How to load old versions of applications

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Level 1

46 points

How to load old versions of applications

I have an iPhone 4 with iOS 7.1.2 that ran Find my Friends. Apparently the latest version of Find my Friends does not work on my phone, but I was very happy with the version I had.

I had an issue (still unresolved) where my contacts were deleted and it was impossible to restore them. One approach was to reset the device and restore from backup. After doing that, iTues refused to install Find my Friends because the latest version is incompatible with my iPhone. It also refused to install "Find my iPhone". Thanks Apple.

I don't understand the rationale of backups that aren't actual backups, nor why software isn't reinstalled because it's not the latest version. But in any case, I would like to reinstall Find my Friends and Find my iPhone.

Any suggestions?

Posted on Jan 23, 2016 9:35 PM

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Answer 1

sberman

Level 10

272,832 points

Jan 23, 2016 10:38 PM in response to ozRob

ozRob wrote:

Thanks for the quick response, the advice at the provided link is:

Open the App Store or Mac App Store.

Go to the Purchased screen on your iOS device or the Purchases tab on your Mac.

Find the app and choose Download. You'll see a message telling you if a compatible version is available.

That's interesting. I performed these three steps and see the following:

Yes, I have iOS 9.2.1 on an iPhone 6S, but indeed I have removed my Find My Friends that had been furnished by the App Store because this app is now included with the base iOS system (much like Stocks, Weather, etc.). The above displays in the "Not on my iPhone" area.

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Answer 2

ozRob Author

Level 1

46 points

Jan 23, 2016 10:42 PM in response to sberman

Thanks for the quick response, the advice at the provided link is:

Open the App Store or Mac App Store.

Go to the Purchased screen on your iOS device or the Purchases tab on your Mac.

Find the app and choose Download. You'll see a message telling you if a compatible version is available. Tap Confirm to install this version.

If a compatible version isn't available, you can try contacting the app developer. Look for contact information on the app's product page in the App Store or Mac App Store.

I tried searching the App Store on my Mac but it didn't list "Find my Friends", perhaps by default it only lists Mac applications if you're searching from a Mac. A search of iTunes showed the application, but since I've downloaded the latest version through the Update utility, the only option was "Install", which fails due to being incompatible.

Finally I searched the App Store on my iPhone, which gave me the option of installing an older version.

So the answer is to search for applications in the App Store using the device you want to install the application on, then select "Install". If an older, compatible version is available it should be offered.

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Answer 3

sberman

Level 10

272,832 points

Jan 23, 2016 10:01 PM in response to ozRob

Install the latest compatible version of an app on an earlier version of iOS or OS X - Apple Support

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