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

[gr8tfly]

Configurator 2. It's already there. It's been mentioned a lot In this thread.

It’s an option, and better than none, but it doesn’t appear to connect via WiFi. By using WiFi to update the six devices I need to keep updated, they can be anywhere in the house – I don’t have to collect them up to physically connect them. I do this many times a week, as I have about 1300 apps and it’s likely there will be a handful of app updates daily.

I’m with others: call, email, send feedback.

Crazy that they can skillfully add functionality, but then go and make this seemingly arbitrary decision to kill a major one (for a lot of users). “One can never have enough backups” should be easier (like, Time Machine?), not more difficult.
[doublepost=1505550306][/doublepost]

Thanks for the suggestion about Configurator, I need to keep some apps from updating because often they become full of ads, even apps I paid for or they don't work as I liked before. In the iOs App store the Update All button is in a strategic -silly- position that sometimes gets hit involuntarily . Beside the fact that I'm not going to update iTunes till I can. Does iTunes 12.6 work with HighSierra?

Still running 12.6 on GM of High Sierra. Everything still working normally. Don’t plan on updating to 12.7. Configurator is not a great substitute, especially for me as I do my syncs of updated apps wirelessly. Much more convenient.

Not updating really goes against my norm as an Apple Seed member.

 

[berrymetal]

People can't have access to .ipa files anymore

 

[firewood]

Nope. Ethernet is faster, more secure and more reliable imo.
No ethernet port on iPhone I'm aware of so off mobile data it goes.

Lightning Camera Connection kit plus Apple's USB Ethernet dongle allows an iPhone to connect to a network via an Ethernet cable. Works great (even with the iPhone in Airplane mode) and can be a lot faster than using the WiFi or cellular radios.

 

[mrgreeneyes]

how are we supposed to manage our ebooks?

 

[nemodomi]

... is this really what Apple considers progress???

I wish you hadn't asked. :-(

I've been an Apple Fanboy since 1979. Here's my briefest-as-possible take:

Apple's vision of progress in 1983:
"1983 Apple Keynote - The '1984' Ad Introduction"
(*Damn* do I miss that guy.)

Apple's vision of progress in 2011:
"Discontent with Lion's 'My Way or the Highway' Approach"
(a good read for some historical perspective, including "iOS-ification")

Apple's vision of progress in 2017:
"What do people think of the new iTunes [12.7]? | Official Apple Support Communities"
(Yep. Gone. Deleted. CENSORED. 1984.)

 

[BrownieAU]

Again, valid question.

select "file sharing" to upload files.

 

[MacGarage]

Do you need the $20 Mac Server software to be able to access and update apps on the App Store with Configurator 2? I still have to update each iOS device manually. Configurator 2 only seems to see the apps that are on my Mac and not at the App Store (I am logged in Configurator 2 with my Apple ID).

 

[TwoBytes]

What! I cannot re-arrange my apps around anymore

 

[Fatboy71]

Curious how this affects people who still backup their iOS devices and apps to iTunes.

Yeah I would like to know that, as I take backups of my iPhone at least twice a month and also before a new iOS update and right before getting a new iPhone, as it makes it a fairly quick and simply task to get my new iPhone to exactly the same state as my old iPhone.

I prefer taking an encrypted backup of my iPhone as this backs up more to and an iTunes backup backs a lot more than an iCloud backup does.
[doublepost=1505573225][/doublepost]Ive just downloaded an app on my iPhone and then connected it up to iTunes and synced it. And the application was not copied on to my Mac.

How are you now, supposed to be able to take a complete backup of your iPhone, so that you can then restore that backup on to your new iPhone.

 

[jgbutterfield]

I have not updated yet but there is a LOT of hysteria and misinformation in some of these comments right now....(easy to see how the political situation gets so out of control....)
Clearly, a lot of people can't be bothered to read or aren't bright enough to use common sense. I am FAR from an Apple apologist and there's a reason to wait on updates, research possible consequences (REAL ones, not conjecture) and then take responsibility for your own devices and choose whether you want to take the plunge or not.
Like I said, I have not updated yet and won't even consider it until iOS11 is out as iTunes 12.7 is intended to work with that and if you have opted to allow automatic updates, that's on you.
I am not a fan of what Apple is doing; this update was handled incredibly poorly. I like managing my own apps (for iPhone and iPad) on my Mac and don't use the Cloud for backups but I suspect, as usually happens when I resist an update, it will work out ok and I just have to get used to something different...til that becomes the norm and no one gets killed....
I mean, I friggin' love my iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch & Apple TV...I just do...and they get better each time I upgrade....

 

[nicho]

Ive just downloaded an app on my iPhone and then connected it up to iTunes and synced it. And the application was not copied on to my Mac.

How are you now, supposed to be able to take a complete backup of your iPhone, so that you can then restore that backup on to your new iPhone.

iTunes stopped copying apps from iOS devices to iTunes 2 years ago, when app thinning was introduced - https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...-reason-apps-arent-syncing-to-itunes.1917677/ . iTunes backs up the app data and a placeholder for the app, and the app then downloads from the app store on the device directly after you restore it.
[doublepost=1505574873][/doublepost]

Do you need the $20 Mac Server software to be able to access and update apps on the App Store with Configurator 2? I still have to update each iOS device manually. Configurator 2 only seems to see the apps that are on my Mac and not at the App Store (I am logged in Configurator 2 with my Apple ID).

no, you don't. what process are you going through to add these apps? right click the device -> add -> apps... and then you should see every app you ever purchased on that apple id.

