Spring Cleaning (summer cleaning?) of Apps in my iTunes

[hypert]

I have 366 apps listed in iTunes. I'm not bragging. I probably use about 25 regularly, and probably only have 100-200 actually installed on my phone or my ipad.

Is there a way to detect which apps are NOT installed on my iPhone or iPad? Since there's a different set installed on both, I don't want to lose something in the ipad just because I don't see it on my phone.

I thought about deleting all the apps from iTunes, re-syncing the phone and Pad, and hoping just those apps come back into iTunes (from the devices), but I am a little worried that might just wipe out the apps on the devices.

Any suggestions?

 

[charlieegan3]

In this situation I just get rid of the lot and then only get the ones I need when I feel the need for them, thus only having the required apps.

That approach might not suite you but it's what i would do.

 

[3bs]

I have 366 apps listed in iTunes. I'm not bragging. I probably use about 25 regularly, and probably only have 100-200 actually installed on my phone or my ipad.

Is there a way to detect which apps are NOT installed on my iPhone or iPad? Since there's a different set installed on both, I don't want to lose something in the ipad just because I don't see it on my phone.

I thought about deleting all the apps from iTunes, re-syncing the phone and Pad, and hoping just those apps come back into iTunes (from the devices), but I am a little worried that might just wipe out the apps on the devices.

Any suggestions?

I don't see why it would delete the apps from your devices. I think deleting them from your iTunes then transferring purchases when you sync the devices is the way to go. Not %100 sure so wait till others chime in.

 

[hypert]

I don't see why it would delete the apps from your devices. I think deleting them from your iTunes then transferring purchases when you sync the devices is the way to go. Not %100 sure so wait till others chime in.

I tried it with a single small app. Deleted it from iTunes and from drive. Sync'ed, and the app came off the phone! Maybe iTunes only syncs purchases from the iDevice if the purchase (on the iDevice) is newer than the last sync?

 

[Mal]

Turn off App syncing in iTunes first. You probably don't really need it, as you can get updates and new apps OTA without having to sync that all to iTunes. Then you can delete whatever you want on the computer and it won't mess with what's on the phone.

jW

 

[Pharmscott]

First, be careful before deleting from iTunes. If the app is no longer available in the store, it will be gone for good (think VLC).

An easy way to compare: On the iPhone or iPad, go to Settings -> General -> Usage. Then scroll down a bit and choose Show All Apps. This will show you a nice tidy list of what is installed. In iTunes, you can sort the apps by size (when sync'd) and then the two lists will be in similar order.

Another handy viewer is in the App Store on the phone/pad. Go to Updates, then Purchased and you can easily tell what you "own" versus what is actually installed on the device.