How do I redownload and reinstall an older version of iOS app into my iPhone 4S?

Ant

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Oct 8, 2018, 11:04:49 PM10/8/18

to

In my iPhone 4S (iOS v9.3.5), I had to uninstall a purchased free app due to
technical issues so I went to App Store and told it to redownload it.
However, it told me it was incompatible with my iPhone. I found out it now
requires iOS v11. I noticed with other apps, App Store would give me an
older version. How come it didn't give me the older version?

Does iTunes' backups and sync keep copies of these old installed apps? If
so, then how do I restore that single app (not the whole iPhone!)?
--
Quote of the Week: "He who dislikes aardvarks was an ant in his former life." --unknown
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
/\___/\Ant(Dude) @ http://antfarm.home.dhs.org / http://antfarm.ma.cx
/ /\ /\ \ Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail privately. If credit-
| |o o| | ing, then please kindly use Ant nickname and URL/link.
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( )

Arlen Holder

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Oct 8, 2018, 11:15:24 PM10/8/18

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Hi Ant,

This recent thread may provide useful related information:
Copy App from iPad to iPad Mini (by Wade Garrett)
<https://groups.google.com/d/msg/comp.mobile.ipad/Tufx3qIBZBw/TDZQfsILCAAJ>

If your aren't familiar with Wade Garrett, he's a well-known moron, so, the
fact he failed miserably shouldn't be taken always as an indication that
the technical problem wasn't surmountable.

Since both nospam and Jolly Roger "advised" Wade, you'll be wasting a _lot_
of time reading all the idiotic posts from them, where I suggest you zoom
directly into what David Empson said, where his advice is always
technically astute.
<https://groups.google.com/d/msg/comp.mobile.ipad/Tufx3qIBZBw/z3kVVoc-CAAJ>

Good luck, and please let us know how it works out as we learn from each
other what works, and what doesn't work, on iOS.

nospam

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Oct 8, 2018, 11:26:43 PM10/8/18

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In article <qJadnWi7zPVRhyHG...@earthlink.com>, Ant

<ANT...@zimage.com> wrote:

> In my iPhone 4S (iOS v9.3.5), I had to uninstall a purchased free app due to
> technical issues so I went to App Store and told it to redownload it.
> However, it told me it was incompatible with my iPhone. I found out it now
> requires iOS v11. I noticed with other apps, App Store would give me an
> older version. How come it didn't give me the older version?

the developer likely chose to not provide older versions.

this is common if an app connects with an external server and the older
version no longer works, similar to how older browsers are rejected by
some websites.

> Does iTunes' backups and sync keep copies of these old installed apps? If
> so, then how do I restore that single app (not the whole iPhone!)?

if you kept an older copy, you can sync it to the phone.

JF Mezei

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Oct 8, 2018, 11:58:10 PM10/8/18

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On 2018-10-08 23:04, Ant wrote:
> In my iPhone 4S (iOS v9.3.5), I had to uninstall a purchased free app due to
> technical issues so I went to App Store and told it to redownload it.
> However, it told me it was incompatible with my iPhone.

https://support.apple.com/en-ph/HT201593

If you made a backup of it using old iTunes, you can find that file and
manually move it to your iPhone.

look for:
Manually add items from your computer

Basically, your app would be backed up as:

(~/Music/iTunes Library/Mobile Applications/

Drag the ".ipa" file of your old app onto the running iTunes app to the
icon of your phone in the left sidebat (below "Devices".)

Ant

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Oct 9, 2018, 1:19:01 AM10/9/18

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nospam <nos...@nospam.invalid> wrote:
> In article <qJadnWi7zPVRhyHG...@earthlink.com>, Ant
> <ANT...@zimage.com> wrote:

> > In my iPhone 4S (iOS v9.3.5), I had to uninstall a purchased free app due to
> > technical issues so I went to App Store and told it to redownload it.
> > However, it told me it was incompatible with my iPhone. I found out it now
> > requires iOS v11. I noticed with other apps, App Store would give me an
> > older version. How come it didn't give me the older version?

