the DNS Server to 8.8.8.8 (I think Google's DNS servers) fixes this issue. I had faced something similar on my iMac a long time back. Something a little strange about how Apple products do a DNS lookup? Not sure if it is an issue with the response time of the DNS servers as well..

In any case, the good news was changing it to 8.8.8.8 worked.. Luckily the iPad's network configuration tool allows you to navigate to the pane where you can see the DHCP supplied IP addresses and just go to the DNS field, delete what was present there and force it to this address.

The difficulty in coming to this conclusion was the fact that the browser works fine for all the sites we had tried. It is mostly the apps that had trouble, and the App store also was inconsistent in reporting details..

you can also use 8.8.4.4 if 8.8.8.8 doesnt work for someone. thanx