iPad Air since iOS 8: Apps not updating and downloading no longer possible. Fix?

Great tip! Was trying all the other suggestions but yours finally resolved it. Thanks!

So I deleted WSJ and did a hard reset. Everything started downloading: apps, music, other subscriptions. I am now downloading WSJ again (the version does say it fixes a bug that bricks the app store, so we'll see).

I should say though, this is still totally on Apple, they have spent years priding themselves on security of iOS and sand boxing and how they are better than Android with these as key points. For an App to have the capability (by bug or intentional) to brick all iTunes downloads (I could not get music, apps, subscriptions, or OTA iOS updates) is a total security flaw.

Apple's security practices and QA teams for software seem to be non-existent the last several releases.

Oh by the way, if you have iCloud drive, do NOT do "Reset All Settings" it will blow away all your documents permanently. Even Dropbox is smart enough to give you a 30 day recovery window. Though, the way Apple is, even if they gave you a 30 day window to recover deleted docs, they probably would have a bug that would still permanently delete them anyways.

I also talked to a guy at local Genius Bar. He said Apple and WSJ determined that WSJ for iPad coding was always trying to move the WSJ for iPad update to the top of the update queue and was thus interfering with all updates including WSJ's own update.

It's always possible that if you don't have WSJ for iPad and you are experiencing similar problem that there are other Apps causing similar problems, but the Genius Bar guy thinks it was all due to the WSJ app.

Attempted to upgrade to ios8 but my iPad stalled and had to be taken to a computer specialist to unfreeze it, whilst there he uploaded the new software but everything on it was lost in the process, do you know to whom in Apple I send the specialist's invoice?

How can Apple possibly justify moving the bookmarks list from the right to the left in safari, given how smart they're supposed to be can't the side be optional?

Just restore your iPad from either your iCloud backup or your iTunes backup. And of course, for others who may be reading this ... you NEVER start doing stuff with your iPad (i.e., fiddling around to fix something) unless you have done your backups. AND ... you should ALWAYS do an iCloud backup every single day, plus doing your iTunes backup every week or maybe two weeks (depending on how much it changes in the meantime). Apple has always provided a way for people to PRESERVE their data ... if people would just listen ... :-) ...

Fighting with my iPhone 6+ over this stupidity that Apple caused is by far far far the worst ever user experience I've had with Apple. This is exactly why I switched my whole family from Microsoft/Google to all Apple - iPhones, MBP Retinas, iPads, and iTouches. I am disgusted. I wasted two hours finding this needle-in-a-haystack random solution involving the WSJ paper (only thanks to your post and DESPITE Apple). Listen up Apple. Shape up now or I am out. And I've got news for you. There are thousands of customers like me who each have bought a good $10K of your systems to avoid idiotic headaches like these from a company that clearly couldn't care less as it mutely stood by and watched the hundreds of posts on this thread. And the truth is not going to stay hidden. No way. People like us don't pay that kind of money to silently suffer. Shape up Apple.

Apple is NOT HERE on this forum. This is a "users helping other users" forum. If you want Apple to hear something you have to say, you're going to have to talk to them, directly. You can do either Apple Support or Feedback. The "users" here have nothing to do with what you were saying ...

Apple Support

http://www.apple.com/support/

Apple Retail Store - Genius Bar

http://www.apple.com/retail/geniusbar/

Product Feedback

https://www.apple.com/feedback/

That is WRONG (only using obnoxious caps because you did - sorry to be petty but you should know how it feels). First, Apple absolutely, with no excuses, should be watching this thread for major issues like this one and then issuing a fix or guidance (doesn't have to be through this thread of course). This is a major problem with a totally random non-intuitive solution that is frustrating many users, as evidenced by all the posts on this thread and on the App Store thread. Apple is selling premium devices with the key selling points that they are supposed to be easy to use and Apple has great customer service. Your comment that Apple doesn't look here ignores the fact that (a) it most likely is as others have said and (b) if it isn't and it is blind to what is going on with its product then that in and of itself is a major problem. Second, those forums you point to are not solving the problem. As others have said, they have gone to the "Genius" Bar and called Apple support to no avail so pointing me there does not help one bit. Again, huge problem. This is a huge mess and greatly disappointing coming on the heels of Apple's most important product release in years in the iPhone 6.

I don't know if this info will matter for trying to figure out this problem but I wanted to say that I was having the exact same problems as said here but on a iPhone 6. I never had WSJ on it or even on my 5 I upgraded from. Besides the things mentioned here whenever I restarted the 6 Spotlight Search would not work until I had the phone on for awhile.

