Hi!
I accidentally upgraded iTunes to version 12.7. I no longer remember which version I had, but it had the App management section. I would very much like to have that back. What version do I need to download, and is there anything special I have to do to install it?
Thanks!
iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6)
The page you linked to seemed to imply that you didn’t have to go through the rigamarole of digging out and renaming the old iTunes Library.itl file, but you definitely do. But for anyone else reading this, the process is quite simple:
Download the previous version of iTunes. Previous versions are available on Apple’s website. Delete the version you have now in your /Applications folder, and run the installer for the one you’ve just downloaded. Do not launch it, yet.
Move the iTunes Library.itl file to your Desktop. It is found in ~/Music/iTunes/ Go the the Previous iTunes Libraries folder. It is in the same directory. Duplicate the most recent file in there, rename it to iTunes Library, and drag it one directory up into the ~/Music/iTunes/ folder. You may now launch iTunes.
If all has gone well, you may delete the iTunes Library file you moved to the Desktop.
There's more to this situation than just what has been discussed so far. Let me explain.
In iTunes versions prior to 12.7, whenever a new version of an app was downloaded, the old version was moved to Trash. I could move the old version from the Trash and save it.
This enabled me to revert to a previous version of an app by simply deleting the new version from my iPhone, deleting it from iTunes, dropping the prior version into iTunes and then syncing the iPhone. In other words, it was possible to keep multiple prior versions of an app and install any one of them on my iPhone whenever I wanted.
There is no way to save a previous version of an app with iTunes 12.7. Downloading an app using the iPhone overwrites the older version without the option to save the previous version.
This may be Apple's intent... make app updates the same as IOS updates. Impossible to go back to a prior version.
I have no idea what Apple’s intent has been regarding iTunes since we kissed version 10.7 goodbye. All I know is that each major update brings some new inconvenience. The last thing I want to do is be dinking around on my tiny phone screen, trying to manage apps, and using up data. As far as that goes, my phone is slow AF even at home, using wifi. I just want my phone to work when I’m using it. I’ll do all the messing around on my 24” screen.
Incidentally, Apple is still signing iOS 10.3.3 for iPhone 6s as of the other day. Thank you for that! If you want podcast playlists back, you need to move now.
See Managing apps with iTunes 12.7 or later. Revert to iTunes 12.6.3 if you want the app management features it provides.
tt2
How Do I Downgrade iTunes?
