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User profile for user: ckakani
ckakani Author
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Manually Deleting iOS App Files from the 'Mobile Applications' Folder on a Mac.

In my eagerness, trying to save valuable disk space, I deleted all the files (40 GB) in the the Mobile Applications on my mac. This folder has accumulated over 900 app files over the years. I am currently using only 160 apps on my iPhone. I deleted all the files (and emptied the trash). After doing the delete I was unable to download, only the apps that I am currently using on the phone (160 of them), into my iTunes again (from the app store seen in the iTunes). This is because iTunes App store thinks that I have already downloaded these apps; where as I have deleted them just manually from the Mobile Applications folder.


After reading on the web that this is a mistake, I got cold feet and started a restore from my Time Machine to put the all the 900 app files back.


The reason I started the restore process from the Time Machine is because app thinning is NOT allowing me to transfer purchases back to my iTunes on the mac. Initially I thought I can "put back" just the 160 apps, from my phone, into the iTunes Mobile Applications Folder. I now realize that I can no longer do that by "Transfer Purchase". I am on iOS 9.2.1 (iPhone 6S Plus), and OS X El Captain (10.11.3) (Macbook Air).


By the way, I have a PDF file with a list of all the files in the Mobile Applications folder (900 app files). I did this by using an application called Print Window. So I do have a detailed list of all the files (apps) that I ever downloaded. This is so that I can download the Apps to my iPhone directly (from the cloud) in case I need an App on my phone, in the future


How critical is it to keep the files in the Mobile Applications Folder on my Mac? In case I need to restore my iPhone, will all the apps not download from the cloud? If the answer is yes to this question, can I go ahead and delete all the files in the Mobile Applications Folder manually to reclaim a good amount of disk space?


I hope I am clear in my question and the description.

Thanks!

MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2014), iOS 9.2.1, El Captain 10.11.13

Posted on Feb 6, 2016 12:50 AM

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User profile for user: turingtest2
turingtest2
User level: Level 10
272,761 points

Posted on Feb 6, 2016 7:22 AM

You no longer need to keep a local copy of the apps. Any app that you don't have at the time of a restore will be downloaded from the cloud provided it is still available. You may want to review your list of 160 apps for any that you'd be really sad to lose and keep a copy of those. You don't necessarily need them in the library. As long as you have the .ipa file somewhere you can add it back into your library at a future date.


tt2

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User profile for user: turingtest2
turingtest2
User level: Level 10
272,761 points

Feb 6, 2016 7:22 AM in response to ckakani

You no longer need to keep a local copy of the apps. Any app that you don't have at the time of a restore will be downloaded from the cloud provided it is still available. You may want to review your list of 160 apps for any that you'd be really sad to lose and keep a copy of those. You don't necessarily need them in the library. As long as you have the .ipa file somewhere you can add it back into your library at a future date.


tt2

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User profile for user: ckakani
ckakani Author
User level: Level 1
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Feb 6, 2016 7:19 AM in response to turingtest2

Thank you so much for your response! It is a relief to hear that you don't need to keep a copy of an app, unless it becomes unavailable in the App Store. I don't mind investing the 40 GB on an external drive to keep all the 900 apps. I might just do that and keep them 'outside'. Also, I noticed that there is a "locate the app", once iTunes does not 'find' the app in the 'Mobile Applications' folder. This is if I tried to 'install' the app back on my phone, while it is connected to the iTunes on my Mac, and I deleted the app from the 'Mobile Applicarions'.

Apple sbould give us the ability to "span" the 'Mobile Applications' folder to an external drive. This is because, just like the photo library, there is no end in sight, for the accumulation of the apps, all the way to infinity (almost😀). I purchased an application called TuneSpan, to do exactly that, for my music and videos. TuneSpan cannot work on 'Mobile Applications', purchased TV shows and purchased movies.

Thanks again for your help!

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Manually Deleting iOS App Files from the 'Mobile Applications' Folder on a Mac.

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