Apple Now Preventing Updates and Reinstallation of Refunded Apps

[shorafix]

There is an issue indeed

That's reasonable. I don't see how anybody can have an issue with this.

No, it was the wrong way, how apple addressed the issue. Instead of giving a note, that the app was refunded and so on, they should rather had simply reset it to the status "not purchased". In this way one would be able to purchase the app again, when the bugs may have been fixed in a later update.

 

[marty.p]

These messages have been appearing for a while, at least in NZ.

I had this issue with customers late last year when the new iPhones and iPads were released.

Some customers who had recently purchased iLife and iWork apps from Apple had requested refunds based on the fact that they were about to buy a new device and would now have those apps provided for free. They were given the refunds by the iTunes team, but were then unable to accept the free apps on their new devices, and were presented with this error message.

I assume the issue was resolved by a call to AppleCare, since none of the various customers with the issue ever returned to report the outcome...

 

[bushido]

Like others have echoed, this seems to be no-brainer. However, reading that pop up message, I noticed it said something about apps purchased on a different AppleID. I'm guilty of (and I know others are) "sharing" apps, i.e. installing an app on another device using the AppleID that was used for purchasing. Seems like this won't allow that anymore.

i think that has always been the case though like i have a german and an us itunes account and if i am logged in with my us account but want to update an app i got with my german id it tells me it was purchased by a dif. user until i switch to my german account. same with apps i got from a friends account. i cannot update those apps cuz i dont know their login information

 

[NightFox]

I hope those that got refunds from FCP X are banned from using any Apple product related to video in the future, I bought FCP X at the time it came out, and I was one of those wanting a refund, I stuck with it, did my time, and now I cannot see a better product than FCP X....

What? So you're saying if I buy an app which is poor and buggy and get a legitimate refund for it, I should then for some reason be 'punished' by not being allowed to buy that app in the future if it gets improved, and also any apps like it by the same publisher. Instead I should stick with the app in the blind faith that one day it will be fixed and work as it should?

So let's imagine I buy a new iPhone 6 at release and it turns out the first batch have a major firmware problem and call quality is awful. I return my new iPhone and get a refund. Are you saying I should now never be allowed to buy an iPhone again?

 

[Intelligent]

EDIT: Nevermind, i got it now.

 

[iLuvMyMacToo]

I'm guessing I won't be getting that Flappy Birds update then..

 

[mdridwan47]

That's reasonable. I don't see how anybody can have an issue with this.

No it's not reasonable. It's flawed. Needs to be re-thought.


I bought Twitterrific 5. I tried to install it on my 4th Generation iPod Touch. But turns out the app runs on iOS 7 device only. So, I asked for refund.

Because of this You can't download Twitterrific even if it's free. Logic

 

[tcphoto]

I have been getting this error message for the first time. About six months ago, I purchased an app that reads automobile error codes. It did not connect to my cars computer, so I was refunded. This week, I tried to repurchase after the app had been updated but this error message appeared. All Apple suggested was to sign out of your App Store account and then sign back in. Needless to say, it did not work.

 

[cambookpro]

I hope those that got refunds from FCP X are banned from using any Apple product related to video in the future, I bought FCP X at the time it came out, and I was one of those wanting a refund, I stuck with it, did my time, and now I cannot see a better product than FCP X....

If they had a refund and it works, if I was Mr T Cook, I would link the refunded software to a in app purchase system and make them pay back through paid updates...Software free, functionally paid!!

What an asinine point of view! 'Banned from using any video product' in the future? I hope that was some kind of sarcasm that went over my head, or that's one of the stupidest statements of the year.

I purchased FCP X when it came out and it was, and still is, pretty useless. The magnetic timeline is beyond useless, as are primary and secondary timelines, and they severely messed up libraries/events/bins etc. It also took years for things like EDL and OML support, multicam support...

It's a real shame as FCP 7 was brilliant. Make a 64 bit version and be done with it. Apple have taken so long to update it to anywhere near a useable standard that basically every post production house has switched to Premiere or Avid MC. That usually means battling with Windows

As for the refund, yes I got one but I didn't carry on using FCP X. I think being 'banned' from using the perhaps better FCP 11 or 12 is a ridiculous statement.