> the developer likely chose to not provide older versions.

> this is common if an app connects with an external server and the older
> version no longer works, similar to how older browsers are rejected by
> some websites.

Well, the support guy told me to uninstall and then reinstall. I think he
tricked me. :(

> > Does iTunes' backups and sync keep copies of these old installed apps? If
> > so, then how do I restore that single app (not the whole iPhone!)?

> if you kept an older copy, you can sync it to the phone.

Does doing sync and full backup with iTunes via its USB2 cable keep iPhone
4S' apps? If so, then how do I recover a specific app from it? I am still
using iTunes v12.6.5.3 that still has Apps option.

Ant

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Oct 9, 2018, 1:36:18 AM10/9/18

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Weird. I don't see any. I don't see any *.IPA files in my old 64-bit W7 HPE
SP1 PC's SATA HDDs. I even manually checked in my
C:\Users\ant\Music\iTunes\iTunes Media\. I downloaded my apps to my iPhone
via its App Store. It seems like iTunes never backed up my iPhone's
installed apps?

How can I check to see if my full 10/6/2018 1 PM PDT iPhone backup (was
using the app this morning before uninstalling it) even has its apps backed
up? I did find my big 351 MB C:\Users\ant\AppData\Roaming\Apple
Computer\MobileSync\Backup\f72fee7869ba21ff7a8508fd742a813dd4f6e53b\. I am
hoping it has the backed up apps!

David Empson

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Oct 9, 2018, 2:15:09 AM10/9/18

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Ant <ANT...@zimage.com> wrote:

> JF Mezei <jfmezei...@vaxination.ca> wrote:
> > On 2018-10-08 23:04, Ant wrote:
> > > In my iPhone 4S (iOS v9.3.5), I had to uninstall a purchased free app
> > > due to technical issues so I went to App Store and told it to
> > > redownload it. However, it told me it was incompatible with my iPhone.
>
> > https://support.apple.com/en-ph/HT201593
>
> > If you made a backup of it using old iTunes, you can find that file and
> > manually move it to your iPhone.
>
> > look for:
> > Manually add items from your computer
>
> > Basically, your app would be backed up as:
>
> > (~/Music/iTunes Library/Mobile Applications/
>
> > Drag the ".ipa" file of your old app onto the running iTunes app to the
> > icon of your phone in the left sidebat (below "Devices".)
>
> Weird. I don't see any. I don't see any *.IPA files in my old 64-bit W7 HPE
> SP1 PC's SATA HDDs. I even manually checked in my
> C:\Users\ant\Music\iTunes\iTunes Media\.

Did you look in the "Mobile Applications" folder under that location?
That is where they are in the corresponding folder on the Mac version of
iTunes 12.6.x and earlier.

> I downloaded my apps to my iPhone via its App Store. It seems like iTunes
> never backed up my iPhone's installed apps?

iTunes does not "back up" apps from iOS devices.

iTunes used to "sync" apps from iOS devices to the iTunes library, but
that stopped working as of iOS 9.

iTunes could also download copies of the app itself from App Store, but
it stopped doing that automatically some time ago. If you had never used
iTunes to download apps from App Store, and you've only used devices
running iOS 9 or later, then iTunes would not have any .ipa files in its
library.

That means you never had a copy except the one which was on the device,
and that is now gone. The only way to get it back is to contact the
developer and ask them to make the old version available again for
devices running iOS 9. If they can't or won't do that, you cannot get
the app again on that device.

If by some chance you had downloaded the app in iTunes, it probably
wouldn't be there any more because you would have downloaded updates to
later versions, and iTunes only keeps the latest version of the app in
its library.

> How can I check to see if my full 10/6/2018 1 PM PDT iPhone backup (was
> using the app this morning before uninstalling it) even has its apps backed
> up? I did find my big 351 MB C:\Users\ant\AppData\Roaming\Apple
> Computer\MobileSync\Backup\f72fee7869ba21ff7a8508fd742a813dd4f6e53b\. I am
> hoping it has the backed up apps!

