Apple's iTunes, App Store, and iCloud Experiencing Issues [Update: Google DNS Problem, Now Fixed]

MacRumors · Mar 12, 2014

iCloud, iTunes, and other Apple websites are currently experiencing issues, with many users indicating an inability to access Apple services. Some users are having having trouble loading Apple's System Status page, which is not displaying any information on the outage. iTunes is displaying connectivity error messages, as is the App Store on iOS devices, with users unable to load either service.

The services appear to have been down for approximately 20 minutes at the time of posting and it is unclear how long the outage might last. At the current time, iMessage appears to be working fine.

Update 4:12 PM PT: As noted in our forums, it appears the outage is caused by a Google DNS issue. Apple services and web pages are accessible after turning off Google DNS.

Update 4:33 PM PT: The issue appears to have been resolved and all Apple services are now functioning as normal with Google DNS.

Article Link: Apple's iTunes, App Store, and iCloud Experiencing Issues [Update: Google DNS Problem, Now Fixed]

JerryCards · Mar 12, 2014

That is bad news. Hope they can fix it soon enough.

MasterHowl · Mar 12, 2014

Glad it's not just me. My iTunes Match isn't updating on my Mac.

mactumors · Mar 12, 2014

Haha. Apple system status page is down for me.

GoGa · Mar 12, 2014

Just as I was starting to use iTunes Radio...

apfelmann · Mar 12, 2014

Yep. App Store is down. Not loading any apps. ****!

SandboxGeneral · Mar 12, 2014

I first noticed it when iTunes Radio quit working as I was listening to it on my Apple TV. Then I restarted it and all I got back was Settings and Computers with all other apps missing which connect to the iTunes server I suppose.

LoonyPandora · Mar 12, 2014

Google DNS

Funnily enough, it's actually Google DNS that is the problem..

It appears that they dropped the entire apple.com zone file about 30 minutes ago. A search on twitter will verify a bunch of other people having the same problem: https://twitter.com/search?q=google apple dns&src=typd

Google DNS:

Code:

dig apple.com @8.8.8.8

; <<>> DiG 9.8.3-P1 <<>> apple.com @8.8.8.8
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: SERVFAIL, id: 65529
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 0, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;apple.com.			IN	A

;; Query time: 16 msec
;; SERVER: 8.8.8.8#53(8.8.8.8)
;; WHEN: Wed Mar 12 22:41:47 2014
;; MSG SIZE  rcvd: 27

OpenDNS:

Code:

dig apple.com @208.67.222.222

; <<>> DiG 9.8.1-P1 <<>> apple.com @208.67.222.222
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 8424
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 3, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;apple.com.			IN	A

;; ANSWER SECTION:
apple.com.		1313	IN	A	17.172.224.47
apple.com.		1313	IN	A	17.149.160.49
apple.com.		1313	IN	A	17.178.96.59

;; Query time: 18 msec
;; SERVER: 208.67.222.222#53(208.67.222.222)
;; WHEN: Wed Mar 12 22:37:18 2014
;; MSG SIZE  rcvd: 75

jk111 · Mar 12, 2014

Can't even load apple.com here.

EDIT: Seems to be a Google DNS issue.

chainprayer · Mar 12, 2014

No problems here! I'm posting from my cell and I haven'

Shrink · Mar 12, 2014

For some reason the Apple System page is not indicating any issues.

I'm not experiencing any problems...possibly regional?

motorazr · Mar 12, 2014

Huh .. it's pretty unusual for Apple to see this kind of outage...

been waiting on iTunes for about 30-minutes here, realized something was up.. I know the post notes iMessage not seeing issues, however I have at least one contact who is not receiving or sending messages...

And it looks like down-detector can confirm it.. (see attached)

Jessica Lares · Mar 12, 2014

Shrink said:
For some reason the Apple System page is not indicating any issues.

I'm not experiencing any problems...possibly regional?

Same here. Everything is working fine on my side.

SandboxGeneral · Mar 12, 2014

LoonyPandora said:
Funnily enough, it's actually Google DNS that is the problem..

It appears that they dropped the entire apple.com zone file about 30 minutes ago. A search on twitter will verify a bunch of other people having the same problem: https://twitter.com/search?q=google apple dns&src=typd

jk111 said:
Can't even load apple.com here.

EDIT: Seems to be a Google DNS issue.

I think that was it. Google DNS. I use it at home and at the office. I just removed it from my AirPort Extreme and went with my ISP's DNS, restarted and everything is back.

squirrelist · Mar 12, 2014

Google DNS problem

Yep, as others have stated, switching my router from Google DNS to my ISP DNS solved my problem.

clukas · Mar 12, 2014

Not sure if this could be related but Im trying to download apps and its very very slow.

rctlr · Mar 12, 2014

Ok here in UK using ISP DNS.

Tried Google DNS and it fails.

TC400 · Mar 12, 2014

http://www.apple.com/support/systemstatus/ all checks out for now

dannyyankou · Mar 12, 2014

No issues here. Just downloaded a 2.5 hour concert album in about a minute.

motorazr · Mar 12, 2014

LoonyPandora said:
Funnily enough, it's actually Google DNS that is the problem..

Yep. Guess it was just those of us with Google DNS setup... still an interesting issue then...

abecker · Mar 12, 2014

Switched back to Comcast's DNS and it works now.

10cjed · Mar 12, 2014

DNS Caches

I had to go clear out the DNS caching server before I could reach Apple again. Give that a try if you're still having problems.

coreguy · Mar 12, 2014

I found the problem was actually coming from Google DNS when I realized that I didn't set secondary DNS on the phone. On PC I set ISP DNS as the secondary one so didn't notice any abnormal.

Dulcimer · Mar 12, 2014

Someone want to explain what Google DNS is in basic terms and how people would use it? I tried searching for it but I'm still confused

bigjohn · Mar 12, 2014

i get this error for iTunes Match all the time, unless I connect to my VPN - then it works

Apple's iTunes, App Store, and iCloud Experiencing Issues [Update: Google DNS Problem, Now Fixed]

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