How to download previously purchased iLife and iWork if on 10.6?

Contact the Mac App Store support and ask for DVD versions of that software.

(68463)

Same issue here Doc. I did contact the Mac App Store support via email. Sent them the following -

I reinstalled Snow Leopard on one of my 27 inch iMacs and was in the process of reloading my purchases from the App Store when I discovered that I can no longer install Pages or Keynote. This is apparently due to recent updates that require 10.7.4 or greater. While that's great that Apple keeps updating these apps for free for newer systems, I need to be able to reload the previous versions that run on my OS.

I paid for applications that worked with Snow Leopard, in the case of Pages less than one month ago (July 15, 2012). It is unacceptable that I can no longer access them. I agreed to make a purchase, not a temporary rental that disappears whenever you need to reload your OS due to hardware or software issues. What makes this even worse is that I have a project that I need to complete by this weekend. I fail to understand why the App Store cannot offer me the last compatible version for my OS since it obviously understands which OS version I am running.

The bottom line is that I want the software that I paid for, I don't care if you even have to send me an iWork DVD in the mail. I'm sure Apple got some lying around since they were pulled from the shelves of your stores. If that is not possible, then I would like my App Store account credited for a full refund for Pages and Keynote.

The agent who processed my request either did not read my message completely or completely fails to understand our issue as I was simply told to see http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4482 and http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3624. These documents have nothing to do with the matter at hand. Ugh, trying to escalate the issue.

I have the same problem...I downgrade from Mountain Lion to Snow Leopard and now i can't install some Apps from purchase window...please help Apple and give us a download page to previous version.

I feel your pain Doc, this has been the most frustrating experience I have ever had in 15 years of being a paying customer of Apple products.

At least you got someone to say "Screw you, go buy Lion." I went 8 rounds of email back and forth, being escalated to a supervisor halfway though with absolutely no demonstration of anyone understanding this issue or acknowledging it as valid. What I did manage to get is a refund of Pages since it was purchased less than one month ago. I accepted this as a compromise just to put this issue behind me. Now to go find a retail iWork DVD.

This is the last thing I wrote to iTunes Support -

I think that I will follow up Apple technical support as this issue has effected a fair number of people as evidenced by the number of online complaints that I have seen. I feel that the fact that the purchases you make may be made incompatible and undownloadable at any time even with minor .x updates unless you are running the newest OS needs to be explicitly communicated to App Store users. That really caught me off guard since historically only major releases break compatibility with older systems. What would be even better for end users would be if the Apple App Store would adopt a model similar to what Google offers with the Play Store on android. The Play Store allows you to download the highest compatible version for your device / os version. For example users of OS 4.0 can load the newest version 3.6 of App X while users stuck on OS 2.3 can still load version 3.4 of App X that works with their device. That way no one gets locked out of their purchased apps. It would also allow Apple to generate additional revenue from users on older system versions that it currently cannot. What I can say is that this experience makes me less likely to purchase apps from the App Store if more flexible alternatives are available. I will certainly have OCD about backing up every minor revision of my apps just in case something breaks. Just some food for thought that you may want to pass up the food chain.

BTW doc, did you run into any of the other issues I had doing a clean install of Snow Leopard?

My Applications disc that came with my iMac was expired!!!

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4184960?answerId=19194504022#19194504022

Software update no longer working correctly for some apps under 10.6.x

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1415093

Being a long term user of Apple, I know that they like to move aggressively to new systems and care not for backwards compatibility but it has been shocking how hard they are moving to purge Snow Leopard. What really angers me is that these very minor .x updates seem to have no technical reason to drop Snow Leopard support. Every other app that I purchased from the App Store that was compatible with 10.6.8 is still compatible despite many of them undergoing major version changes. It is sad that these third parties can add support for Mt Lion, retina displays, iCloud, etc while still providing excellent support for their paying customers on 10.6.8. All while Apple refuses to even let us load the original compatible versions that we paid for.

Also, if anyone else is having this issue with previously purchased products, there is one solution if you have more than one mac authorized under the same Apple ID. If these macs are still using the compatible version of the app, you can copy it over to the mac that needs it. The cryptography is tied to your Apple ID, not the machine itself.