Resolved Open letter to Apple, Tim Cook

[katbel]

We are living the worst crisis of our times, Internet is becoming slow because there are so many people quarantined at home
or self isolated themselves and they need to get things to do before going crazy or depressed.

I as many others are still using the old iTunes even with the latest systems.

Today iTunes 12.6.5 is not downloading updates anymore but download is working on my devices in our household were we are confined.

This means instead of downloading only once an update of 180mb we ‘ll need to do it 5 times
5 by 180 Mb =900 MB
Multiplied by 25 app ~ is going to be ~ 22GB and 500 MB
then multiply it by the million of users and you’ll get a jam of internet use.

Other users are experiencing the same issue, because it is an issue.
Why?!

This is matter of being conscientious about what’s happening around us and economizing our resources.

Apple, Tim Cook, Please reinstate it or fix it.
Thanks

 

[Ritsuka]

Actually it's better to update on the device. iTunes will download always the full update, but a device will download the device optimised app, and the update will be only the delta between the old version and the new version.

If you want to cache the updates to save bandwidth, turn on the "Content Cache" in System Preferences -> Sharing on a Mac that is usually always on.

 

[katbel]

Actually it's better to update on the device. iTunes will download always the full update, but a device will download the device optimised app, and the update will be only the delta between the old version and the new version.

If you want to cache the updates to save bandwidth, turn on the "Content Cache" in System Preferences -> Sharing on a Mac that is usually always on.

Thanks , but how am I going to use the updates? Where are going to be?
How can I restore an app of which I don't like the update?
Before I was saving all the old apps in the trash and being able to go back in case

 

[TiggrToo]

We are living the worst crisis of our times, Internet is becoming slow because there are so many people quarantined at home
or self isolated themselves and they need to get things to do before going crazy or depressed.

I as many others are still using the old iTunes even with the latest systems.

Today iTunes 12.6.5 is not downloading updates anymore but download is working on my devices in our household were we are confined.

This means instead of downloading only once an update of 180mb we ‘ll need to do it 5 times
5 by 180 Mb =900 MB
Multiplied by 25 app ~ is going to be ~ 22GB and 500 MB
then multiply it by the million of users and you’ll get a jam of internet use.

Other users are experiencing the same issue, because it is an issue.
Why?!

This is matter of being conscientious about what’s happening around us and economizing our resources.

Apple, Tim Cook, Please reinstate it or fix it.
Thanks

I hope you're not holding your breath for a response. Also, there is zero probability this will get addressed by Apple.

It's old software. I'd hazard a guess and say they probably can't even do a build of the source now, without since major developer mojo.

iTunes on Mac is now dead.

To read up on how Apple cache files you can start here: https://www.idownloadblog.com/2018/07/17/howto-mac-content-caching/

 

[katbel]

I hope you're not holding your breath for a response. Also, there is zero probability this will get addressed by Apple.

It's old software. I'd hazard a guess and say they probably can't even do a build of the source now, without since major developer mojo.

iTunes on Mac is now dead.

To read up on how Apple cache files you can start here: https://www.idownloadblog.com/2018/07/17/howto-mac-content-caching/

Thanks a lot: exactly what I was looking for, for understanding how it works.
Still missing a way to go back and have a backup of apps I need to restore in case

 

[katbel]

It's old software. I'd hazard a guess and say they probably can't even do a build of the source now, without since major developer mojo.

BTW it's not iTunes per se but Apple servers blocked if iTunes or Apple Configurator tries to download any app.
Updates are appearing normally but the download can't function

 

[uehithneu]

BTW it's not iTunes per se but Apple servers blocked if iTunes or Apple Configurator tries to download any app.
Updates are appearing normally but the download can't function

iMazing reported to work -- and so I wonder why?

 

[katbel]

iMazing reported to work -- and so I wonder why?

Painfully working, so slow ! Then you need to transfer the updated app in your iTunes library...we have to find another solution
The ironic part is that iTunes still shows and updates which apps are available to download

 

[MacGizmo]

Look I'm not meaning to start an argument here, but starting your post with "We are living the worst crisis of our times" and then complaining about download sizes, slow speeds and bugs in software that isn't even under active development anymore... It's such a first-world problem.

SMH. Your priorities are a mess if you're even thinking about iTunes at this stage.

Apple will never see this thread, and you're not likely to ever see a resolution to the problem because, well like I said, iTunes is no longer under active development.

 

[katbel]

MacGizmo you are missing the point . Have you seen in Europe? "Following in the footsteps of Netflix, YouTube is reducing the quality of its videos in Europe to reduce the strain on broadband networks caused by an upsurge in home usage following the coronavirus outbreak"
It's the upsurge that I'm worried about, and it will come here too, consequently Apple's action is doing the exact opposite, and it's wrong. Beside thinking of people, and there are many, not lucky as we are and not having the luxury of a good internet connection "FWIW the highest uncapped bandwidth internet available to me is 4Mb/s (yes bits)."