I tried erasing all settings, didn't help. Finally wiped it to factory setting and set it up as a new iPhone. Only thing I transferred was contacts, calendar and notes. I did this last Wednesday and it's been working perfectly since. At first I was thinking what a hassle it would be but it was actually kinda cool starting over, I didn't put a lot of apps I never used back, and found apps I wanted do back that had somehow gotten deleted and I just like the set up better.

Anyway, as I said above I don't know if this info will help but wanted do to pass it along and thanks for the responses I got when I first posted about this.

474747 wrote:

That is WRONG (only using obnoxious caps because you did - sorry to be petty but you should know how it feels). First, Apple absolutely, with no excuses, should be watching this thread for major issues like this one and then issuing a fix or guidance (doesn't have to be through this thread of course). This is a major problem with a totally random non-intuitive solution that is frustrating many users, as evidenced by all the posts on this thread and on the App Store thread. Apple is selling premium devices with the key selling points that they are supposed to be easy to use and Apple has great customer service. Your comment that Apple doesn't look here ignores the fact that (a) it most likely is as others have said and (b) if it isn't and it is blind to what is going on with its product then that in and of itself is a major problem. Second, those forums you point to are not solving the problem. As others have said, they have gone to the "Genius" Bar and called Apple support to no avail so pointing me there does not help one bit. Again, huge problem. This is a huge mess and greatly disappointing coming on the heels of Apple's most important product release in years in the iPhone 6.

Here and there you will see an Apple voice on these forums, but my understanding is the forums are largely for us to speak to each other. Those other pathways the other poster mentioned generally lead explicitly to problems getting logged, so that is a good next step, although that is also no guarantee that they will be worked on.

I would also push back on the notion that there are a lot of us. There almost certainly are not. Otherwise we'd be reading of this problem all over. My guess is that our problem is fairly obscure and is a combination of our specific system settings and one or more specific apps. It is also possible that there is more than one problem here that sound similar but are different. For example, I now know that all I've got to do is delete the WSJ app, reboot, redownload WSJ and I'm back in business. Others don't even have the Wall Street Journal.

Our next hope is tomorrow. If you know anything about programming you know that bugs are often fixed inadvertently. It may be that somebody working near our problem fixed it without ever knowing it was there. It's also possible that our specific problem was addressed in the new update that will make Apple Pay live.

If tomorrow's update doesn't fix the problem, the next step is probably to inundate the links Star Traveler gave us. Like it or not, this is the way to get a problem addressed.

Wondering if anyone has seen the issue since the 8.1 update. I've been missing my WSJ going to bring it back tonight. I'll let you all know what I find.

I posted earlier in this thread that WSJ issued an update within the last week and 'fessed up' to causing the problem (likely other apps out there as well so WSJ won't be the only one). I downloaded the update. Problem resolved. BTW, appears NOT to be Apple's fault in this case.

Hi All,

I just update my Iphone 5S to 8.1 from O.T.A, & sadly that NOT RESOLVE the bug we are all suffer about.

Before i write this message i again, power off, make hard reboot, Nothing ! once i touch any app have to be updated the circle turn without ending & no update is possible.

So i refer to my other post on this thread, & i removed all the App needed to be updated, reboot & go to /purchases / not on this Iphone & i can re_download the completed App, with by the way the update included.....that tricks can be done as well & in case of important backup or any datas come with these app you want to update, tale in mind, you will loose all this info's by the action of removing the app.

ITS A SHAME FOR APPLE ! when i see the amount of the correction's of BUGS that 8.1 corrected & unfortunately the bug mentioned in this thread is not included !, APPLE do not ear / read us !

So last way to to do = Open your Mac & Itunes, update your app or / and download any new one , Plug your Iphone with an USB Cable & you get success,

But by OTA we have to forget for now.

Regards,

Cyril

Posting what worked for me a second time. I reset my AppleID password and everything

resumed normally. I also had the WSJ app, but I believe it just exposed the issue and was not the only app to do so.

Worked for me.

Sent via mobile

@royfromscottsdale,

YOU ARE A GENIUS ! THANK YOU SO MUCH !

WOW ! WORKING !

Awesome, so is what that finaly !! Holy Sh.... so simple ! **** ! how many days i fight with this issue ! i will know it wasen't any app in cause !

I go here : https://appleid.apple.com/

I Change the pass , once i registred, i got on the Iphone a message from Facetime for fill the new pass...on the app store got a form appear with personal info's to correct, i validated , & DONE ! i test on a free app to download ! & working !!