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Apple Quietly Releases iTunes 12.6.3 With Built-In App Store

As sra
BiggAW said:
I'm glad that they got rid of the app management in iTunes. It was a waste of bandwidth and redundant to everything on the devices themselves and kind of a kludge at this point. Every time there is an update for apps, especially large ones like Office, my iPad would download them automatically. Then my iPhone would download them automatically. Then my computer would download them when iTunes is open. This eliminates the third set of downloads in my case. The one fringe case I could see for this being an issue is a tightly metered connection doing a restore outside of the US, but those folks will have to deal. Even if you have a slow connection with a decent cap or no cap, just let the restore happen overnight. If you have a tightly metered connection in the US, you should probably have Unlimited data on your phone from AT&T or Verizon, in which case, just do it over LTE.
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As sracer said you didn’t need to download to iTunes you could have turned it off. For many of us it’s very useful to have app management for the reason given by sracer. Also it’s great for maintaing devices with older versions of apps ( buy a new device and put your preferred version of the app on it). Another feature I like is the ability to see which apps have been updated. I have over a thousand, many hundreds not on a device. Free or paid if an app doesn’t meet my needs I remove it. Daily I look at the iOS updates of my iOS apps and may then re download the app to see if the update fixes the app. So three good reasons, for having app management, I sure others could give you more.

Just because you don’t need it doesn’t mean it should go. In the same vein I don’t play games on my phone, but it doesn’t mean I think all games should be deleted from the App Store so I can easier find the apps I want.
 
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RecentlyConverted said:
As sra

As sracer said you didn’t need to download to iTunes you could have turned it off. For many of us it’s very useful to have app management for the reason given by sracer. Also it’s great for maintaing devices with older versions of apps ( buy a new device and put your preferred version of the app on it). Another feature I like is the ability to see which apps have been updated. I have over a thousand, many hundreds not on a device. Free or paid if an app doesn’t meet my needs I remove it. Daily I look at the iOS updates of my iOS apps and may then re download the app to see if the update fixes the app. So three good reasons, for having app management, I sure others could give you more.

Just because you don’t need it doesn’t mean it should go. In the same vein I don’t play games on my phone, but it doesn’t mean I think all games should be deleted from the App Store so I can easier find the apps I want.
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You shouldn't be running outdated apps. That's a security risk. I always make sure to have updates turned on for everything, and remember to update stuff that doesn't do it automatically. A THOUSAND apps? What are they? A normal user probably doesn't use most of the 50 or 100 apps that they actually install on their phone. I have just over 100 on my Android phone right now, I might have had a few more when I had the iPhone, but I could delete half of them and never miss them. If you've only got 100 installed on the device, then why have the rest stored locally? That's what the cloud is for. iTunes remembers your purchases, go back and re-download if you need to.
 
BiggAW said:
I'm glad that they got rid of the app management in iTunes. It was a waste of bandwidth and redundant to everything on the devices themselves and kind of a kludge at this point. Every time there is an update for apps, especially large ones like Office, my iPad would download them automatically. Then my iPhone would download them automatically. Then my computer would download them when iTunes is open. This eliminates the third set of downloads in my case. The one fringe case I could see for this being an issue is a tightly metered connection doing a restore outside of the US, but those folks will have to deal. Even if you have a slow connection with a decent cap or no cap, just let the restore happen overnight. If you have a tightly metered connection in the US, you should probably have Unlimited data on your phone from AT&T or Verizon, in which case, just do it over LTE.
Click to expand...

And you can just turn off the auto update in your copy of iTunes than expect fellow users to ‘just deal’ with the problem of overnight restore.
 
So, I'm thinking of finally upgrading from 12.6.2 to 12.6.3.
From what I read in the article, I won't be prompted to update to 12.7 anymore after that. So if I go to the App Store, iTunes 12.7 won't be there as an available update?
And if that is the case, if in the future I do want to update to 12.7, how can I do it?
 
SoGood said:
And you can just turn off the auto update in your copy of iTunes than expect fellow users to ‘just deal’ with the problem of overnight restore.
Click to expand...

