"Transfer Purchases" does not work

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Level 1

5 points

"Transfer Purchases" does not work

Unable to use the "Transfer Purchases" feature using the iTunes program regardless of whether I attempt to do so using the "Sync" option while connected to my PC or from the "File/Devices/Transfer Purchase" option.

This problem exists on my Laptop AND my Desktop.

All other functions work properly. All purchases DO appear in the "Cloud".

If the option is there in iTunes, why does it not work?

Currently running IOS 9.2 on an iPhone 6 and IOS 9.2 on an iPad mini 2 also running iTunes 13.2 on a Win-10 machine.

This ALSO happens running Win-7.

Pls advise if anyone has a fix!

Thanks,

Ron

Posted on Dec 23, 2015 7:15 AM

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Answer 1

turingtest2

Level 10

278,263 points

Dec 23, 2015 11:49 AM in response to rkent57

A feature introduced with iOS 9 referred to as app thinning or app slicing allows each device to download only the code and resources needed by that device, resulting in smaller downloads and better use of storage on the device. As a consequence the device no longer holds the universal version of the app that could be installed on any device so transferring apps is no longer supported. Hopefully Apple will make some changes to the way this works, but in the meantime you can download past purchases from iTunes and/or enable automatic downloads of app purchases to make sure that iTunes always has the apps that you want on your device. As long as you make sure all apps are present and updated in iTunes before attempting a restore there should be no loss of data. I can't confirm, but it seems a recent update means that all data is restored and apps that are not in the library are queued for download from the iTunes Store over Wi-Fi, in a similar fashion to the way restore from iCloud works.

tt2

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Answer 2

turingtest2

Level 10

278,263 points

Dec 24, 2015 6:33 AM in response to rkent57

iTunes downloads universal versions of the apps. Use Music > iTunes Store > Quick Links > Purchased > Apps > Not in My Libray to download any apps you don't have then set up automatic downloads as suggested. See Backup your iTunes for Windows library with SyncToy for a way to keep multiple libraries in sync with each other.

tt2

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Answer 3

rkent57 Author

Level 1

5 points

Dec 24, 2015 6:24 AM in response to turingtest2

I have all my settings in the proper order and yet...I still have to go to each PC and re-download the apps to that PC. Basically Apple screwed the pooch on this one!

What a hassel! So if I forget which ones I downloaded, I have to go back to the site where I got them and re-download each of them on the each PC to INCLUDE every device as well!

Ron

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Answer 4

rkent57 Author

Level 1

5 points

Dec 24, 2015 6:54 AM in response to turingtest2

Thanks for the link, with any luck, this will help but Apple still needs to re-instate the "Transfer Purchases" option. With all their resources they have, it's pretty pathetic that the consumer has to go this route!

It still does not solve my problem where I still have to download any new apps to each device.

I'm aware of the "Not in my library or Not on this device" section as I had to use it to reload my device.

Question:

If I backup my device to iTunes, then elect to do a factory restore, then go into iTunes and select "restore from a previous backup"...will the backup I just made put everything back on my device or do I have to re-download all the apps again to my device?

What if I select the option to treat this as a new device and attempt to restore from the backup just created?

Thanks,

Ron

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Answer 5

turingtest2

Level 10

278,263 points

Dec 24, 2015 7:16 AM in response to rkent57

It is hard to be absolutely positive because I cannot find any documentation, but it does seem that any app that cannot be located in your library will still have its data restored and the app queued up for download direct to the device. I recently did a backup, new device, restore backup cycle to fix an issue I had with Siri and iTunes couldn't put back one of mine but it download when I tapped on it. In my case it was Scrabble so the associated settings might have been preserved via Game Center but I'm pretty sure it would have been OK with a different app.

tt2

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Answer 6

fromsouth

Level 5

4,945 points

Dec 24, 2015 7:37 AM in response to turingtest2

I can confirm that during restore from backup process apps are downloaded directly to the device in order they were on the device before backup.

In some cases (on mac computers) the option to transfer purchases grayed out due to app slicing integration, but apps are remembered by computer and once restore from backup starts those apps are re downloaded from iTunes in the cloud with content being restored from the computer. There is documentation from Apple with article from Okt 7, I will try to provide it when get a chance.

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