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Traxan

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 2, 2008
85
5
Hello all. I'm attempting to transfer an application that is no longer in the App Store from one iPad that has installed to another iPad that doesn't have it installed. I've done Google searches but can't find anything that helps or works. Is it even possible? I'm really sore that they remove the app from the store.
 

iStorm

macrumors 68000
Sep 18, 2012
1,964
2,379
Have you checked your "Purchased" list to see if it can be downloaded from there? Sometimes apps are just hidden in the App Store and search results, but still show up in the purchased list to redownload.

If the app was completely removed from the App Store, then you're pretty much out of luck. Backups don't contain the apps themselves, so a restore wouldn't work. Restores actually just fetch/redownload the apps from the App Store (if the app still exists).
 
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sparksd

macrumors G3
Jun 7, 2015
9,880
33,344
Seattle WA
Try iMazing. It’s not free though.

iMazing will do the same thing -

"If some of the apps you are restoring are not installed on the target device, iMazing may ask you to sign into the App Store so it can download them."

https://imazing.com/guides/how-to-export-backup-and-transfer-ios-apps-data-and-settings

Edit - Or maybe you can -

https://www.tapsmart.com/tips-and-tricks/imazing-backup-guide/

I own iMazing but have never tried this.

Edit 2 - Tried the above with two iPads but was unable to get "Copy to Device" to work on a destination iPad. The command gave no response and when I tried to create a new folder within Apps, I got an error msg. that Apps is read-only. "Copy to PC" copied something but I can't tell if it contained the app itself or just its data.
 
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rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
14,845
13,119
The transfer function in iMazing is free. I've been using it to transfer an app no longer in the App Store from 5th to 9th gen iPads. It's the Mac version of iMazing and works well.

I know it used to work on the free version but there was a report on MobileRead that they needed the paid version to transfer apps with the latest update.


I have the paid version so I can't confirm if transfer apps still works on free.
 

Richard8655

macrumors 68000
Mar 11, 2009
1,925
1,372
Chicago suburbs
I know it used to work on the free version but there was a report on MobileRead that they needed the paid version to transfer apps with the latest update.


I have the paid version so I can't confirm if transfer apps still works on free.
From my reading of the report, the user was able to successfully transfer the app with the free version. Although the user had heard (as ymmv) that the paid version might be needed. But this may just have been unconfirmed rumor.

In my case, I used the (free) iMazing GUI drag-and-drop method between my 2 iPads rather than the backup/restore method the user used. But that was about 6 months ago, so it is possible iMazing licensing for transferring apps may have changed (for all I know). So your point is well taken. It is worth a try with the free version though, for sure.
 
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millydog

macrumors 6502a
Oct 21, 2007
564
515
Australia
Have you checked your "Purchased" list to see if it can be downloaded from there? Sometimes apps are just hidden in the App Store and search results, but still show up in the purchased list to redownload.

If the app was completely removed from the App Store, then you're pretty much out of luck. Backups don't contain the apps themselves, so a restore wouldn't work. Restores actually just fetch/redownload the apps from the App Store (if the app still exists).

You are right that sometimes they are in your purchased list and you can download them again, but there does seem to be an extra layer to this because sometimes they actually will restore from a backup. I have apps that I can’t download again if I set up a device as new, but if I restore from a backup, they are there. I’ve proven this myself and it’s the reason that I restore from backup over setting up as new.
 
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