Apple Releases iTunes 12.7 With Major Changes, Including No Built-In App Store

[Trip Mitchell]

I assume you still see the Apps tab on your device, when it's attached. I wonder if they improved the app manager/arranger aspect, which has always been clunky at best, but still 100x better than trying to organize a hundred apps on the device itself.

you do not. the only way to manage ios apps is on your ios device now

 

[Unami]

I understood people with older phones not on the latest iOS could get app versions that worked on that iOS previously? Not sure if that helps...

not really. you could manually install an .ipa file (app) with itunes, so if you backed up the download of an earlier version of an app (or pulled it from an older itunes backup of your device) you could reinstall that version.

i think it‘s a good step to declutter itunes, but i wish there was a stand alone ios device manager now.

 

[cmichaelb]

H.265/HEVC support?

 

[fRankov83]

Great decision Apple. Who downloads iOS apps on their Mac anyway?

Anything that removes bloat from iTunes is good for me.

This, and i've been testing it for a few minutes. It's SO much faster now, I'm glad they finally did that.

 

[Lemonsoon]

Seems you need to store the apps somewhere that are not on the store anymore and drag and drop them in itunes now...just like custom ringtones

Seems like an improvement but i can be wrong
I use an older version of two apps that ad bloated their app since and went from free to paid
I don t want to have those apps pverwritten

 

[CWallace]

What if you made your own custom ringtones?

The existing ringtones on my Phone are still there and then if you wish to add more, follow the document provided above.

How does one sync documents... I use iTunes to sync about 30GGB of books/comics to my iPad. How does that sync happen now?

There is a "File Sharing" section under Settings.

 

[mmm1345]

Great decision Apple. Who downloads iOS apps on their Mac anyway?

Anything that removes bloat from iTunes is good for me.

I do, this is stupid. It's easier to download an app once to my mac and sync all my apps to multiple devices than to download the same app 3 or 4 times. Not to mention, I have a LOT more apps on my computer than the ones I use on my devices. I use certain apps for certain occasions. This just f's things up for no damn reason.

 

[dan9700]

I do, this is stupid. It's easier to download an app once to my mac and sync all my apps to multiple devices than to download the same app 3 or 4 times.

Yeah its a huge step back

 

[EvilEvil]

All they need to do now is improve the UX and UI.

 

[usarioclave]

No, there's already a setting to download all new apps to all your iOS devices no matter what device you initiated it on.

Which is somewhat clunky with a family share account, since every device either gets everything or nothing.

 

[Mactendo]

What about large apps that can't be downloaded over cellular due to App Store/iOS size limit (100 Mb)?
I have an unlimited data plan on my phone and use it as a Wi-Fi hotspot to download large apps on a Mac, but how/what should we do now? Was the download size limit removed?

 

[Lost Hills]

Exactly the question I came back to post. What about custom ringtones I have with me?

You can still drag them into itunes on your mac with your iPhone connected to it via USB

 

[killr_b]

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201593

Covered in the last section.

I see. Drag from folder to device while it's open in iTunes. Meh good enough.
Thanks dude

 

[ikramerica]

People are saying this is a good thing, they don’t realise the lost functionality. If they want to improve iTunes performance nd make it less cluttered, completely removing features like this isn’t the answer. I agree with it, but I also think there should be another application for syncing devices and managing apps.

It should be added to the Mac App Store. Those who want to manage their apps on the computer or rearrange them on screens and in folders could do it there.

 

[cmichaelb]

I do, this is stupid. It's easier to download an app once to my mac and sync all my apps to multiple devices than to download the same app 3 or 4 times.

If you're set for automatic downloads any new app is installed on all devices.

 

[macintoshmac]

Someday soon, I hope to use my unlimited data plan to download apps of any size.

I hope you’re being sarcastic, but not everyone is on a very high speed Internet connection, even if he may be on an unlimited one. Time is still a factor here and having a copy is having a copy, there is not and can not be a substitute to having a copy. It’s like having a backup with you that you can use even if you don’t have Internet connectivity.

 

[jbachandouris]

Great, wish I had read this before updating.

They really need an iOS stand alone app then. I like to save a secure backup of my phone on my MBP. Is that still possible?

 

[stevet]

I guess there's no more way to install a previous version of an App when a developer releases a newer version full of advertisements/bugs. I went back to the older versions of Shazam, IMDB, TWC, etc., before they sucked.

Just because it isn't in iTunes doesn't mean it won't exist somewhere else.

 

[cmichaelb]

Which is somewhat clunky with a family share account, since every device either gets everything or nothing.

Not true for me. My mom is included in my Family Share and never gets any apps I purchase - only ones she chooses.

 

[rGiskard]

What if you made your own custom ringtones?

Apple think you're the problem. They have ordered you to buy your ringtones like everyone else.

Seriously, I hope it's possible to use a third party app to load ringtones. Otherwise all my sounds are now useless.

 

[Avenged110]

I guess there's no more way to install a previous version of an App when a developer releases a newer version full of advertisements/bugs. I went back to the older versions of Shazam, IMDB, TWC, etc., before they sucked.

I still use v2.1.3 of IMDb (on iOS 6, of course). Probably my favorite third-party iOS app of all time in terms of design/layout/functionality/reliability/etc. Interestingly, every version of that app (including 1.x) still worked last time I checked. I used that trick to get a number of old app versions that worked far better. I wonder what this means for the desktop App Store on older iTunes versions (I'm using 11.3.1).

 

[brownpaw]

Much preferred keeping a backup of apps locally for restoring... I'm lucky to have a pretty decent (200mbit) connection but there's still data caps to contend with. At some point Apple and all of the other big data / streaming companies have to come to terms with customer data caps, or that some areas are still underserved by decent broadband. Good luck downloading a 100+ gig restore on a 2mbit connection.

 

[stevet]

Great, wish I had read this before updating.

They really need an iOS stand alone app then. I like to save a secure backup of my phone on my MBP. Is that still possible?

Yes, I still see devices and a way to back it up.

 

[rGiskard]

Not true for me. My mom is included in my Family Share and never gets any apps I purchase - only ones she chooses.

It's a configurable setting. It was over a year ago that I set it so I don't remember where.

 

[cmichaelb]

I bet the iOS App Store is now combined into the Mac App Store in High Seirra.