I keep getting an error message when trying to update applications on my Mac.

Question

I keep getting an error message when trying to update applications on my Mac.

For a few weeks now, whenever I get the pop up message that there's an update available for something and I click through to go update, it asks me to log in and then gives me this error message:

I click Okay and nothing happens.

I am sure I'm signing in with my current Apple ID. However, I wonder if the problem relates to the issues I had after I got my first iPhone in November. When I first got it, the tech set it up with the Apple ID I had created for my daughter to use for her iPod a few years ago. Since I used my own email address and I don't want her apps, I created a new one and reset my iPhone. That was all before this error message started popping up.

Can anyone help me fix this? I want to be able to update my computer applications.

iMac, iOS 7.0.4

Posted on Jan 2, 2014 1:48 PM

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Answer 1

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,541 points

Jan 2, 2014 3:25 PM in response to iphonemichele

When you launch the App Store and it notifies you of updates, does it show your current Apple ID or a different one?

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Answer 2

Jan 2, 2014 4:24 PM in response to Linc Davis

Do you mean when I click update and it gives me the sign in window? Yes, there it shows my current email address.

As for launching the app store, I don't see a place where it shows the Apple ID. Where should I be looking?

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Answer 3

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,541 points

Jan 2, 2014 4:40 PM in response to iphonemichele

Launch the Console application in any of the following ways:

☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Console in the icon grid.

Select

/var/log ▹ appstore.log

from the hierarchical list on the left. If you don't see that list, select

View ▹ Show Log List

from the menu bar. Then select the messages from the last installation or update attempt, starting from the time when you initiated it. If you're not sure when that was, click the Clear Display button in the toolbar of the Console window and then try the installation again.

Copy the messages to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Paste into a reply to this message (command-V).

If there are runs of repeated messages, post only one example of each. Don’t post many repetitions of the same message.

When posting a log extract, be selective. Don't post more than is requested.

Please do not indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.

Important: Some private information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Edit it out by search-and-replace in a text editor before posting.

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Answer 4

Jan 3, 2014 5:52 AM in response to Linc Davis

I followed your directions to look at the log but couldn't find anything about the appstore. So I cleared the log and tried again to install. This time it gave me a new error message, which gave me a new idea about what might be going on here, which maybe you can verify and help me with.

The message said, "You have updates for other accounts. Sign into (my daughter's Apple ID) to update applications for that acount."

I clicked OK, logged out of my own account and into my daughter's, and then proceeded to download the update. So it appears my Mac is still thinking I'm using my daughter's account! Which I changed in November when I got my iPhone, as I explained in the original post.

This might also explain why I'm still getting outdated reminders on my iPhone that I had deleted from my computer.

How do I change it so my computer acts like my new Apple ID is the correct one and all my current applications belong to me with my new ID? I hope you understand what I'm saying. I hardly do. This Apple ID stuff has been so confusing. 😟

Thank you.

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Answer 5

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,541 points

Jan 3, 2014 7:09 AM in response to iphonemichele

The only way to avoid the problem is to delete all the apps that were installed using the other ID, and then reinstall them (if you wish) under yours. To find out which apps those are, sign in as your daughter and look at the purchase history.

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Answer 6

Jan 3, 2014 8:31 AM in response to Linc Davis

Thank you Linc.

It looks like I have only purchased the RSS Notifier (the subject of this updating difficulty that prompted the original post) and downloaded Mountain Lion and Mavericks.

The only one I care about is Mountain Lion. I haven't actually installed Mavericks yet because some of the reviews scared me.

Does it matter that my OS or the RSS notifier are purchased for my Mac with my daughter's Apple ID? Is it going to cause syching problems with my iPhone? I'm inclined to just leave things as they are. Should I buy any future iMac apps using my new Apple ID or would that cause problems or be impossible? Is the Apple ID linked to my entire Mac or just those apps I purchased last year?

Thanks for helping me through this confusion.

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Answer 7

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,541 points

Jan 3, 2014 12:25 PM in response to iphonemichele

Is it going to cause syching problems with my iPhone?

No.

...would that cause problems or be impossible?

Not if you don't try to update with the wrong ID. That's impossible.

Is the Apple ID linked to my entire Mac or just those apps I purchased last year?

It's permanently linked to purchased (or free) content.

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