 

[sirdir]

I don't have any problems with the 'refund' part, but I do have a problem with the 'or purchased with another account'.
Hell, would it be so difficult to just update the app?
I have more than 1 account as I live in more than one country and i.E. the apps of the local telephone operators are only available in the app store of that country.
Now I constantly need to log in to all my different accounts to get the update.

But the *best* thing happened to a Swiss friend of mine: He was in Spain and tried to make an in app purchase. Wasn't able to do so. Wrote to Apple support. Answer: you are not allowed to buy from the Swiss store while you are outside of Switzerland. Even if you're a Swiss citizen with Swiss residency and no eligibility to have any other appstore account anywhere else in the world. The legal disclaimers even really say this, if you read closely.
Plain stupid.
I had the same type of error over and over by the way and apple support always fixed it (temporarily) for me.
Apple is still to much US concentrated and doesn't care for the rest of the world.

 

[dilap]

Strange this wasn't already the case.

It was for me

 

[Solver]

Like others have echoed, this seems to be no-brainer. However, reading that pop up message, I noticed it said something about apps purchased on a different AppleID. I'm guilty of (and I know others are) "sharing" apps, i.e. installing an app on another device using the AppleID that was used for purchasing. Seems like this won't allow that anymore.

I also saw that. Our family has one iPad. Each of us has our own Apple ID to keep the accounts separate.
This could now be a big family problem.

 

[charlituna]

I'm kinda surprised this was actually possible before today. Whoever would even attempt that…..?
I mean you get a refund for a reason. Imagine trying that with a 'brick-and-mortar' store.

I don't think Apple bothered with it before because they weren't expecting that many requests for refunds. That's also why they didn't have tighter rules about granting one.

Now that they are probably getting way more requests, or rather demands, they changed up the protocols. No more just anything goes, no more letting parents repeated claim their kids did it and so on.

 

[zorinlynx]

Ugh. Why is this so hard to implement?

If a refund is granted, just remove the app from the person's purchasing history. Done.

They can't update anymore. They can buy it again if they want.

Instead it looks like they wrote EXTRA code to handle refunds and put a block on updating OR repurchasing the app if a refund was granted. WTF? C'mon Apple, you're smarter than this.

 

[linuxcooldude]

I purchased FCP X when it came out and it was, and still is, pretty useless. The magnetic timeline is beyond useless, as are primary and secondary timelines, and they severely messed up libraries/events/bins etc. It also took years for things like EDL and OML support, multicam support...

I would think if you depend on Final Cut for a living, and being built from the ground up, you would wait until its been out for a while and was reviewed and fully tested by others before buying. And risk it over writing the old version along with interfering with your current work flow.


Final Cut Pro X was one of the fastest software to be updated to fix various problems and adding new features of nearly any Apple software.

What? So you're saying if I buy an app which is poor and buggy and get a legitimate refund for it, I should then for some reason be 'punished' by not being allowed to buy that app in the future if it gets improved, and also any apps like it by the same publisher. Instead I should stick with the app in the blind faith that one day it will be fixed and work as it should?

I could see a legitimate reasons for getting a refund. But if the same people are constantly wanting refunds on a regular basis, I think a service fee should be added.

 

[ChrisA]

Apple needs a transparent refund policy

What the App store needs is a clear and consistence rerun policy that is the same for all apps and to build the refund policy into the app store. Make EVERY app refundable for maybe 10 days or some other period. Within that period you can click a button and the app goes away off your computer and the money is refunded. You are not allowed to re-buy the app until after a new release. This would allow people to buy with lower risk and return the junk (there is a LOT of junk) The App store would list the percent of buyers requesting refunds. Developers would know the policy and I think over all the quality of apps would improve..

----------

I would think if you depend on Final Cut for a living, and being built from the ground up, you would wait until its been out for a while and was reviewed and fully tested by others before buying. And risk it over writing the old version along with interfering with your current work flow....

Most people did exactly this. The complaint was that Apple abandoned the old version. There would be no bug fixes and it might stop working on newer Macs. They complained because they could not see a future ion the product they were depending on.

