iTunes update - no apps anymore

OU812

It seems that Apple has decided to take apps out of iTunes. And only update OTA from now on.

So does this mean I can free up gigs of hard drive space by deleting the local ones? I'm assuming it does but want to get a general opinion first.

coylemj

OU812 wrote: »

It seems that Apple has decided to take apps out of iTunes. And only update OTA from now on.

+1 which means that you can no longer do general apps housekeeping from the iTunes screen which is a backwards step as far as I'm concerned.

I liked the fact that my PC held the master library for apps so from time to time if I removed an app from my iPad to save space, I could reinstall it later from the iTunes screen. Can't do that any more, iTunes doesn't want anything to do with apps.

Sad Professor

I deleted all the iOS apps in my computer's iTunes library ages ago. It's worth having a look in iTunes Library > Mobile Applications because there's a good chance they are all still there even after this update.

App Thinning in iOS 9 already effectively killed iTunes app syncing two years ago. Apps wouldn't transfer from iOS to iTunes, only the other way around. So if you backed up to iTunes, apps weren't transferred. And unless automatic download was enabled in iTunes, the device would have to re-download the app from Apple's servers when restoring. So to have a master library of iOS apps in iTunes usually meant downloading every app update twice - once to the device and again to iTunes. It made no sense so this change was inevitable.

coylemj

Sad Professor wrote: »

So to have a master library of iOS apps in iTunes usually meant downloading every app update twice - once to the device and again to iTunes. It made no sense so this change was inevitable.

Unless you only downloaded app updates to iTunes.

But you're correct on the general trend, the Apple device stopped sending new apps or update to iTunes so often you'd be updating both for no benefit.

jack presley

Where are the apps that I downloaded/bought but aren't on my phone at the moment? Can I still access them, even if it's just to see which one I have?

Sad Professor

coylemj wrote: »

Unless you only downloaded app updates to iTunes.

Yeah but I'd imagine very few users did it this way. It was confusing more than anything.

Sad Professor

jack presley wrote: »

Where are the apps that I downloaded/bought but aren't on my phone at the moment? Can I still access them, even if it's just to see which one I have?

If you go to your purchased list in the App Store on your iPhone you can see a list of apps "not on this iPhone". I'm using the iOS 11 GM at the moment in which this is a little different, but I think in iOS 10 it was in the Updates tab.

jack presley

Sad Professor wrote: »

If you go to your purchased list in the App Store on your iPhone you can see a list of apps "not on this iPhone". I'm using the iOS 11 GM at the moment in which this is a little different, but I think in iOS 10 it was in the Updates tab.

Cool, thanks for that

Bob24

Decluttering iTunes is a good thing IMO. They should also remove movies from it.

(Note that I'm not saying removing the functionality from iTunes means they should remove it altogether, movies/shows could use their own separate App as they have on iOS ... but as far as app sync is concerned I think the way the iPhone has greadually became as stand alone self-sufficient device rather that the iPod kind of tethered device it was originally had to kill App synchronisation with a computer eventually).

notahappycamper

Ringtones are gone as well and I had a good few of them made. What can I do now - do not want to use an app to create them?

Agent Coulson

I really don't want to lose the ringtones I made myself.

Sad Professor

Ringtones are now added by manually dragging and dropping them to the device in the iTunes sidebar while its connected. And I think any existing ringtones in iTunes at the time of the upgrade can be extracted from the iTunes media folder.

notahappycamper

Sad Professor wrote: »

Ringtones are now added by manually dragging and dropping them to the device in the iTunes sidebar while its connected. And I think any existing ringtones in iTunes at the time of the upgrade can be extracted from the iTunes media folder.

But no more being able to create new ones?

Agent Coulson

Buying free apps on itunes was also the easiest way to open accounts in different regions.

DubDJ

Hope they continue thinning out some of the bloated apps. I'd love a lightweight app purely for Apple Music. Pull the functionality from iTunes and include it in a standalone app. Leave iTunes matching the iOS counterpart. Buying movies, music and tv shows through one and streaming on another makes sense imo.

Bob24

DubDJ wrote: »

Hope they continue thinning out some of the bloated apps. I'd love a lightweight app purely for Apple Music. Pull the functionality from iTunes and include it in a standalone app. Leave iTunes matching the iOS counterpart. Buying movies, music and tv shows through one and streaming on another makes sense imo.

Definitely. They should also move movies and TV shows away from iTunes, and maybe podcasts.

I guess the main reason they are not doing it is that it would in a way be killing personal media management (iTunes has been a hub for this) and forcing people into streaming (I know each separate app could maintain its own library but I'm not sure Apple would be interested in spending time to develop this properly). This is a move Apple would like to make but some people would complain and they are probably waiting a bit more (and if they separate the App one thing I love and don't want to lose is the ability with iTunes/Apple Music to combine my own music library and a streaming service seamlessly in the same UI - there are quite a few things I listen to which are not available on streaming services).

OU812

The big problem I have is a lot of apps I use on a regular basis were purchased by my wife, no I've got to do a lot of signing in & out of the app store to update them or rebuy them under my ID.

Bob24

OU812 wrote: »

The big problem I have is a lot of apps I use on a regular basis were purchased by my wife, no I've got to do a lot of signing in & out of the app store to update them or rebuy them under my ID.

Maybe family sharing would help with than? If you join both account into a family it will let you download with your account anything she purchased with hers and vice-versa (except in-app purchases).

qwertz

This might be a silly question but how do I now copy files from my PC to a specific app like a video to VLC or GoodPlayer? Thanks!

Figured it out, they moved that to the file sharing section.