iBooks STILL does not download books over cellular: WHY?

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Level 1

88 points

iBooks STILL does not download books over cellular: WHY?

When trying to download books to iBooks on my iPhone, if I am not connected to wifi, then I just get the little circle that makes it looks like the book is downloading. However, it never downloads. If downloading over cellular is not allowed (WHY WOULD APPLE BLOCK THIS?) then at least it should pop up a dialog saying "You can't do this because Apple hates you" instead of making me think it's working when it isn't.

To reproduce:

1. launch iBooks on iPhone

2. turn off wifi

3. click on a book that is not on the iPhone yet and click the "download" icon

4. wait forever for nothing to happen ever

This is one of those bugs that I believe Apple will never fix. I reported it to them but they don't respond to bug reports or say they are working on things. Another thing to endure as an Apple user. The Black Hole of Support.

iPhone 7 Plus, iOS 11.0.3

Posted on Apr 10, 2018 9:01 PM

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Answer 1

wealthychef Author

Level 1

88 points

Apr 11, 2018 1:19 AM in response to King_Penguin

King_Penguin wrote:

I reported it to them but they don't respond to bug reports or say they are working on things.

The feedback form says that they won't reply, they will only potentially do so if they want more information.

Yes I know it says that. It doesn't mean that's a good policy. I'm complaining that Apple is a black hole for support and feedback.

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Answer 2

wealthychef Author

Level 1

88 points

Apr 11, 2018 1:06 AM in response to King_Penguin

You are the first person I've heard say you can do this. So to be clear, if you turn off your wifi completely and then go to a book, you can download it?

Cellular data for iBooks is enabled for me, but without wifi, it will not download.

Here is a screen recording I made to show the problem :

ScreenRecording 04 11 2018 14 59 08 - YouTube

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Answer 3

King_Penguin

Level 10

334,330 points

Apr 11, 2018 2:12 AM in response to wealthychef

Yes, I turn wifi completely off via Settings > Wi-Fi (so not just disconnecting via Control Centre), have cellular enabled for iBooks as per your screenshot, and I can download books both from the Purchased tab in the app and on the bookshelf if I have iCloud books set to show on it (via the bottom of the collection name list).

You've closed the app and rebooted the phone and still have the same problem ? You could try updating to 11.3 and see if that makes any difference

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Answer 4

King_Penguin

Level 10

334,330 points

Apr 11, 2018 12:34 AM in response to wealthychef

You can download ibooks over cellular (it works fine for me on my iPhone 7 on 11.3, both from the Purchased tab and the bookshelf) as long as you've enabled it and the book isn't over 150 meg. I assume that you've tried the 'standard' troubleshooting to see if it fixes it.

I reported it to them but they don't respond to bug reports or say they are working on things.

The feedback form says that they won't reply, they will only potentially do so if they want more information.

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iBooks STILL does not download books over cellular: WHY?

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