A friend recently gave me her iphone 4, however it has not been updated, so it doesn't have iCloud. We were expecting to transfer her purchased apps through iCloud, but when I try to update the phone, it will erase all of the apps. How would I be able to transfer her apps on her new iphone 5, without downloading iCloud first, or how would I update my iphone to get iCloud, without it deleting the apps off of the phone?
iPhone 4
If you (plural) are only concerned about retrieving her apps on her new iPhone, that's no big deal! Here's why:
Even if her apps do not show up on any iTunes, she could always redownload them to her new iPhone with her Apple ID through the App Store. She could simply open the App Store, go to "Updates" in the lower right (assuming she has at least iOS 6), then click "Purchased". They will all be available there to re-download if necessary.
Your friend's apps do not belong to you. They are tagged with her Apple ID. You can get them, but read on ...
The way to do this without iCloud is for you to have your iTunes set up (completely independently from hers, so you can have your own Apple ID). Then either you or she should copy her apps that you want into your copy of iTunes.
Next, on your copy of iTunes, have her go to Store > Authorize The Computer and sign in with her Apple ID and password. This grants you permission to use her property (apps).
Finally, sync your iPhone to your iTunes.
Thank you for your help. I have other apple products, so I already have an Apple ID. I understand on how I can keep her apps (which i don't really need to have) but how does she get her apps back on her new phone? She didn't set up her new phone on a computer, and doesn't even know what computer she would have originally set up her old iphone on. The only reason this is such a necessity is because some of her apps were very expensive.
If I understand your original post correctly, the iPhone 4 is still in the same state it was in when your friend gave it to you. If that's true, then all she has to do is sync the iPhone to her computer's iTunes before you (plural) do anything else. Then she'll have her own copy of everything.
By the way, you should both make sure you have the latest iTunes (11.0.1).
The next thing I would recommend is for you to prepare to "move in" to the iPhone. Do that by discarding everything on it, and making the iPhone look like it was just purchased by doing Settings > General > Reset > Erase all content and settings.
Then you can proceed to set the iPhone up as your own, with your Apple ID, and pick up her apps as described above.
Yes, her old phone has not been restored and still has all of her information on it. I have been waiting to restore it to factory settings until she has all of the content she needs. I already transfered her contacts through google and uploaded her photos to her ipad. Now all she needs is her apps, however, she may not be able to acces her itunes. Tomorrow I will have her check any computer that may have her itunes. But if she cannot access her itunes. Is there anyway possible to transfer the apps? I realize this would have a very easy fix if she had her itunes account available.
I have to say Apple is a pretty amazing company, among other reasons, because they do recognize people are going to upgrade their hardware and simply move their music, apps, movies, etc. from device to device.
It's good all this got sorted out without resorting to ugly things (like sharing an Apple ID, which would lead to complications later).
I hope you both enjoy your new iPhones!
Before updating it, use the Transfer Purchases function in iTunes.
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Great thank you! I didn't even thinnk about that. I just assumed it would make her buy them again since it is on a different product. This saves a lot of trouble. Thank you very much!
Transfering apps without iCloud?
