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Apple's Special Version of iTunes That Still Has an App Store Currently Incompatible With macOS Mojave

bogdanw said:
Something odd happened today: I clicked on this link https://apps.apple.com/app/id1459219643?&mt=12 and I got the message "Do you want to allow this page to open “iTunes”?". I've clicked Allow, iTunes opened, I clicked Get and the download started, then stoped with the message "There was a problem downloading the artwork".
That app is for macOS, not iOS. I only clicked Allow thinking there must be a similar one for iOS.
Currently, developer's page is empty when opened in Safari https://apps.apple.com/us/developer/tausif-akram/id1447793441 App Store on macOS shows 4 apps, iTunes returns the message: "Your request produced an error.[newNullResponse]" and App Store on iOS shows 11 apps, different from the macOS ones.
The universal purchase might be messing everything up.
Click to expand...

Interesting... I was thinking :
Why Configurator is able to download apps updates and not iTunes ? They should be all on the same server or maybe not anymore?! As you wrote it could be the universal purchase messing all up!
 
katbel said:
Interesting... I was thinking :
Why Configurator is able to download apps updates and not iTunes ? They should be all on the same server or maybe not anymore?! As you wrote it could be the universal purchase messing all up!
Click to expand...
Apple Configurator 2 actually uses storedownloadd to download ipa files, here it is caught in the act by Little Snitch :)
storedownloadd.jpg

Here is another developer that has an universal app (https://apps.apple.com/app/id1018301773) and the developer page is not accessible in Safari or iTunes https://apps.apple.com/developer/crypto-inc/id980289004
 
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bogdanw said:
If I remember corectly, several months ago we used to edit info.plist inside iTunes with 12.9.5 instead of 12.6.5. At some point, especially in Catalina, this trick stopped working and we switched to using 13.6.5 instead. Try to edit those values and see if it makes any difference.
You can use this script
Code: 
set theAPP to choose file with prompt "Please select iTunes app:" of type {"app"}
do shell script "plutil -replace CFBundleGetInfoString -string 'iTunes 13.6.5.3' " & POSIX path of theAPP & "Contents/Info.plist" with administrator privileges
do shell script "plutil -replace CFBundleShortVersionString -string 13.6.5 " & POSIX path of theAPP & "Contents/Info.plist" with administrator privileges
do shell script "plutil -replace CFBundleVersion -string 13.6.5 " & POSIX path of theAPP & "Contents/Info.plist" with administrator privileges
do shell script "touch " & POSIX path of theAPP
display dialog "iTunes was patched"
Click to expand...

I also suddenly got "This version of iTunes has not been correctly configured." error when opening iTunes 12.6.5.3 ('13.6.5.3') on Mojave. Probably it was caused by Security Update I applied?

Tried your script, got an error: "touch: /Applications/iTunes.app/: Permission denied"

iTunes still give me the same error, won't open… :(
 
Houpla said:
Tried your script, got an error: "touch: /Applications/iTunes.app/: Permission denied"
Click to expand...
As you might remember, we used to reinstall iTunes 12.6 after every update. At some point, we just moved iTunes 12.6 somewhere else than /Applications or rename it. In this way, iTunes 12.9 remained in /Applications and could be updated by Apple and iTunes 12.6 would not be deleted every time. My suggestion is to leave alone /Applications/iTunes.app and install iTunes 12.6 alongside using the script from post #359 https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...tible-with-macos-mojave.2143244/post-28388952
 
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Today Apple Configurator is getting an error at launch:
The server gave an error during download: 401 Unauthorized.

BTW I'm not downloading anything yet

I get it even without any device connected or connected . Then of course, there are no apps to update
while iTunes is showing tons of updates.
Is anyone else getting that ?
Is Apple totally messing up their servers?!

UPDATE:
401 is a sign-in error I was told, and now it's working again, badly but working at least for the apps
Configurator likes..
"After ‘signing out’ then wait a long long time then ‘sign in’ and wait a long long time. "
I really had to wait before my password was accepted again.
😳
 
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I end up using iTunes 12.6.5.3 on windows for app update and a bit of syncing, while macOS handles library management and also syncing. Cumbersome sure, but it seems that this is the price “old tech user” need to pay. If windows version no longer works, I will move to imazing.

Interesting enough, iTunes 12.6.5.3 can still recognise and sync iPhone XS Max and iPad Pro 2018 no problem. Wonder if it can recognise iPad Pro 2020 or iPhone 11 series. Another side effect is “trust this computer” prompt is somewhat useless on iOS 13 when interacting with this version of iTunes. Even if you tap “don’t trust”, sync still happen.
 
I got the same 401 Unauthorized from Apple Configurator 2 in Catalina.
As the iTunes situation affects High Sierra users as well for about two months now, I wonder if the author of the original article @rsgnl could get an official statement from Apple. High Sierra is officially supported by Apple and iTunes 12.6 is compatible and should work on High Sierra.
 
12.6.5 had no functional issues with my XS on my old Mac running 10.11.

There was a cosmetic glitch however, in the form of a missing resource so there would be no device avatar in the sidebar when connected.

