Help! I can'tr transfer purchases from iPhone to iTunes

just repurchase the apps through itunes. when you purchase the apps through itunes it will recognize that you have purchased the apps already and it will ask you: "you have purchased this app already. would you like to download again for free?"

problem solved.

I have the same problem. It shows that it's transferring the apps, but the bar never moves and it just goes through all the apps and they never actually show up on my hard drive.

What I do is just ignore that; manually download them all to your computer from iTunes, so that it doesn't ask you to transfer new purchases every time you sync your phone. Then, just don't worry about it. Every time I buy/download an app to my phone, I download it to my computer later via iTunes.

For me, it doesn't overwrite the ones on my phone from my computer. As long as you have them all checked-off to in the "Sync Applications" tab, it'll ignore them. Just make sure you always purchase/update apps through your phone, then later re-download them onto your computer so it doesn't hassle you about transferring the purchases even though it can't do it properly.

I know it's a pain but iTunes/Apple sucks and they think their "It just works" idea is a great one. I can't stand it.

Btw, I have: 8gb iPhone 3g, iPhone software 2.0.1, iTunes 7.7.1.11

Can't transfer purchases from iphone to Mac

If you are having problems transferring purchases from your iphone to your Mac I have a potential fix for it:
More than likely it's just an authorization issue so resetting those settings should Help
Here's How:
De-authorize your Mac and re-authorize it and then before transferring the purchases Hard Reset your iPhone By holding down the Power button and the Home button at the sane time until the Apple logo appears.

Now your secagent files have been reset and the .nib authorization files have created a new .plist for itunes' authorization process to devices

Good Luck everyone

I figured the 2.1 update would fix this problem but it didn't. I ended up doing a full factory reset and now my apps/purchases transfer from the computer > phone and vice versa.

If it bothers you that much, I suggest just resetting the phone after backing up your contacts/bookmarks/pictures/etc.

Possible solution

I just went through this and decided to take a look at my jailbroken iPhone to see what was going on.

It appears to be a permission issue (probably due to the upgrade from 1.x to 2.x).

I changed permissions on a directory and removed a file and it seemed to work again.


Of course this can only be done if you have shell access to your iPhone, so it's not much unless you've done a jailbreak.

Solution to Transferring purchases doesn't transfer

It is a permission issue.
Turn off all the Parent control restrictions in setting. It is probably only Restriction on the New purchases but I was too lazy to experiment. Turned them all off, reconnected the phone and transferring purchases started to work. Solved.

sirmaxz2nd said:

It is a permission issue.
Turn off all the Parent control restrictions in setting. It is probably only Restriction on the New purchases but I was too lazy to experiment. Turned them all off, reconnected the phone and transferring purchases started to work. Solved.

Click to expand...

Hopefully they figured it out in the last two years.

you guys are insane...

All you do is connect iPhone to iTunes then right click on your iPhone and select transfer/forward to iTunes.

All apps on your iPhone will be sent to iTunes.

Why would you attempt to "re-purchase" apps from within iTunes if you have hundreds of apps?

Finally i got it to transfer apps!!!

My MacBook hard drive died a few weeks ago and i have been trying since then to transfer my apps on my iphone to a new pc. i have tried all the suggestions from many posts to get this to work but none of them worked.

When i went to itunes on the pc and right clicked on my iphone name on the left sidebar and clicked "Transfer Purchases", Itunes on the pc would show all my apps being transferred very quickly but the progress bar would not move and the apps were not sent to my pc.

What finally worked was ssh'ing into the iphone and deleting a file (iFile will work also). Go to /var/mobile/Library/MobileInstallation. In that folder there should be a file called "ArchivedApplications.plist" To be on the safe side you can rename that file to "ArchivedApllications.plist.bak" instead of deleting it.

Now when i right click on my iphone name on itunes on the pc and i click transfer purchases they actually were transferred over.

Hope i save you the weeks of googling i spent trying to get this to work.

p.s. jailbroken Iphone 4 on firmware 4.1. Windows Vista with itunes 10.1.1.4

An answer to transferring all apps to computer

It looks like there can be more than one reason why iTunes will not transfer all of one's apps to your computer. I struggled for a day trying to get all of mine uploaded so that I could install the iOS 4.2 upgrade on my iPad. Some uploaded, some did not. The reason was that, in the distant past, I had created two Apple Store accounts. Some apps had been purchased on one account, some on the other. I had forgotten that I had two accounts and had authorized only one on the computer. The apps from the unauthorized account would not upload (not surprising).

patent10021 said:

you guys are insane...

All you do is connect iPhone to iTunes then right click on your iPhone and select transfer/forward to iTunes.

All apps on your iPhone will be sent to iTunes.

Why would you attempt to "re-purchase" apps from within iTunes if you have hundreds of apps?

Click to expand...

