How to transfer a discontinued app from one iPhone to another iPhone

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How to transfer a discontinued app from one iPhone to another iPhone

I have an app called "Lono" to control my sprinkler system on my old iPhone with iOS 11. And when I upgraded to a new iPhone with iOS 12, and want to restore my phone via iTunes backup, and I realized that this app "Lono" is removed from the App Store and no longer available, and I do not have the app backed-up in my iTunes! I tried to downgrade my iTunes from 12.8 to 12.6 to bring back the "App" tab to transfer the app from my old phone to iTunes. However, transfer purchases is no longer working as my old phone has iOS 11...

In this case, how should I transfer this discontinued app from my old phone to new phone?

Thanks!

iPhone Xs, iOS 12

Posted on Sep 24, 2018 6:09 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

toneman182

Level 1

17 points

Oct 4, 2018 6:01 AM in response to Hua Wang

I got through to Apple support via Chat. I was able to get my App back by going to my Previous Purchases and finding the app and re-installing it from there.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201272

I was lucky because the App was still downloadable (I was worried because a legal issue had caused the original App to be pulled) and it is still downloadable ultimately because it is still compatible with my current iOS. If the app is no longer compatible, then you will be able to see the old purchase, but it will be greyed-out and you can't reinstall it. I also found the MANY of my apps which are no longer available in the App store because they haven't been updated by their developers, are still installable. I was able to reinstall numerous apps that I could not find on the App Store any more using that method.

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Answer 2

Sep 29, 2018 7:35 AM in response to Hua Wang

I'm having the same issue with a discontinued but expensive iPad app that I need to move to my new iPad Pro. The instructions on the Apple link (below) for manually moving apps doesn't work and doesn't include finding the app .IPA files (which I still can't find). I'm using iTunes 12.8. I've selected "File ->Devices ->Transfer Purchases... but can't find the .IPA file which I am apparently supposed to drag onto the iPad icon in iTunes.

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

Can anyone at apple please help us all with this important issue?

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Answer 3

Hua Wang Author

Level 1

11 points

Oct 3, 2018 7:04 PM in response to toneman182

Yep, I tried the same way, but Transfer Purchases doesn't work. And even I downgraded by iTunes to 12.6 with the "App" tab, I still couldn't move the .IPA file out of my iPhone to my computer. Hopefully they can bring the "Transfer Purchase" function back to live in a future iTunes version, otherwise I have to carry two phones all the time...

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Answer 4

Hua Wang Author

Level 1

11 points

Oct 5, 2018 8:39 PM in response to toneman182

Thanks for the method, but looks like to company is out of business, and the app is disappeared in my previous purchase list in app store (I could still found it from iCloud Account Settings -> Purchase history, but cannot install app from here).

Anyways, I looked up other ways to pull the .ipa out from iphone to itunes, looks like there is another way, using Apple Configurator 2. However, this app only support macOS 10.14, and no earlier versions available on mac app store. My mac is too old to support macOS 10.14, so another dead end... Still looking for a way...

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How to transfer a discontinued app from one iPhone to another iPhone

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