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Where are my apps in the new iTunes?

iTunes seem to have update itself and now my Apps have disappeared. Where are my apps in the new iTunes (v 12.7.0.166)?

MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2014), OS X Yosemite (10.10.1), 16 GB Ram; 480 GB SSD

Posted on Sep 13, 2017 5:00 PM

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Posted on Oct 2, 2017 4:59 AM

Thank you all for clarifying this.
To Apple's software developers - this is literally THE DUMBEST and most ridiculous decision you guys have made. I assume Jonny Ives had nothing to do with this UI change - I'm an industrial designer myself and any self-respecting designer would never do something stupid like that. The ability to manage apps in Itunes, on my desktop, with my mouse on a large monitor wasn't just a great feature, it was essential, expected, and natural. Remember guys - when you release new updates you're supposed to make your product BETTER, NOT WORSE. You've just made it decidedly worse. And to add insult to injury, you've totally skipped any notices, explanations or anything to just clue in millions of us who updated Itunes that app management feature is gone. Talk about missing Steve Jobs' thinking when you need it.

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Oct 2, 2017 4:59 AM in response to AMCarter3

Thank you all for clarifying this.
To Apple's software developers - this is literally THE DUMBEST and most ridiculous decision you guys have made. I assume Jonny Ives had nothing to do with this UI change - I'm an industrial designer myself and any self-respecting designer would never do something stupid like that. The ability to manage apps in Itunes, on my desktop, with my mouse on a large monitor wasn't just a great feature, it was essential, expected, and natural. Remember guys - when you release new updates you're supposed to make your product BETTER, NOT WORSE. You've just made it decidedly worse. And to add insult to injury, you've totally skipped any notices, explanations or anything to just clue in millions of us who updated Itunes that app management feature is gone. Talk about missing Steve Jobs' thinking when you need it.

Sep 14, 2017 8:13 AM in response to ter3138

The idea is that all app management takes place on the device. If you have any apps that are no longer in the store that you want to put on your device these will still be in the old Mobile Applications folder and can be manually dragged & dropped to the device. Likewise with ringtones.


From Manually manage content on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch using iTunes - Apple Support:


Manually add items from your computer

If you have media on your computer that you can't redownload from the App Store or iTunes Store directly on your iOS device, such as custom ringtones or iOS apps, you can drag and drop the media from your computer to your iOS device using iTunes.

  1. Connect your device to your computer.
  2. Open iTunes. Make sure that you have the latest version.
  3. On your computer, find the item you want to add to your device. If you're looking for Apps, Tones, or Books (for Windows) that previously appeared in your iTunes library, you can find them in your iTunes media folder.
  4. Drag the item from your computer to your iOS device in the left sidebar of iTunes.User uploaded file


tt2

Sep 13, 2017 5:26 PM in response to roaminggnome

The new iTunes give no explanation at all about what happened to your library of apps or where to find it. There are articles showing up explaining simply that Apple removed all iOS apps from iTunes and that you are supposed to now manage your apps on your iOS device. However, your library of purchased iOS apps is not visible on your iOS device.

Sep 14, 2017 8:17 AM in response to turingtest2

Thanks. What you described re: moving i0S apps from my iTunes Media folder to the device in iTunes did work. And, I have to say I REALLY do not like not being able to see the big picture of my iOS apps library. I can only hope that Apple will provide a way to view all iOS apps as a "library" and manage these apps when they release the expected updated, upgraded, redesigned App Store app.

Sep 16, 2017 3:29 PM in response to AMCarter3

I completely agree. I use iTunes to manage apps across multiple devices. This is important with my daughter's iPod so I can monitor what she is using when I update. I would appreciate Apple at least explaining the logic behind their changes so I don't assume that they are more interested in controlling how I manage my devices versus actually letting users do it.

Oct 12, 2017 3:32 AM in response to maringorama

Management of apps, books, and tones has been removed from iTunes 12.7. See Changes in the new iTunes - Apple Support for details. The intention is clearly that management of these generally takes place on the device.


See the Manually add items from your computer section of Manually manage content on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch using iTunes - Apple Support for the control that remains. This can be used to copy apps (including apps that have been withdrawn from the store), ePubs, iBooks, PDFs, and tones from your computer to your device. The File Sharing feature for copying data between apps and the computer is still there. You can also use iCloud Drive, or Dropbox to move content to and from the device.


A long time criticism of iTunes, at least from some quarters, is that has been that it has become bloated. Perhaps this is an attempt to address that. I let both my iOS devices update automatically when there is an updated app, and I'm not interested in hanging on to old apps that a developer has withdrawn, nor do I need to rearrange my apps often, so while the change is drastic, I don't think it really affects me much. I'm more irritated by the changes to iTunes U, and iBooks in iTunes for Windows.


See Deploy apps in a business environment with iTunes - Apple Support for access to iTunes 12.6.3 if you want to revert to a build with app management features. Windows users need to uninstall the current copy of the iTunes application first. See Empty/corrupt iTunes library after upgrade/crash for steps to revert to a pre-iTunes 12.7 version of your iTunes database.



tt2

Oct 18, 2017 4:39 PM in response to Milqi

Perhaps you missed this bit in one of my more recent posts to this thread:


See Deploy apps in a business environment with iTunes - Apple Support for access to iTunes 12.6.3 if you want to revert to a build with app management features. Windows users need to uninstall the current copy of the iTunes application first. See Empty/corrupt iTunes library after upgrade/crash for steps to revert to a pre-iTunes 12.7 version of your iTunes database.


tt2

Oct 26, 2017 7:05 AM in response to LouisvilleMark

I would NOT recommend going backwards to earlier iTunes versions just to recover the app management feature. I don't think is wise in this situation. Apple is making many changes across the entire spectrum of their OS and iOS operating systems and especially iTunes.


Like many people in this thread have said, we strongly recommend that everyone send your feedback directly to APPLE. They do read the feedback. If enough of us speak up about this concern, it will be heard and, maybe, it will lead to some better way to manage iOS apps... Let the people's voice be heard... Go to:

Feedback - iTunes - Apple

Dec 8, 2017 7:33 PM in response to AMCarter3

https://www.macrumors.com/2017/10/09/apple-itunes-with-app-store-included/

The above article is the one that lead me to the version of iTunes that release quietly to bring the functionality you are looking for.



https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT208079

Above link is where you can download the version of iTunes that has the ability to control your apps.


Hope this helps.


/madapakaz

Dec 9, 2017 8:14 AM in response to madapakaz

Thanks for the info. As the article states, "Apple has quietly released iTunes 12.6.3, which reintroduces the ability to download App Store apps and ringtones from within the iTunes desktop software. And, "It's not clear how long Apple will offer iTunes 12.6.3, and the company does not provide technical support for this version, but for those who want the functionality it could be a useful makeweight until Apple comes up with an alternative solution."


To me, going back to 12.6.3 would be a backward and likely temporary step. And it includes compatibility with iOS 11, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X... NOT iPhone 6 or 7. (I'm still on a 6s).


I really do not want to go backward. I want a well designed solution for managing our iOS apps. It doesn't have to be inside iTunes. It just has to be a thoughtfully designed app that works on a computer. The current method of trying to use the iOS App Store to manage and organize iOS apps on iOS devices is pitiful.

Where are my apps in the new iTunes?

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