Yeah... They're insane... Here's a clue; people are aware of this magic process you described. If you, I don't know, read the thread before posting, you'd see that this thread is about what to do when "the magic dies" (yes fanboys and apologists, there are times things don't "just work")

I realize this is an ancient post and also that this thread is ancient, but people STILL have this issue and Apple STILL have no fix other than "oh! Yeah... Just wipe everything and start over and hope it doesn't happen again"

The only way seems to be jailbreaking. A real fix would be awesome because the problem makes upgrading (like say, to an iPad 2), really annoying

And if you've never had the problem, can't imagine the problem, refuse to accept it can be a problem... That's great for you, but it's not relevant. The nature of any "problem" is that not everyone experiences them. That's why authorities (manufacturers) need to figure out root causes and then develop fixes.

A quick google search will show that this issue has been around a loooong time and happened consistently for a decent number of people across every version of iTunes/iPod/iPad/iPhone that has apps

Whiteiphoneguy's fix is the ONLY real fix you'll find, and while a great and heroic hack, it requires jailbreaking. Apple makes sure to purge any reference to that fix from the official forums. That they can do just fine. FIX the actual issue though? Nah

Another possiblesolution (not tested)?

Hi Folks,

I'm just as annoyed as a lot of you that Apple hasn't fixed this problem, or at least told us what we did wrong to cause it. I'm trying to upgrade an iPad and iTunes won't transfer purchases from iPad (apps and books?).

I was thinking, if I went through and manually installed (purchased again but without being charged) each of the items that needs to be transferred from the iPad I would be sure not to "lose" any apps.

However, my question is - would this allow iTunes to then (on the next sync) save the data for these apps (files and stuff) to my Mac? I'm more concerned about losing data than having to reinstall the apps.

Has anyone tried this? Can anyone confirm that doing this would transfer the data (so that if I restored from iTunes I would not lose any data)? I wish this was all a bit more transparent.

Cheers,
Ashley.

PS iPad 1 running 4.1.2 (or something like that) and Mac running iTunes 10.2.2 (not jailbroken) and Mac OS X 10.6.7

PS It looks like there are about 30 apps that need to be transferred. My plan is to take a screen video of the list in iTunes and then play it back slowly so I can get the list of apps (and books?) that need transferring.

How Do Apple Get Away With IT?

Where does Apple's unassailable reputation come from? I like the equipment but HATE what the software does. My recent experience, actually it's about over a none month period now, is that the problems are stacking up and getting worse and worse. This is the first time I've taken time to try to sort out the glitches in my i.t. life with Apple and I realise on reflection that it is not ME that's made errors leading to a confusing nightmare NO it's THEM. It's Apple is not up to the task of servicing its success. EVERYONE I know is having problems like mine. This is not individual ailments, it's an epidemic.

Mobile Me is a nightmare. I have duplicate, triplicate, quadruplicate entries in address book and duplicates at least in calendars - AND Apple has the cheek to point out that if I choose to do 'air' and computer synching this MAY happen? As if it's MY fault that my data is cascading all around me when all I want is to get ONE name out of my contacts and look at ONE entry in my diary.

My iPhone will NOT synch with my macbookpro in any way that gives me reassurance that data is actually being backed up.

My 'apps' purchases on my iPhone will all be lost if I do not transfer them to my macbookpro - I transfer them - it tells me they cannot be transferred because my computer is not authorised - I authorise my computer - it says it's already authorised - YES I KNOW, I authorised it when I got it. I call Apple support, takes ten minutes (surprised it's not a longer wait considering EVERYONE I KNOW says they are having the same sort of problems that I am having) they tell me they can help but it will cost me a one off charge of £25 because my phone is out of guarantee (I JUST paid £1,300 for the EFFING macbook pro though).

I go to photos on the macbook pro and it says there are six on the phone. Then I go to the phone and check - there are 618. I wonder - how do I synch and how do I get at these photos? I used to be able to get at them when I synched with one of those hated by Apple machines called a PC.

Apple SHMAPPLE. They Need a HUGE kick up the arse in the software and consumer care department - they have already become more irritating than much of the Bill Gates arena while the Bill Gates arena has smartened up its act hugely - because of Apple.

Everyone I know who's using iPhones are beginning to HATE them. This ranges form people who have NEVER used a PC in their lives through to people who have only just 'upgraded' their lives to Apple FROM PC.

Mobile Me is an absolute EFFING disgrace. It is simply poopoo. OH yes and it costs me £59 a year to mess up my life.

Apple's success has clearly outstripped its ability to service its network adequately. They should acknowledge this and CHANGE it.

Ever tried making a complaint to Apple through their website? They are like Cuba only twenty, I mean a thousand, times richer - 'There can be no complaints because there's nothing other than perfection in the world of Apple - therefore Apple does not accept complaints. Only positive feedback'.

APPLE. Steve Jobs needs to have his arse kicked on stage in front of all those adoring reseller zombies who love him so much because they got so rich flogging off all that myth.

That's my rant over for a moment.