Hi. I'm trying to configure my computer and iPad, so I am able to sync music between the two, but I do not want any app downloaded from my iPad, to be transferred onto my computer.
Sync app is unticked, yet it still tries to put all installed apps on my iPad, needlessly on my computer
You can't disable that feature. It is designed that way so you won't lose the content on the iPad if it is stored in iTunes on your computer. If you continue to sync, the purchases will continue to be transferred.
Unticking sync apps will remove apps that are already installed on the iPad via the sync process. You can ask the question 10 more times - but you can't turn that off - if you sync your iPad.
If you want to manually manage music on the iPad - you should be able to do that without transferring the purchases - but you can't sync without transferring purchases. This article describes manually managing music. Don't let the title fool you.
rockmyplimsoul wrote:
The iTunes setting to prevent auto-syncing only applies to devices that are set to auto-sync, this feature has no purpose for a manually-managed device since you always have to click the Sync button to initiate a sync while in manual mode.
I believe that you are correct.
rockmyplimsoul wrote:
Also, this feature only applies to auto-sync'd devices where you've also chosen to "automatically open iTunes" when the device is connected. If you don't have this option set, the auto-sync won't initiate by itself until you click the Sync button, so this feature wouldn't be needed in this case.
I believe that you are incorrect. If you have not checked the manual sync box, the attached device will automatically initiate whenever iTunes opens, regardless of whether the actual opening is automatic or manual.
rockmyplimsoul wrote:
To your point about getting a warning if you connect to another iTunes library, if you manually manage music and video you can safely connect to other libraries to drag and drop such media to your device (iPhone is the exception, for some odd reason). Will your apps or photos be affected by doing this? I'd have to say 'no' ... otherwise there'd be howls of pain from those who manually manage and connect to multiple libraries. Maybe if you clicked Sync on another library, but not if you simply drag and drop music or video from another library.
No clue. I've never connected to a different library.
rockmyplimsoul wrote:
Philly_Phan wrote:
I do everything automatically. I'm too ****** old to use a clutch.
LOL! I figure I've got one more vehicle purchase left in me that can be a stick ... after that it's all auto baby!
Heck, I even sync wirelessly to eliminate the labor of connecting a cable. Sloth is a virtue!
Philly_Phan wrote:
I believe that you are incorrect. If you have not checked the manual sync box, the attached device will automatically initiate whenever iTunes opens, regardless of whether the actual opening is automatic or manual.
Well, sort of ...
If iTunes is already open, then an iOS device that is set for auto-sync will not start syncing if the "Automatically launch iTunes" option is not set. If iTunes is already open, the auto-sync will only initiate by itself if you have the "Automatically open iTunes" option selected. I know this to be true because all my iOS devices are set to auto-sync, but I do not have the "Automatically launch iTunes" option set for any of them.
If iTunes is not open, then an iOS device that is set for auto-sync will not open iTunes if the "Automatically launch iTunes" option is not set, so the auto-sync won't start. But if you manually launch iTunes with your device already connected, then the auto-sync will commence (so the "Prevent devices from syncing automatically" becomes important, so I have this set to prevent an auto-sync if I forget that a device is connected when I launch iTunes).
rockmyplimsoul wrote:
But if you manually launch iTunes with your device already connected, then the auto-sync will commence (so the "Prevent devices from syncing automatically" becomes important, so I have this set to prevent an auto-sync if I forget that a device is connected when I launch iTunes).
I should clarify that I now have this set, after discovering that if my devices were connected to my computer with iTunes off they'd auto-sync when I launched iTunes. But prior to that, they would not auto-sync when connected if iTunes was already running.
I wish I had been here sooner! I can verify what Demo posted, because I"ve been doing it, little checkboxes next to the apps in the viewer.
update your iTunes to 10.6.3, see if it works
iTunes 11.0.2
Mac OS 10.8.2
The automatic transfer of purchased apps only occurs when using wifi sync. If I plug in the USB cable and perform the sync the purchased apps are not being downloaded. Any ideas???
I hate to add a "me too" to an old thread, but I'm going to anyway...
The whole business of forcing users to transfer apps from their mobile devices to a computer is so antiquated and unfriendly. Nowadays all apps can be re-downloaded from the App store, so there's no point in forcing the transfer of apps to a computer during a sync with iTunes. If I have 30GB of apps on my iPad I shouldn't be forced to make a copy of all these apps on my Mac and waste 30GB of space. Even if the user only hsa 5-10GB of apps, that's still a big waste of space. To begin with, the apps can't be used on the computer -- and their backup serves little to no purpose, as I don't sync apps with my computers and don't want to waste the space. Plus it extends the length of time it takes to sync an iDevice with a computer.