The whole concept of managing apps locally had it's time, and it's time is long since past. Yes, there are a few fringe cases where it would have been beneficial, but Apple cannot make inefficient, bloated apps that do absolutely everything for everyone just for a few fringe use cases.
 
CamiMR said:
So, I'm thinking of finally upgrading from 12.6.2 to 12.6.3.
From what I read in the article, I won't be prompted to update to 12.7 anymore after that. So if I go to the App Store, iTunes 12.7 won't be there as an available update?
And if that is the case, if in the future I do want to update to 12.7, how can I do it?
Click to expand...
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208079 covers your second question.

On my Mini Server, where my media is stored, I didn't install 12.7 and did hide it in the MAS on that Mac. No more prompts. I have installed 12.6.3 on that Mac, and still have not received any notification of the 12.7 update - I can't, however, offer whether it's because the 12.7 update is hidden in the MAS or because of 12.6.3.
 
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campyguy said:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208079 covers your second question.

On my Mini Server, where my media is stored, I didn't install 12.7 and did hide it in the MAS on that Mac. No more prompts. I have installed 12.6.3 on that Mac, and still have not received any notification of the 12.7 update - I can't, however, offer whether it's because the 12.7 update is hidden in the MAS or because of 12.6.3.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply.
How did you hide 12.7 in the MAS?
 
MrGuder said:
I'm so confused with this info...rebuild my iTunes library? That's the part the scares me. We need a video to show exactly how to do this. I've spent way too much time on my desktop Mac mini creating my own cover art and have over 6000 songs in my library to mess this up.
Click to expand...


dont rebuild... go to the Previous iTunes Libraries folder and use the most recent library. rename to the default iTunes Library.itl name and you will have everything where it should be
 
CamiMR said:
Thanks for the reply.
How did you hide 12.7 in the MAS?
Click to expand...
Make sure you're logged in to your account.

For System/App updates - in the MAS "field" for iTunes 12.7, hover over the app in question then Control/Right click on the update(s) that you wish to hide, and click Hide Update. QED. The MAS will refresh and the hidden app no longer shows up in the Updates panel; apps can be unhidden from the Account panel's Hidden Purchases option.

Apps you've DLed from the MAS can be hidden in the "Purchased" panel in the same way, and also unhidden as above. Cheers!
 
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campyguy said:
On my Mini Server, where my media is stored, I didn't install 12.7 and did hide it in the MAS on that Mac. No more prompts. I have installed 12.6.3 on that Mac, and still have not received any notification of the 12.7 update - I can't, however, offer whether it's because the 12.7 update is hidden in the MAS or because of 12.6.3.
Click to expand...
12.6.3 once installed will stop the 12.7 from showing up. To further upgrade to 12.7, you’ll need to download and install manually.
 
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SoGood said:
12.6.3 once installed will stop the 12.7 from showing up. To further upgrade to 12.7, you’ll need to download and install manually.
Click to expand...
How though?

On the FAQ all it tells mac users to do is download it from the app store?
 
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BiggAW said:
Why on earth would I want to download once and then have to sync every device locally when I can just have them auto-update over the internet? If I had 9 iOS devices, I'd want them all to update automatically in the background without user intervention. The iTunes functionality is redundant to the auto-update already built into the devices.
Click to expand...

For the same reason that you obviously keep ignoring, that some people have metered connections and want to save bandwidth and MONEY. Is that too tough to understand?
 
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STOCK411 said:
How though?

On the FAQ all it tells mac users to do is download it from the app store?
Click to expand...

Exactly. I did upgrade to 12.6.3, and now the update to 12.7 isn’t showing in the App Store.
Their instructions don’t seem accurate, but I assume it’s just a case of downloading the 12.7 dmg (where from not sure, haven’t really looked) and then installing with that...
 
spacerays said:
For the same reason that you obviously keep ignoring, that some people have metered connections and want to save bandwidth and MONEY. Is that too tough to understand?
Click to expand...
Actually, for some people it IS that difficult to understand why one would not agree to "go with the flow" of what Apple does.
 
sracer, just let it go. Unfortunately some people can't see other peoples viewpoint or accept that we are all different, have different want, needs, expectations, priorities and abilities.