It won't. iTunes has never included the apps themselves in its backups,
only data from apps.

--
David Empson
dem...@actrix.gen.nz

Ant

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Oct 9, 2018, 2:41:03 AM10/9/18

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David Empson <dem...@actrix.gen.nz> wrote:
> Ant <ANT...@zimage.com> wrote:

> > JF Mezei <jfmezei...@vaxination.ca> wrote:
> > > On 2018-10-08 23:04, Ant wrote:
> > > > In my iPhone 4S (iOS v9.3.5), I had to uninstall a purchased free app
> > > > due to technical issues so I went to App Store and told it to
> > > > redownload it. However, it told me it was incompatible with my iPhone.
> >
> > > https://support.apple.com/en-ph/HT201593
> >
> > > If you made a backup of it using old iTunes, you can find that file and
> > > manually move it to your iPhone.
> >
> > > look for:
> > > Manually add items from your computer
> >
> > > Basically, your app would be backed up as:
> >
> > > (~/Music/iTunes Library/Mobile Applications/
> >
> > > Drag the ".ipa" file of your old app onto the running iTunes app to the
> > > icon of your phone in the left sidebat (below "Devices".)
> >
> > Weird. I don't see any. I don't see any *.IPA files in my old 64-bit W7 HPE
> > SP1 PC's SATA HDDs. I even manually checked in my
> > C:\Users\ant\Music\iTunes\iTunes Media\.

> Did you look in the "Mobile Applications" folder under that location?
> That is where they are in the corresponding folder on the Mac version of
> iTunes 12.6.x and earlier.

No Mobile Applications. I had this 64-bit W7 HPE SP1 since October 2016. I
stopped downloading apps via computer's iTunes since then.

> > I downloaded my apps to my iPhone via its App Store. It seems like iTunes
> > never backed up my iPhone's installed apps?

> iTunes does not "back up" apps from iOS devices.

> iTunes used to "sync" apps from iOS devices to the iTunes library, but
> that stopped working as of iOS 9.

No wonder. :(

> iTunes could also download copies of the app itself from App Store, but
> it stopped doing that automatically some time ago. If you had never used
> iTunes to download apps from App Store, and you've only used devices
> running iOS 9 or later, then iTunes would not have any .ipa files in its
> library.

> That means you never had a copy except the one which was on the device,
> and that is now gone. The only way to get it back is to contact the
> developer and ask them to make the old version available again for
> devices running iOS 9. If they can't or won't do that, you cannot get
> the app again on that device.

> If by some chance you had downloaded the app in iTunes, it probably
> wouldn't be there any more because you would have downloaded updates to
> later versions, and iTunes only keeps the latest version of the app in
> its library.

> > How can I check to see if my full 10/6/2018 1 PM PDT iPhone backup (was
> > using the app this morning before uninstalling it) even has its apps backed
> > up? I did find my big 351 MB C:\Users\ant\AppData\Roaming\Apple
> > Computer\MobileSync\Backup\f72fee7869ba21ff7a8508fd742a813dd4f6e53b\. I am
> > hoping it has the backed up apps!

> It won't. iTunes has never included the apps themselves in its backups,
> only data from apps.

Dang. So now, users can't even save iDevices' apps as backups if not
downloaded in computers' iTunes. Not cool, Apple! :(

Lewis

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Oct 9, 2018, 7:16:38 AM10/9/18

to

In message <qJadnWi7zPVRhyHG...@earthlink.com> Ant <ANT...@zimage.com> wrote:
> In my iPhone 4S (iOS v9.3.5), I had to uninstall a purchased free app due to
> technical issues so I went to App Store and told it to redownload it.
> However, it told me it was incompatible with my iPhone. I found out it now
> requires iOS v11. I noticed with other apps, App Store would give me an
> older version. How come it didn't give me the older version?

Depends entirely on the developer. If they kept the old version
available, you would get it. If they did not, you won't.