YES, FCPX is a NEW product. It is more than a new version of FCP. It replaced it. So they found there was no upgrade path. What Apple SHOULD have done is promised to support the OLD FCP for some very long period of time.

The problem with old apps is that many times they don't run on a new OS version. So you are stuck not being able to upgrade the OS. Then some other apps is updated but it requires the new OS. then you buy a new Mac and it can not run the old OS. The professionals knew these issues were going to come up and quickly figured out the FCP was no longer a long term solution to their needs and left Apple for other more stable platforms.

 

[coolfactor]

I just have a problem with the dialog text:

Update Unavailable with This
Apple ID​

The word "with" is all lowercase but the word "This" is capitalized. The word wrapping just looks so tacky, too.

Between this and the increased use of "Yes" and "No" dialog buttons, someone is not paying close enough attention to the Human Interface Guidelines, or the guidelines themselves need more attention.

#disappointed

 

[japanime]

Finally! Apple is protecting us developers from piracy!

There's been a couple of times where an app was purchased, the buyer left a bogus review on why the app supposedly didn't work , then to see the app was refunded. I'm sure they kept using it, as there was nothing wrong with it to begin with.

This makes my day.

I'm curious how you know that the people who left bad reviews of your app are the same people who asked for refunds.

The data that I receive from Apple doesn't include the IDs of the people buying my apps, nor does it include the IDs of those who request refunds. I thought that was the same for all developers — we only get numbers, not names (or Apple IDs).

 

[Jjaro]

That's reasonable. I don't see how anybody can have an issue with this.

Yeah, my thoughts exactly. If you get a refund then you shouldn't be allowed to download the app, at least unless you pay for it again.

 

[divergirl]

Yeah, my thoughts exactly. If you get a refund then you shouldn't be allowed to download the app, at least unless you pay for it again.

But I thought the reason that people are getting upset is because you can't pay for the application later. If you get a refund on an app, as Apple has it set up now, you're never allowed to download the app again, even if you're willing to pay for it again.

 

[wingsabre]

Does anyone know if this applies to in-app purchases people get refunds for, especially for freemium apps?

There are plenty of individuals that abuse the refund policy with in-app purchases.

 

[Matthew Yohe]

Because of this You can't download Twitterrific even if it's free. Logic


Image

Congrats you found a bug.

Go here: http://bugreport.apple.com
Fill out a report.
Move on.

 

[Chocolatemilty]

I noticed this today with Tapatalk, Pages, and Angry Birds. My nephew had installed it on my iPad a good while thinking it didn't cost actual money (silly him and me for leaving it unattended). I was issued refunds after requesting it and that was that - except the apps were still on my iPad. I decided to open them to see what they were about and realized I liked all three and went to purchase them again, but I couldn't. Now, I can and give the developers their due, as I actually was using a "pirated" version since I didn't really pay to use them yet. I'm all for this.

 

[ColdCase]

Catch 22

The problem is not that your refunded apps won't get updated. The problem is if you ever change your mind and want to buy that app again you cannot. You will get this error upon trying to repurchase. I've been going back and forth with Apple about this for a couple weeks now. A few months back I requested a refund on an app that crashed continuously. Months later the dev fixed the issue and I decided to legitimately purchase the app again. Nope. Get this message. So, this is the issue.

I purchased Pixelmater for the 14.99 deal a year ago, had some trouble downloading, asked apple support what was going on, the next day I was able to download and started using it. I thought apple fixed their server error, but a few weeks later noticed that Apple had refunded the purchase price. I had not asked for a refund. At that time I attempted to repurchase but Apple's system would not let me and apple support said they can't fix the issue. Since the App was working fine I just gave up. Since then whenever the App store reminded me of updates, they were installed without issue until the update released last week.

So now support says just delete the old app and purchase...... of course now the app is $29.99, so I'm out $15, not a big deal... but, as others here have found out, the app store won't let me repurchase/download.... so I'm stuck with an out of date app that I want to use and. When I restore the old app, the app store nags me that an update is available... oh woe is me.

 

[ColdCase]

Congrats you found a bug.

Go here: http://bugreport.apple.com
Fill out a report.
Move on.

You have to have a developer account to file a bug report........ sheesh...