I must admit, even though I was a stanch advocate of app management when I had that old Mac, I gave it up when I got a new one with Mojave, and never got enough of an urge to mess with forcing 12.6.5 onto it.

It has really been kind of liberating not having to deal with it, while fighting Apple at the same time. 🏳 I guess.
 
bogdanw said:
I got the same 401 Unauthorized from Apple Configurator 2 in Catalina.
As the iTunes situation affects High Sierra users as well for about two months now, I wonder if the author of the original article @rsgnl could get an official statement from Apple. High Sierra is officially supported by Apple and iTunes 12.6 is compatible and should work on High Sierra.
Click to expand...

Maybe they(Apple) are trying to solve iTunes issue?! Wishful thinking...
Meanwhile they are messing up everything 😟

Which article are you referring to? I couldn't find it on his twitter page
 
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bogdanw said:
Do you mean app downloads/updates work in iTunes 12.6.5 on OS X El Capitan?
Click to expand...

Yes, up until Aug '19 at least, when I replaced that machine, but that was some months ago.

It wouldn't surprise me if Apple has become lax in maintaining that functionality since that time, and allowed things to break and remain broken.

Even back then, there would be periodic outages where the servers/iTunes connection was sketchy and updates weren't detected, but they were eventually fixed.

It would be interesting to see if third-party apps that support app management like iMazing are being affected, and how they're adjusting.

That was going to be my plan going forward, but I've lost the desire to embrace what was becoming a chore, never mind diving into unsupported workarounds with iTunes.
 
TheIntruder said:
Yes, up until Aug '19 at least, when I replaced that machine, but that was some months ago.
Click to expand...
This thread is very long, here is a summary: Apple did not update iTunes 12.6.5 to work on Mojave; we’ve managed to install it anyway even in Catalina; since 19 March 2020 downloads/updates of IPA files stoped working on every macOS version, but still work in Windows.
 
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Dear friends we’ve come to an end. We could only resist for 2 years. The blow we took on 19th of march ruined us when everything was going well. Apple support touched on our issue on their official article like this: To fix this issue, the latest update is required. That is Catalina. High Sierra & Mojave are unsupported and Catalina cannot be found on iTunes. Since other than IOS apps, seperate Apple Watch apps and Apple Glasses AR apps are unsupported by iTunes it’s time to end this subject.
 
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efecanarar said:
Dear friends we’ve come to an end. We could only resist for 2 years. The blow we took on 19th of march ruined us when everything was going well. Apple support touched on our issue on their official article like this: To fix this issue, the latest update is required. That is Catalina. High Sierra & Mojave are unsupported and Catalina cannot be found on iTunes. Since other than IOS apps, seperate Apple Watch apps and Apple Glasses AR apps are unsupported by iTunes it’s time to end this subject.
Click to expand...
As a windows user I can hold this feature for a little longer before forced to find alternative. Say what you want, but not everyone has good internet connection that can download multiple GB of apps over and over in seconds. We don’t know too much about Apple glass AR, but that one’s iTunes support is irrelevant at this day and age. This topic can just go on a bit longer until Apple officially kills all sorts of iTunes support in macOS and terminates iTunes windows support with some sort of replacement, provided Apple still care about iPhone users not having a Mac.
 
I recently used configurator2 in El Capitan to install missing 64 bit apps in my new iPhone that didn't install from iTunes restore/download. I'm happy that works for me.
Example: An app I purchased is no longer available except via subscription now. I contacted the developer and they said they can give me a few months credit. No way. Configurator solved this problem. Nice.
 
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JosephAW said:
I recently used configurator2 in El Capitan to install missing 64 bit apps in my new iPhone that didn't install from iTunes restore/download. I'm happy that works for me.
Example: An app I purchased is no longer available except via subscription now. I contacted the developer and they said they can give me a few months credit. No way. Configurator solved this problem. Nice.
Click to expand...

Using Configurator too, and sometime iMazing, where Configurator fails: eventually I found that it's easier to check, changing my iTunes password time to time after using rarely iMazing , than having to worry for too many variables in Windows. Plus having two factor authentication is not easy to bypass my account or even in case iMazing had bad employee.
I still have some hope when we will go back to a ~normal life(?), enterprises and schools will force Apple to behave improving Configurator or fixing iTunes . Why Configurator cannot see all my apps while iMazing does?!?
I still rely on iTunes for so many other things!!
 
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Shall I wait for iTunes to get fixed or start learning how to use Configurator, knowing full well that Apple will pull the rug under us because they are that anal...
Tough choice...
 
B4U said:
Shall I wait for iTunes to get fixed or start learning how to use Configurator, knowing full well that Apple will pull the rug under us because they are that anal...
Tough choice...
Click to expand...
Nothing bad can happen: I use Configurator and I still put all the apps downloaded over iTunes ..it's like iTunes updates them all and then sync with my devices 😊
 
I'm downloading iPadOs update via iTunes : why that and not the app updates?! 🙄
I will have to update it through Configurator but still
...
 
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