If someone is using iCloud and has to replace their iDevice, when they restore from iCloud it redownloads all the apps. Why on earth do I also need a copy of these apps on my computer? This mode of thinking comes from a time (10+ years ago) when the Mac was supposed to be our "Digital Hub" (I think those were Steve's words). Fastforward to today, and my Mac is just as important, but it certainly doesn't need to be the center of my phone and iPads universe. In fact, most of my clients, friends and family NEVER plug their iDevices into a computer... and nowadays I don't argue with them. As long as they have enough iCloud storage, syncing with iCloud and using it's backups are good enough for most people. Granted it has it's downsides (which is why I personally backup my devices to a computer)... but I don't sync any of my iDevices to my computer anymore. Between Rdio, and iTunes in the Cloud and iTunes Match, there's very few reasons to actually plug these devices into a computer.
Example: I have a client who loves his MacBook Air, but since it's maxed out with a 512GB drive, every megabyte is utterly precious. When we plugin his iDevices to sync a few (non-app items) between the Mac and iPad (and backup the iPad, since the iCloud storage caps are so low) - we're forced to transfer all apps to the Mac and take up 20GB+ which is completely unacceptable. Granted this is more about the lack of upgrade options on an AIr than it is about iTunes -- it's still a stupid holdover from a different time, when people really needed to plug their iDevices into a computer to get much needed functionality. The times have changed, and iTunes sycning features (and options) should be more reflective of this.
/rant
Apps can only be re-downloaded whilst they remain in the store, but there is no guarantee that they will remain in it. Also only the current version of each app is available for re-downloading, so if you don't have the appropriate iOS version on your device (especially if it can't be updated to it) then you won't be able to re-download it to your device.
If you don't want the apps taking up space on your computer then you could try deleting the actual app files from it and just leave the 'pointers' to them in the Apps part of your iTunes library
Thanks for the reply. Good points, but for people with new devices that's not very pertinent. I still think it should be a configurable option. There are MANY situations where people simply don't need to store a local copy of apps on their computers just to be permitted to sync music/books/photos, etc. As it is, I think most people (with modern iPads) do ALL their app updates on the device itself (at least in my experience - in seeing hundreds of iPads belonging to clients, friends and family members).
That said, I do have an old iPad 1st gen floating around the house -- so I saved a copy of all my apps on my server around the time iOS 5 came out - for that very reason. Wouldn't it be nice if iOS was updated using progressive enhancements, so that older devices could be updated, but without the features/apps it's processor/ram is unable to handle. This way at least the libraries/frameworks would be updated enough to run modern apps (where possible, given the processor/ram restrictions).
As a side note, Apple really should keep the most recent version of an app that's compatible with older versions of iOS. For all the people stuck on iOS 4 or 5 with older devices, it's a shame Apple can't retain a single copy for download for these people. In the grand scheme of things we're not talking about that storage/time/money.
Funny you mention deleting them... because that's what I do for people in low storage situations (delete the apps that get transferred. However they re-transfer on every sync, so I'll make symlinks or empty files with no write permission with the same names as the files. This causes iTunes to throw an error, but it ultimately fails to write the file (which saves space). Unfortunately this is NOT a solution you can give to normal people, as it throws an error AND when a new version of the app comes out (with a different filename) it will have no problem downloading it.
On my personal computers I use an app called "Hazel" for automated filesystem cleaning - it can watch folders and take actions when new items arrive. It's like Folder Actions in Finder, but it has a full workflow UI. Think of it as a simplified Automator for taking action on files. It's great for this problem: On my personal laptop I have it set to delete all apps from the Mobile Apps folder (and a number of other places) on a regular basis to save space. This could certainly be done with Automator, but I like Hazel's interface and simplicity. I have the largest (768GB) drive for my MBP15r (with no third party storage upgrades that are larger), so I'd like to keep the disk as low as possible for as long as possible. Hazel helps me do that, and keep my downloads folder reasonably clean.
Sorry for all the tangential thoughts...
Cheers,
Jackson
Just wanted to update this thread, since I had this concern earlier but have now worked around it.
In iTunes 12, click on your device Icon. Under Settings, click Summary.
Under the section Backups > Automaticall Back Up. Most likely your setting will be "back up on This computer". Change it to iCloud.
I was wondering about hat too.
Every time I connect my iPad to my computer, it transfer all apps again and again and that takes about 20min!
And it keep doing it every time even if no update or no new apps were purchased.
I do want them to be backed up to my computer, but I don't understand why It won't transfer only the new ones.
All the best,
shlomit
Update all the apps in iTunes then nothing will need to be transferred.
I did. It still doing it.
Is there still no solution to this? Is Apple really so hostile to their own customers that they allow us to choose which items to sync to the PC unless those items are completely useless on a PC?
iTunes used to have this option in earlier versions. Somebody made the decision to explicitly remove it. Has Apple even acknowledged this? Have they anywhere given an explanation? The "it's a backup" answer is silly since (1) backups are a separate thing, and (2) this logic hasn't made them remove the sync option from other items that are far more crucial to backup.
This is a no-brainer, Apple. Let users disable app syncing.
How do I disable transferring purchases
