Why do I keep getting a "Unable to download item" popup?

Question

Why do I keep getting a "Unable to download item" popup?

Every five minutes (it seems) I get a popup my iPad Mini that says "Unable to download item - please try again later." It has become much more frequent since I downloaded iOS 8.4.1. This problem has plagued me since I first started using iOS 8, and it occurs in nearly every application that accesses the internet and sometimes on the home screen. It is very annoying. A Google search shows that many people have this problem, but surprisingly I can find nothing in the Apple forums about it. Any suggestions? How do I stop this?

iPad Mini, iOS 8.4.1

Posted on Aug 18, 2015 2:41 PM

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Answer 1

Aug 19, 2015 7:31 AM in response to williamfromca

I hadn't downloaded any updates for almost half a year but decided to download 8.4.1 on my iPhone 4S and now wish I hadn't bothered due to this annoying issue. If I knew what it was trying to download or how much space I needed it wouldn't be so bad. Had a little search and all I could find was to switch your product to airplane mode for about 15 seconds but this seems to be only a temporary fix. Also, during the update process my phone completely froze and I needed to do a forced restart.

I have also updated my iPad Mini with no issues so I really think this needs to be addressed and any official fixes shares with us customers.

Don't even get me started on that rubbish new music app!

Sorry that this wasn't a definitive fix to your issue.

And what is up with the auto capitals on my keyboard being absolutely broken on this website?!

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Answer 2

Aug 24, 2015 4:44 PM in response to Flaffenbam

Thanks for your reply, Flaffenbam. The "airport mode" trick doesn't seem to help much. but thanks for the suggestion.

This problem appears to be widespread, and I can't believe Apple has not addressed it in one of their updates (instead of making it worse), or at least have the courtesy of responding to the complaints about why this is happening. I have generally praised Apple's customer support, but their silence on this issue is puzzling.

And yes, I agree with you about Apple Music. Each iteration of iTunes seems to get more and more difficult to use, and the dumbing down of formerly useful apps like Pages and iPhoto (neither of whose successors I use anymore) is a disturbing development for a company whose software I used to admire for its combination of power and ease of use. But I suppose these are issues for another forum...

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Answer 3

elcpu

Level 7

31,586 points

Aug 24, 2015 5:03 PM in response to williamfromca

William, you do realize that this is not Apple's Technical Support, right? This is a forum of users just like you. I would leave feedback at this site and see if it helps, they do read every item.

🙂

http://www.apple.com/feedback/

Since this appears to be a widespread issue among Apps you might want to do a full Restore as described below. I would set my phone to NEW when prompted and then check and see. You can then restore the backup at any time.

Use iTunes to restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod to factory settings - Apple Support

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