 

[Ritsuka]

But like we always said it's not true. iTunes always downloads the whole app. On device updates downloads a much smaller update. And on iOS 13 even a full app download on iOS devices is smaller than the one on iTunes.

Yes, you need can't backup them easily. But you will use much less bandwidth on the device, compared to what you would use on iTunes even to update 5 different devices.

 

[TiggrToo]

MacGizmo you are missing the point . Have you seen in Europe? "Following in the footsteps of Netflix, YouTube is reducing the quality of its videos in Europe to reduce the strain on broadband networks caused by an upsurge in home usage following the coronavirus outbreak"
It's the upsurge that I'm worried about, and it will come here too, consequently Apple's action is doing the exact opposite, and it's wrong. Beside thinking of people, and there are many, not lucky as we are and not having the luxury of a good internet connection "FWIW the highest uncapped bandwidth internet available to me is 4Mb/s (yes bits)."

Apples to pears. A 4K Netflix stream will take up between 3.5GB to 7GB per hour, compared to regular HD of 1.9GB to 2.5GB. in addition video streams need higher prioritization to reduce buffering.

Each stream is separate. Bob and Sally streaming the same movie in the same house at the same time? Two separate streams. Granted Amazon's AWS architecture will try to recache what it can, but that's also the same with Apple's downloads and, in fact, most of the Internet.

However you're probably are not going to download more than 1GB of updates a day (assuming full size and a metric ton of apps) whereas a 4K movie will quite probably burn through that in 1 hour.

So you're quibbling over the small stuff. Until you can actually prove categorically that this one issue with iTunes is going to overwhelm the internet (which you can't) then stop worrying. There are far bigger fish to fry out there.

Besides, more people working from home means more encrypted VPN sessions (higher bandwidth) and more and more WebEx, Zoom, Skype and other such calls.

And you chose this one issue to concentrate on?

Educate yourself on the technology before attempting to make a point here. Learn how companies maximize traffic thoughtput with CDNs etc. There's a huge amount you don't know about. Arguing a point based upon guesswork is never going to end well.

Educate yourself then come back to us with actual statistics to prove your point. Until then nothing anyone can day here (including myself) will be accepted by you because it sends you want to fall back on what you don't know, as opposed what you do.

It's fine to ask a question. However laboring the point can get tiresome fast if you yourself are not prepared to come back with an fact based response.

 

[uehithneu]

iTunes functionality for app management totally unmatched on iOS. Allows for numerous nice use cases (whether or not bandwidth savings is one of those nice use cases). Was working just fine a few days ago but now it's become broken. And broken for macOS only -- not also for Windows. Nonsense! Loss of function is not a good thing in this case. And loss of such *unmatched* function is really freakin' problematic... Have you, the reader, ever updated some particular app only to be burnt by a bad change that's not mentioned in release notes? Have you, the reader, ever restored from iCloud backup only to find some apps """no longer available"""? It's way easier to roll back, to restore, to make use of the software one's *paid for* when iTunes can download IPA files.

 

[MacGizmo]

MacGizmo you are missing the point ...

I don't think I am.

1. Apple also lowered the quality of Apple TV+ streams to save bandwidth—just like everyone else.
2. Apple's latest software (both OS and apps) takes advantage of caching and small downloads for individual apps (instead of the full app) updates on all their apps, and have for quite a long time.
3. You're using deprecated software by your own free will and against Apple's recommendation. And you're very much in the minority.
4. The number of people who refuse to (or can't) update to the latest versions of both iOS and macOS is very small. The numbers released by Apple, as well as 3rd-party analysts, proves this. So the amount of bandwidth being used by you, and people in the same situation as you, is very small in the grand scheme of things.
5. There isn't going to be a bandwidth problem. The only reason Netflix, Apple, YouTube, etc. are jumping on this is because they were asked to by paranoid, idiot politicians who don't know jack about technology... and it gives them the perfect excuse to not have to pay for more traffic than they have to, while still providing their service to paying customers. Better safe, than sorry... I understand, but still pointless—much like the hoarding of toilet paper and canned beans by people the last two weeks or so here in the U.S.

 

[russell_314]

I don’t think Tim Cook reads the MacRumors forms ??. Perhaps an open letter to MacRumors form subscribers might work

 

[katbel]

I don’t think Tim Cook reads the MacRumors forms ??. Perhaps an open letter to MacRumors form subscribers might work

I know , I'm sure he has a little more to do, like donating masks to health professionals ! This is great?
I hope more $$$ billionaire (Google, Facebook etc) will follow the example

 

[MacGizmo]

I know , I'm sure he has a little more to do, like donating masks to health professionals ! This is great?
I hope more $$$ billionaire (Google, Facebook etc) will follow the example

I assume you meant billion-dollar companies, not people. Because Tim Cook didn't donate the masks, Apple did.

 

[russell_314]

I assume you meant billion-dollar companies, not people. Because Tim Cook didn't donate the masks, Apple did.

This is correct but you know Tim was a major part in that decision. I think it's awesome to see companies like Apple doing this.

 

[MacGizmo]

Indeed it is. The companies that have switched their manufacturing to medical equipment should also be commended.