 

[Fatboy71]

iTunes stopped copying apps from iOS devices to iTunes 2 years ago, when app thinning was introduced - https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...-reason-apps-arent-syncing-to-itunes.1917677/

How come I have a Mobile Applications folder in my iTunes folder on my Mac, and apps in that folder that are dated 8 September 2017?

 

[nicho]

How come I have a Mobile Applications folder in my iTunes folder on my Mac, and apps in that folder that are dated 8 September 2017?

automatic downloads? - https://support.apple.com/en-gb/ht204136 this page hasn't been updated since may 30th and says that app store content isn't backed up through itunes.

 

[adrianlondon]

How come I have a Mobile Applications folder in my iTunes folder on my Mac, and apps in that folder that are dated 8 September 2017?

Probably because you updated them within iTunes. That's done so when you next sync the phone it would push any updated apps to the phone rather than requiring you to update them directly on the device. Well, until 12.7

 

[Kevenly]

People can't have access to .ipa files anymore

That does seem to be the main focus. How would anyone feel if they were told they would never be allowed to have any sort of "physical" copy of software they buy for a computer? Anytime they needed to re-install it they'd have to request a version over the internet and possibly at some point it may be discontinued and their purchase could never again be had? Also this computer will not include any external interface possibilities to make local hard backups of anything? Who would buy that computing platform?

 

[nicho]

That does seem to be the main focus. How would anyone feel if they were told they would never be allowed to have any sort of "physical" copy of software they buy for a computer? Anytime they needed to re-install it they'd have to request a version over the internet and possibly at some point it may be discontinued and their purchase could never again be had? Also this computer will not include any external interface possibilities to make local hard backups of anything? Who would buy that computing platform?

have you been asleep since 1999? pretty much all "physical" software nowadays (windows, office, etc) is just a box with an activation key inside. without the activation key, the software is unusable.

 

[Chidorin]

how can you search for itunes u courses? now it's all thrown into "podcasts' ocean"

p.s. i somehow managed to get into podcasts/itunes u through course but can't see itunes u from podcasts main page

 

[hideous cheese]

iTunes backs up the app data and a placeholder for the app, and the app then downloads from the app store on the device directly after you restore it.
[doublepost=1505574873][/doublepost]

This is mostly right - that the backup is app data plus links to the location of other content (e.g. music, apps) - but needs more information. If you backup locally, and also have the apps locally, when you restore a device it doesn't download the apps but grabs them from the Mac locally.

Having a local copy of music, apps etc prevents the need to download them following a restore, or when setting up a new device.

 

[Raist3001]

have you been asleep since 1999? pretty much all "physical" software nowadays (windows, office, etc) is just a box with an activation key inside. without the activation key, the software is unusable.

Apples to oranges. In your example, you have access to the software and As long as you have the key, the software still works. You don’t have access to the .ipa, so if you paid for an app that is no longer in the app store, you have no way of installing the app again.

 

[MacGarage]

iTunes stopped copying apps from iOS devices to iTunes 2 years ago, when app thinning was introduced - https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...-reason-apps-arent-syncing-to-itunes.1917677/ . iTunes backs up the app data and a placeholder for the app, and the app then downloads from the app store on the device directly after you restore it.
[doublepost=1505574873][/doublepost]

no, you don't. what process are you going through to add these apps? right click the device -> add -> apps... and then you should see every app you ever purchased on that apple id.

That is what I am doing...it goes to the Mobile App folder on my Mac that will have the prior loaded apps. When I click on update, it states the iOS and apps are up to date when the app shows multiple updates. When I click on update, it states the iOS and apps are up to date even though the app store states multiple updates.

 

[nicho]

Apples to oranges. In your example, you have access to the software and As long as you have the key, the software still works. You don’t have access to the .ipa, so if you paid for an app that is no longer in the app store, you have no way of installing the app again.

if they stop authorising the key or take the servers offline, the software can't be reinstalled. it's apples to apples.

 

[KPOM]

I hope iTunes backups still back up the Apps, so you don't have to freakin re-download them all when doing a restore.

And so much for being able to keep .IPA backups of older apps no longer sold or on the app store, that you've purchased.

The older apps won't work on iOS 11 anyway, since it no longer supports 32-bit apps.

 

[nicho]

That is what I am doing...it goes to the Mobile App folder on my Mac that will have the prior loaded apps

how can you be sure that it isn't in fact pulling your purchase list from the itunes store? that's the behaviour for me.

 

[photoj2754]

The article states that the unhide feature is available only on iTunes 12.6 an lower. I understood the poster to mean that it was applicable to iTunes 12.7.

Sorry, misread it.

 

[Eternal Bliss]

This is odd: The AppStore on my iPad shows that there is an update available for an app, but Configurator 2 shows that all of the apps that are on my iPad are already up to date. It seems that Configurator 2 is unreliable for keeping up with updates.