Also this is an Apple related site and whilst there are many enlightened people here, there are a few that look on Apple as almost (or indeed as) a religion, so to speak anything negative against Apple, how ever constructive it may be is seen as blasphemy.
 
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spacerays said:
For the same reason that you obviously keep ignoring, that some people have metered connections and want to save bandwidth and MONEY. Is that too tough to understand?
Click to expand...

People who are on satellite should just get Unlimited plans on their phones, and not connect them to WiFi. What kind of a "solution" is having to sync multiple iDevices with a computer multiple times a week to save a little bit of bandwidth? This makes no sense.

sracer said:
Actually, for some people it IS that difficult to understand why one would not agree to "go with the flow" of what Apple does.
Click to expand...

I'm generally first in line to say that Apple screwed up by removing this or that functionality, case in point headphones jack, and regular USB jacks on the MBP, but this one just seems like a long overdue cleanup of messy, redundant functionality.
 
BiggAW said:
The whole concept of managing apps locally had it's time, and it's time is long since past. Yes, there are a few fringe cases where it would have been beneficial, but Apple cannot make inefficient, bloated apps that do absolutely everything for everyone just for a few fringe use cases.
Click to expand...

I don't think it is "a few fringe cases" there are plenty of people with one data plan and may have to pay for "exceeding their Data Plan". Also there are many users who have gone "all in" and have apple watch, apple phone, iPad, iPod, MacBook and desktops etc. with 10 or more apple devices, even with a great internet connection when you try to update them at the same time it will choke off your bandwidth connection.

In my case I travel a lot and having 3 or 4 devices with me and trying to update / sync to iCloud chokes of the Phone data and the hotel wifi connection as well. Much easier to update iTunes on the MacBook and use the USB to update each iOS device.
 
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BiggAW said:
I'm generally first in line to say that Apple screwed up by removing this or that functionality, case in point headphones jack, and regular USB jacks on the MBP, but this one just seems like a long overdue cleanup of messy, redundant functionality.
Click to expand...
If the only function that is required is to automatically download all app updates, then yes it is "redundant".

It is NOT "redundant functionality" if there is no other way to accomplish the exact same thing. If you can show me how I can download iOS apps once and selectively sync to individual iOS devices, I'd love to hear about it. Such a solution would need to also allow support for sideloading files to individual apps.

Apple acknowledged that there is a need for this functionality and that is why they made 12.6.3 available. For those who detest "messy" and "redundant" functionality, 12.7 is available. Problem solved.... for now.
 
mikzn said:
I don't think it is "a few fringe cases" there are plenty of people with one data plan and may have to pay for "exceeding their Data Plan".
Click to expand...

That's a fringe case.

Also there are many users who have gone "all in" and have apple watch, apple phone, iPad, iPod, MacBook and desktops etc. with 10 or more apple devices, even with a great internet connection when you try to update them at the same time it will choke off your bandwidth connection.
Click to expand...

On a 150-300mbps connection, even doing full IPSW updates on multiple computers/devices just doesn't take that long. 100mbps=50GB/hour, so even a bunch of devices pulling 2+ GB IPSWs just doesn't take that long. Also, Mac OS and iOS updates don't come out at the same time, as that would choke Apple's CDN even more than iOS updates do.

In my case I travel a lot and having 3 or 4 devices with me and trying to update / sync to iCloud chokes of the Phone data and the hotel wifi connection as well. Much easier to update iTunes on the MacBook and use the USB to update each iOS device.
Click to expand...

Yeah, hotel WiFi sucks. I generally don't even use it, but if I do, I leave devices to sync overnight and upload to Dropbox and Google Photos, which is the biggest data hog of all.

sracer said:
It is NOT "redundant functionality" if there is no other way to accomplish the exact same thing. If you can show me how I can download iOS apps once and selectively sync to individual iOS devices, I'd love to hear about it. Such a solution would need to also allow support for sideloading files to individual apps.
Click to expand...

Just download the apps you want on the devices you want them on. I have an Android phone and an iPad... it's really no different. They live in two completely separate parallel universes, and they seem just fine. And a Mac laptop and a Windows HTPC. They are fine too. All in their own little disconnected worlds.
 
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