For several weeks, I’ve had to update my apps one at a time on my iphones — yes, we have multiples in this house (three) plus an iPod touch. So, manual updates get to be a bit cumbersome.
I’ve been getting an error (without an error number, just so you know, saying there’s no internet connection — which there WAS) along with a second error (400) when I try to update. Error 400 in relation to the iTunes store, BTW, referenced iTunes version 4.8 and is seldom seen now. It would also tell me that the iTunes store was temporarily unavailable and it asked me to try again later. For weeks.
The odd thing was that I can get online and view the iTunes store. I could also buy and download apps, but I couldn’t update any — and I had over 230 that said they need to be updated.
Earlier this week, on Sunday, I spent the entire day — literally over five hours — on the phone with Apple trying to figure this one out before my iPad pre-order arrives and needs access to the iTunes updates too.
We finally gave up when the levels of tech support were exhausted and my issue was sent to “engineering” to resolve it.
Today (on Tuesday) I’m cleaning things off my Mac, and decided to be rid of some programs I no longer need or want. One of them was NetBarrier X5. Since this one had proven to be less than simple to uninstall — it was going to require a bit of research. Some months ago, I simply opened it up so it wasn’t blocking my ports for wireless apps and other programs that I use until I had time to actually get rid of it.
While enjoying my insomnia tonight, I decided to clean this particular little program off my machine. I have to do a web search to determine how to do it. While searching, I actually trip across this article which states that there is some weirdness reported between iTunes store permissions and logins and NetBarrier.
Long story short… removing the NetBarrier (which had to be done by re-downloading the product and then attempting to install and hitting the uninstall instead) and then a reboot and the problem was solved.
Now, I just have to call my support guy back at Apple and let him know what I’ve found so they can document it on their site’s tech support.
And one more huge, bothersome thing to do is off my list…along with the smaller one that caused it.
Angela,
Thanks so much for finding this fix. You’re absolutely right, this error is rarely seen now, as was evident by our four-hour-long phone conversation.
I’ll make sure I pass this on to my engineers, and I’ll definitely keep this fix in the back of my brain.
Wonderful site you have here, hooray for Kentucky writers!
Mike, I wish I’d had you to de-bug with first, instead of the other techs. I do appreciate your help and your follow-up. I hope this helps other folks that may also be having problems updating their iPhone apps.
PS… I did preorder the iPad, so I’m waiting impatiently for it to arrive in “late April” — Take care and come back to visit anytime!
Thanks for sharing the information. Yes, this needs to be addressed as soon as possible or else, a lot of people would call the support site of Itunes because of this problem.
I have an iPhone 3G with IOS4.1 software and iTunes version 10 on a MacBook Pro i5. Before iTunes 10, I could see the apps that needed to be updated in iTunes and simply update them and sync. Now there is no way in iTunes to see what apps have to be updated (and I’ve searched hours of support documents and can’t find any help).
I can update apps on my iPhone directly, and then when I connect to iTunes, they’ll sync. The problem is this: A couple apps that I need to update are over 10 megs, so I can’t update them on the phone. And in iTunes 10 I can’t find any options for how to update them there. I have literally searched every menu, and even the Apple support docs, that show pics of how this is done, don’t match what I see when I’m on iTunes.
Does anyone out there know how in the world in iTunes 10 to update your apps? I’m not a novice … this has been super frustrating. None of the help docs match the issue I’m having. BTW, my software is all up to date.
Thanks!
Liam,
Just try redownloading those exact same apps again. iTunes incorrectly states that it will charge (at first) before producing a pop-up window that states you already own the app and won’t be charged.
As for me, I’ve collected over 10k apps for various reviews and as a result, get about 200 necessary updates a week. When the number of apps requiring updates exceeds about 80, I consistently get errors from iTunes when trying to perform an app update. I suspect it’s because their iTunes app is sending a message entailing all apps. What would be smarter of Apple is if the apps within your library had an icon on them to indicate what needed to be updated. It would also be smarter of Apple to disregard apps that are no longer available in the app store. This snags me every time… I finally get to the list of apps but because one or two rogue apps were removed from the app store, none of them will update with the “update all” button. Shame on the developers and double shame on the testers!
Oh – forgot to mention how to get around this issue … move all your apps out of iTunes into a temporary folder, open iTunes, select all the apps in your library then press delete.
Now add them back in batches by dragging them from the folder into the Apps window. After each batch click the “Updates Available” arrow then update. If asked to overwrite an app, I always select yes. The Apple store update handles making sure the latest app ends up in the library folder anyway.
Hope that helps.
I had the same problem however my resolution was one of two things.
1) Had a proxy enabled
2) Repaired the network settings on my W7 install – choosing iTunes as the program with which I was having issues.
Thanks for the tip, James! The second one won’t work for me, as a Mac user, but hopefully it will help others using WIN machines.
I came across this problem with the latest 10.1.2. Every time I try to hit update apps it tries to connect to iTunes store and says nothing to be updated when there’s over 50 listed. ???