> Does iTunes' backups and sync keep copies of these old installed apps? If
> so, then how do I restore that single app (not the whole iPhone!)?

If the developer pulled the old version, then probably the old version
will no longer work.

--
The Steve is seen, rightly or wrongly, as the visionary, the leader,
the savant. Bill is the Boswell to The Steve's Johnson, but lacking
Boswell's wit, charm, and dynamic personality.

Lewis

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Oct 9, 2018, 7:18:26 AM10/9/18

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In message <MY-dnZE8bqvdpyHG...@earthlink.com> Ant <ANT...@zimage.com> wrote:
> nospam <nos...@nospam.invalid> wrote:
>> In article <qJadnWi7zPVRhyHG...@earthlink.com>, Ant
>> <ANT...@zimage.com> wrote:

>> > In my iPhone 4S (iOS v9.3.5), I had to uninstall a purchased free app due to
>> > technical issues so I went to App Store and told it to redownload it.
>> > However, it told me it was incompatible with my iPhone. I found out it now
>> > requires iOS v11. I noticed with other apps, App Store would give me an
>> > older version. How come it didn't give me the older version?

>> the developer likely chose to not provide older versions.

>> this is common if an app connects with an external server and the older
>> version no longer works, similar to how older browsers are rejected by
>> some websites.

> Well, the support guy told me to uninstall and then reinstall. I think he
> tricked me. :(

He is almost certainly not used to dealing with people with a 7 year old
phone running obsolete software.

--
'It must have been Fate that brought you here,' said Twoflower. 'Yes,
it's the sort of thing he likes to do,' said Rincewind.

Lewis

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Oct 9, 2018, 7:28:15 AM10/9/18

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In message <YpOdnZ2EuNDn0CHG...@earthlink.com> Ant <ANT...@zimage.com> wrote:
> Dang. So now, users can't even save iDevices' apps as backups if not
> downloaded in computers' iTunes. Not cool, Apple! :(

It is not *NOW* this has been the case since iOS 9.0.

Apps simply do not work like they did pre-iOS 9. There is no one App,
rather the appropriate app is downloaded for that specific device. For
example, your version would not include the non-retina images for the
earlier phones nor the larger images for the 4" and larger phones.

This is called "App thinning" and it means there is no way to download
and archive an app for all devices and this is why iTunes stopped
downloading .ipa files.

In addition, the vast majority of apps are not stand-alone, they connect
to a back end of some sort for data storage. As these methods change,
older versions no longer work, so running an old version is impossible
even if you had the right thinned app for your device.

Your phone is seven years old. It has been obsolete for three years. You
had a good run, buy something new that runs iOS 12.

--
'Luck is my middle name,' said Rincewind, indistinctly. 'Mind you, my
first name is Bad.' --Interesting Times

Arlen Holder

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Oct 9, 2018, 11:24:40 AM10/9/18

to

On Tue, 9 Oct 2018 11:28:14 -0000 (UTC), Lewis wrote:

> It is not *NOW* this has been the case since iOS 9.0.
>
> Apps simply do not work like they did pre-iOS 9. There is no one App,
> rather the appropriate app is downloaded for that specific device. For
> example, your version would not include the non-retina images for the
> earlier phones nor the larger images for the 4" and larger phones.
>
> This is called "App thinning" and it means there is no way to download
> and archive an app for all devices and this is why iTunes stopped
> downloading .ipa files.
>
> In addition, the vast majority of apps are not stand-alone, they connect
> to a back end of some sort for data storage. As these methods change,
> older versions no longer work, so running an old version is impossible
> even if you had the right thinned app for your device.
>
> Your phone is seven years old. It has been obsolete for three years. You
> had a good run, buy something new that runs iOS 12.

You gotta love the Apple Apologists making up _excuses_ for Apple.

HINT: No other consumer platform but iOS _punishes_ the users like this!

