Unable to purchase.

I occasionally check that folder to see if any folders are being left behind and the Downloads folder is still as clean as the day I deleted all the junk that was in there.

Until yesterday, I had no cause to disagree, as I had seen no blue folders reappear in that area after deletion (I now check my iPad2 frequently with iExplorer, just to see if all is well). But lo-and-behold, a blue folder with numbers appeared yesterday, after my internet connexion went down briefly during a download. I immediately deleted said folder.

Whatever is actually happening, I can confirm our problem is tied to corrupted downloads, as many above figured out.

I finally decided to delete the files (less the manifest file) using DiskAid. So far no problems with my iPad or iPhone. Thanks to everyone who provided & confirmed the solution 🙂

I just tried the iExplorer solution as well and deleted the database file along with all folders in the Downloads folder. However, I noticed that the database file remained deleted (until I unplugged and replugged my iPhone), but the folders automatically reappeared. I've read a number of posts that say the Downloads folder is empty for them. Am I doing something wrong? Is there a reason I can't seem to empty my Downloads folder? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I have the exact same problem as everyone else, however it is a bit worse. After I go back to my home screen, a few apps are sitting on 'waiting' although they are not actually waiting to be downloaded. To solve this I just have to reboot. In addition to this, if I don't reboot straight away and proceed to use my phone (iPhone 4S), then when I go to use multitasking ie double tap the home button, it goes to shut off in the same way it would of it ran out of battery but it freezes on the black screen with the progress wheel thing. To resolve that I have to restart the phone(hold the power and home button until it reboots). And if I don't reboot again once the phone restarts, the same thing happens again until I reboot the phone while it is operational. The problem does not arise every time I go to download an app but rather, it happens on seemingly random occasions, irrespective of whether I am downloading a new application, updating a single application, clicking 'update all' or downloading an application from iCloud ie downloading an application I have already purchased previously but is not on this device.

The solution by just_jeepin on page 9 appears to have solved the problem for me. When I called Applecare and was eventually given to the higher tier tech support, the engineer noted that it was likely a database corruption, and that I do a complete erase and freshly replace all my settings and app arrangements as opposed to doing a restore from backup since that would bring back the corrupted file. The unofficial solution here on the forums to delete the database file using the third party iExplorer took a minute while the solution offered up by the Apple engineer would have cost me an hour or two of labor. Come on now Apple - you either fix the bug that's causing this or offer up the most effective and easiest solution.

Same issue here

I have the same issue on the IPad 2 64GB. C'mon apple as a multimillion pound company you should be able to release a quick fix for us.

Erase and restore worked for me.

Here is what worked for me so far.

1.) Sign out of the App Store

2.) Close all apps completely by double tapping the home button and shutting the apps down

3.) Power down the device completely. Press and hold the lock button and then slide to power off.

4.) Wait 30 seconds after it as shut down completely, and then powerback on

5.) Launch the App Store, and re-sign in.

After that I am able to install apps again, I will have to wait and see if it takes care of the message completely.

Seems to me I had a similar issue before, and that it was because the app was running in the background when I updated. It is probably a good practice to close the apps that are going to be update completely before updating them to new versions.

Explicitjake wrote:

I have the same issue on the IPad 2 64GB. C'mon apple as a multimillion pound company you should be able to release a quick fix for us.

Did you call Apple Care, or go to the Genius Bar? Apple does not respond on their forums, just like many OEM's, it is a community help, if you want a solution from Apple, best to visit your nearest Genius Bar.

Also, it seems to me, that I had a similar issue once before, and it happened while one of the apps I was updating was running in the background. I am or was having the same issue, when one of the first few posters reminded me of something I had to do before, and that was shut down all the apps, log out of the app store, make sure the app store is shut down completely, reboot, relaunch the app store, and log back in.

The fix may simply be to make sure that the apps are all shut down before updating, although the updater really should be smart enough to make sure it kills all of the running instances of the app it is trying to update, before it updates them.

Then again, I think I may have resolved the issue myself, meaning that I did not get my problem addressed by Apple, so they wouldn't have record of it in their support ticketing system.

Chances are that this is just a temporary fix, though. I've been following this thread for a while, and others (including me) have tried what you said, only to have the problem pop up again later. So far, the iExplorer fix is the only sure-fire way to get things back to working order.

xX_JMO_Xx wrote:

Here is what worked for me so far.

1.) Sign out of the App Store

2.) Close all apps completely by double tapping the home button and shutting the apps down

3.) Power down the device completely. Press and hold the lock button and then slide to power off.

4.) Wait 30 seconds after it as shut down completely, and then powerback on

5.) Launch the App Store, and re-sign in.

After that I am able to install apps again, I will have to wait and see if it takes care of the message completely.

Seems to me I had a similar issue before, and that it was because the app was running in the background when I updated. It is probably a good practice to close the apps that are going to be update completely before updating them to new versions.

I just had the exact same problem. Deleted the database file fine, which re-created itself upon reboot, but when I try to delete the folders (yes to all doesn't work, have to say Ok to each one of hundreds), they merrely re-appear after it auto-refreshes? I tried deleting all at once, in smaller groups, all but db file, etc. same result? Thoughts anyone?

The iExplorer solution definitely works.

1) Yes, you have to press OK on each folder as they pop up in iExplorer.

2) When the folders repopulate, they aren't the same folders. Additionally, you should have a reduced number of folders. I started somewhere in the 80's or 90's. Each time you delete them all, the number of folders reduces by 2. So I had maybe 87, then 85, then 83, etc. I kept deleting all the folders until, eventually, there are no folders left. It may take 15-20 min (at least it did for me).

End result is that the problem has not reoccurred and there's only the one file in my Downloads folder.

I will second all BlueBomber has stated.... this is the exact experience I had.... no more problems and it's been a few weeks now

Hi

i had the same problem only yesterday

my son bought a game from the store,there was not enough in my account to cover the bill

the app bill for that day was £5.89

i had only £5.63 in my account

i could not purchase or download from app store,not even free apps,or updates

my hubby transfered the extra to my account

retried with appstore

problem solved.i can now access all in app store

unpayed previous bill cused the problem

Hope this helps

Thanks