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

You're still able to sync custom ringtones. Drag and drop the .m4r file from your desktop or w/e to 'On My Device' in iTunes.
 
BruiserB said:
Thanks for the correction....as long as they don't go away off my computer when I update, I'm not so worried. I will probably update all my apps in iTunes one last time and then upgrade iTunes. I suppose newly downloaded apps will no longer go onto the computer though? Will I be able to do the reverse and drag an app out of the "On My Device" section and into my computer to get a backup on my computer? I may end up comfortable with the functionality going away long term....but until I'm there, I'm glad the files just don't auto-delete on upgrade of iTunes.
Click to expand...

That's not possible, the "On My Device" section in 12.7 doesn't have a "Apps" tab like it used to have.
 
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whsbuss said:
That may be true, but taking away some functionality without telling us how to do things is wrong
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Apple isn't known to explain their actions outright and thoroughly, especially when it involves "taking something away". Maybe Tim or someone else will explain "quietly" and in a few short words the Apple rationale of decreasing the functionality in some Q&A session in the near future.
 
Next you won't be able to copy music and files to and from iTunes into apps with data like vlc and others.
Why not just discontinue iTunes altogether and require all music to be purchased from the store only.
I have a bad feeling this is coming.
 
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I have a bunch of photos on my desktop how can I transfer them through itunes to my iPad Pro now? I guess with the apps I can just download them through the app store on my ipad
Edit: Ok I feel silly I think I can still sync photos when I connect the ipad
 
HiVolt said:
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.
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this hasn't been possible for years, since apple introduced app slices. you can download whole apps on previous versions of itunes from the store - but it is not possible to backup downloaded apps from your device.

i have run up against this problem many times. i have to take my device somewhere with fast wifi to make it work. i once resorted to using tens of gigabytes of cellular data just so that i could restore when i didn't have any other option.
 
McScooby said:
Considering that pre-dates today's announcement, how does one instigate a download from the app store on the mac in the first place?:rolleyes:;)
Click to expand...

Read the article carefully. It's all explained there.

From the article: "When you download cacheable content from the Internet for an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch that's connected to your Mac, a copy of the download is stored on your Mac. The next time a connected iOS device tries to download the same content, it automatically gets the data directly from your Mac over USB instead downloading it from the Internet again."

What that means is this:

1. Enable tethered caching using the steps in that article.

2. Connect your first iOS device to your Mac using the lightning to USB cable.

3. Download your app from the App Store using your iOS device. It will download from the internet but a copy will be cached by your Mac as well.

4. Disconnect your first iOS device and connect the second one. Download the app again. This time, it will load the app from the cached version on your Mac instead of the internet.
 
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This seems bad.

Plus, if I'm out of town and see an iPad app on sale (or free) I can't purchase it if I don't have the device with me? That's annoying! You'd be surprised at how often that actually comes up for me.

Restoring from backups is no more? Just from iCloud?
(Or even if it backing up, all the apps need to be re-downloaded instead of being on the Mac?).
 
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This is a terrible decision on Apple's part. I've got 2 apps that I am avoiding upgrading now that I discovered they have bugs and don't work properly. With iTunes as the gatekeeper I was able to delete the "bad" .ipa versions of those apps and use my Time Machine backup to restore the previous versions and then sync my iPhone with iTunes to install them.

That ability will be GONE with the new arrangement. Install a bad app and you're screwed until the developer fixes it.

Looks like I'll be sticking with iOS 10 for awhile to come.

Mark
 
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So what happens to all of my app files, they take up space on my hard drive until I delete them? I accept that it's probably time to delete the dozen plus apps no longer on the App Store which for some reason I decided to save. No developer support, only 32-bit, better alternatives, no future, I get that. Just give us a separate App Store or maybe just some backup manager that allows apps to be updated which we can sync to when we do a restore (if we have connection issues, slow speeds, etc.).
 
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Mark Booth said:
This is a terrible decision on Apple's part. I've got 2 apps that I am avoiding upgrading now that I discovered they have bugs and don't work properly. With iTunes as the gatekeeper I was able to delete the "bad" .ipa versions of those apps and use my Time Machine backup to restore the previous versions and then sync my iPhone with iTunes to install them.

That ability will be GONE with the new arrangement. Install a bad app and you're screwed until the developer fixes it.

Looks like I'll be sticking with iOS 10 for awhile to come.

Mark
Click to expand...
I do think the Appstore should stay on the Mac.
 
Jim said:
My wife's comment, "that's pretty stupid, how am I supposed to manage apps on 4 iOS devices?" I agree. No need for a new iPhone this year (first time in 6 years).
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I understand living in an area with poor internet, but other than that, how is it managed now?

If the end result is to have all devices have the same apps have it set to automatic download. If they all need different ones can't they just be downloaded individually?
 
Did anyone notice the dialog box after restarting iTunes? It said to get them from the new App Store.

Maybe this got released too early and High Sierra is supposed to move all apps to the Mac App Store?
 
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Has anyone here updated to iTunes 12.7 who has multiple iTunes music libraries? (in other words where you use option-open iTunes rather than just launch it?) and where some may use Apple Music and iCloud music library and some do not?

I have a bunch of different iTunes libraries -- to keep stuff like operas, sacred music, very old music, other "classical" works etc. separate from a "main" library that has a lot of different genres in it, and also separate from a library I use that has mostly just Apple Music in it and uses iCloud Music library but started out blank and to which I have added copies of relatively few of my purchased tracks.

All this separate libraries gig goes to facilitate managing the metadata differently and setting up the iTunes browser view that they call Songs view, i.e. the list view rather than all that artwork.

I also manage the location of the purchased music how I want to, in assorted folders inside the homedir's Music folder

Right now, when I option-open iTunes and select whatever of my assorted libraries I want to open, I always have to go into preferences and indicate whether I want to see AM or not, and turn on the iCloud library if I have opened an iTunes library that uses AM and iClould music library.

So, I am a little concerned wondering whether Apple has changed how any of that works. For sure I'm going to clone my drive and also make sure I have multiple Time Machine backups before switch up to 12.7. I back up my music folder to an external drive separately anyway but every time I let iTunes go to a higher version I get nervous wondering how many other people use multiple libraries and select one at app launch time. And throw in the Apple Music feature only being used in one of those libraries..
 
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rGiskard said:
Apple need a dedicated


How does it make iTunes easier to use to remove that functionality? It's not like anyone had to look at it if they didn't use it.
Click to expand...

It feels less cluttered, and maybe it's my imagination, but I think iTunes is a little faster right now.
 
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