OS X shows “Sign in to use this application on this computer” dialogs when opening Ap

[cbogaert]

Hi,

I'm having an issue with apps bought from the Mac App Store.

After a reboot of OS X, I often need to re-enter my Apple ID password in order to use the apps I bought in the app store. Sometimes I have to re-enter my password only once and all the apps work (until the next reboot), but often I have to repeat this for every single app store app I open.

For example, I might get this dialog the first time I launch Reeder after rebooting OS X:


Note that the dialog remembers my Apple ID, but I have deleted it before taking a screenshot (for privacy).

I have tried to delete the following files:

~/Library/Caches/com.apple.appstore
~/Library/Caches/com.apple.storeagent
~/Library/Cookies/com.apple.appstore.plist
~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.appstore.plist
~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.storeagent.plist

But this didn't solve the problem. I have reinstalled all the apps, but that didn't help either. Moreover, I have done a clean install of OS X (for another reason) but I still have this issue with Mac App Store apps. Could this be related to my hardware or Apple ID?

Is there anyone who has had a similar problem or someone who might help me?

Thanks,

[gnasher729]

Seems your Mac thinks that the Apple ID of your computer is not the Apple ID that was used to download those apps. It is the behaviour that you would expect if you copied an app from another Mac.

Open the App Store application and check "View my account" in the Store menu. Does it say what you expect?

And deleting random files is _not_ going to help.

[cbogaert]

I have never used another Apple ID and "view my account" shows my account, the one that I used to download these apps.

Those are not random files. I read reports of other issues with the Mac App Store that were resolved by deleting them, that's why I tried it.

[alshula]

Try the following:

rm -rf ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.appstore.plist
rm -rf ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.storeagent.plist
rm -rf ~/Library/Preferences/ByHost/*

This worked for me. I got this from the following forum:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread...art=0&tstart=0

Post a reply if this helps. Thanks.

[cbogaert]

I tried it, but I still have to enter my Apple ID password to launch App Store apps after a reboot...

[alshula]

Try logging out of the App Store and iTunes, close them, and then retry the above steps. You could also include removing the files:

~/Library/Caches/com.apple.appstore
~/Library/Caches/com.apple.storeagent
~/Library/Cookies/com.apple.appstore.plist

which were on your original list. None of this will hurt anything.

Which version of OS X are you running?

----------

One more thing, check your purchases once you log back in to the App Store. You may have to "accept" them. It will show up as a button to the right of your apps.

[cbogaert]

That didn't work either. I'm running OS X 10.8.2.

Could this somehow be related to my Apple ID or my hardware, because I did a clean install last week and that didn't solve the problem (I had the same issue before).

[alshula]

I doubt that it is your hardware or Apple ID. Unfortunately, this is the last thing I can think of to try. Remember to log out of the App Store and iTunes. Then:

rm ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.appstore.plist
rm -r ~/Library/Saved\ Application\ State/com.apple.appstore.savedState
rm -r ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.appstore
rm -r /private/var/folders/*/*/*/com.apple.appstore

If you contact Apple, they will most likely tell you to delete the applications and re-download them, which you have already tried.

Hope this works. It should ask you once per application to enter your ID and password after you try this. It shouldn't ask again. Let me know if this worked.

[cbogaert]

Thanks for the help, but that didn't work either.

[alshula]

I am very sorry to hear that. Give Apple's Mac App Store Support a shot. I have received very good service from them in the past.

http://www.apple.com/support/mac/app-store/contact/