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Cannot connect to iTunes Store

App Store is telling me updates are needed. When I open it, I et the message "Cannot connect to iTunes Store". Downloading a new app is ok.

iPod touch, iOS 5.1.1

Posted on Sep 1, 2012 3:49 AM

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Question marked as Best reply

Posted on Sep 1, 2012 9:28 AM

Ok, I found a solution that worked for me when trying to connect to the iTunes store by tapping the "update" button in the "App Store" app on my iPad 2. Before the solution was implemented I'd always get the error message "cannot connect to iTunes store". Once the solution was implemented I now can connect to iTunes using the "update" button in the "App Store" app and I get the normal message "All apps are up to date". The solution is this: go into Settings, then General, then scroll to the bottom where it says Date and Time. Tap Date and Time and then turn OFF Set Automatically. When you do that a new option will be added that says Set Date and Time. Tap it. You'll now get a drop down feature. Set the Date AHEAD 2 YEARS. The Time you can leave alone.

Once you do that you might get a bunch of reminders and messages that your apps and stuff haven't been updated in two years. Click cancel or close on each of those messages or reminders. Now go back into Settings, General, Date and Time, and turn Set Automatically back to ON. Reboot your iPad. Open the App Store app again and go to the Update button. It might ask you to log back in to your iTunes account. It should now work. If not, close the App Store app completely and open again and try the update button. Hope this helps.

4 replies
Question marked as Best reply

Sep 1, 2012 9:28 AM in response to Flicker65

Ok, I found a solution that worked for me when trying to connect to the iTunes store by tapping the "update" button in the "App Store" app on my iPad 2. Before the solution was implemented I'd always get the error message "cannot connect to iTunes store". Once the solution was implemented I now can connect to iTunes using the "update" button in the "App Store" app and I get the normal message "All apps are up to date". The solution is this: go into Settings, then General, then scroll to the bottom where it says Date and Time. Tap Date and Time and then turn OFF Set Automatically. When you do that a new option will be added that says Set Date and Time. Tap it. You'll now get a drop down feature. Set the Date AHEAD 2 YEARS. The Time you can leave alone.

Once you do that you might get a bunch of reminders and messages that your apps and stuff haven't been updated in two years. Click cancel or close on each of those messages or reminders. Now go back into Settings, General, Date and Time, and turn Set Automatically back to ON. Reboot your iPad. Open the App Store app again and go to the Update button. It might ask you to log back in to your iTunes account. It should now work. If not, close the App Store app completely and open again and try the update button. Hope this helps.

Sep 1, 2012 3:26 PM in response to Flicker65

I wish I knew why these issues occur with the iDevices. Many people would like to know what causes the problem while most don't care what causes the problem, rather they just want the problem fixed for their iDevice. For these people these forums are a great source of information to find a "fix". Apple's next big software release, IOS 6, for all our iDevices, is just a few weeks away. It will probably fix the "can not connect to iTunes store" problem but will probably cause a handful of new iDevice issues. Apple's over-the-phone support system is just as bad as Microsofts has been. I'm sure Apple is aware of many of these issues that arise but you usually have to wait for months for a big iOS software update to fix it. I think these forums and communities are great though to find solutions, if even for a portion of people with the issue.

Sep 5, 2012 11:25 AM in response to KMF831

Thanks. Shortly after I posted the question, I found this "fix" on the forum and it did indeed resolve the symptom. But, as you say, it's not solved the problem, and it seems to be widespread and pretty frequent. The forums are great and thanks for taking the time to reply. Despite these issues, never regretted swapping from Microsoft to Apple

Cannot connect to iTunes Store

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