Arlen Holder

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Oct 9, 2018, 11:24:42 AM10/9/18

to

On Tue, 09 Oct 2018 01:40:58 -0500, Ant wrote:

> Dang. So now, users can't even save iDevices' apps as backups if not
> downloaded in computers' iTunes. Not cool, Apple! :(

Arlen Holder

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Oct 9, 2018, 11:24:43 AM10/9/18

to

On Tue, 9 Oct 2018 19:15:07 +1300, David Empson wrote:

> That means you never had a copy except the one which was on the device,
> and that is now gone.

Lesson learned for Ant!
Yet again, what is trivial on all other platforms, is _impossible_ on iOS!
*The entire iOS use model severely _restricts_ what the user can do.*

It's important to note, by way of educational contrast, that, on Android,
Ant's problem would _never_ have been even the _slightest_ issue, since he
would simply _generate_ APKs after the fact (essentially APKs are the same
as IPAs for this purpose)

He can generate those APKs at will, or automatically, even for system apps.
He can even use APKs from any other device (which works 99% of the time).

At any time, Ant could generate an editable list of all installed apps on
his phone (a trivially simple task which is _impossible_ on iOS alone).

He could generate a list of all the URLs to the current Play Store version
of all those apps, and send that directly via email or sms to his friends.

More to his current IPA problem, Ant could generate the APKs (essentially
the same as IPAs for this purpose), automatically, *on his phone*, so that
he'd _always_ have a backup of _every version_ of the app he ever
installed.

Had this not been iOS, Ant would never have had this problem.
Yet again, what is trivial on all other platforms, is _impossible_ on iOS!

*The entire iOS use model severely _restricts_ what the user _can_ do.*

Arlen Holder

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Oct 9, 2018, 11:24:46 AM10/9/18

to

On Tue, 09 Oct 2018 00:36:13 -0500, Ant wrote:

> I did find my big 351 MB C:\Users\ant\AppData\Roaming\Apple
> Computer\MobileSync\Backup\f72fee7869ba21ff7a8508fd742a813dd4f6e53b\. I am
> hoping it has the backed up apps!

As an aside, you gotta love (i.e., hate) Microsoft's & iTunes' naming
conventions, saving critical user data 9 levels deep. (sigh)

You're beginning to realize what's wrong with the fragile monolithic backup
mechanism of the iTunes abomination.
a. You need to be an expert just to find your own data.
b. One data bit gets lost and _all_ your data is instantly dead.
c. You are sentenced to a life-term imprisonment to the monolithic program.

There's a reason it's known as the iTunes abomination, and you're just
beginning to learn those reasons now, where the lessons will continue
(e.g., just wait for that iTunes abomination to destroy all your data, sans
any contemporary warning whatsoever).

For just one of _millions_ of sad but true examples:
iTunes 12.2 update may ruin your existing library
<https://www.copytrans.net/blog/itunes-12-2-update-may-ruin-your-existing-library-what-we-know-so-far-and-how-to-fix/>

nospam

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Oct 9, 2018, 11:34:52 AM10/9/18

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In article <ppih7s$u5$6...@news.mixmin.net>, Arlen Holder

<a%rlenh...@no.spam.net> wrote:

>
> You're beginning to realize what's wrong with the fragile monolithic backup
> mechanism of the iTunes abomination.
> a. You need to be an expert just to find your own data.
> b. One data bit gets lost and _all_ your data is instantly dead.
> c. You are sentenced to a life-term imprisonment to the monolithic program.

all false.

Arlen Holder

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Oct 9, 2018, 12:52:07 PM10/9/18

to

On Tue, 09 Oct 2018 11:34:51 -0400, nospam wrote:

>> You're beginning to realize what's wrong with the fragile monolithic backup
>> mechanism of the iTunes abomination.
>> a. You need to be an expert just to find your own data.
>> b. One data bit gets lost and _all_ your data is instantly dead.
>> c. You are sentenced to a life-term imprisonment to the monolithic program.
>
> all false.

That's _exactly_ what makes you an Apple Apologist, nospam.
a. Denials
b. Sans a shred of fact.

*Facts have no place to fit in your religiously imaginary belief system.*

Want more facts about how Apple *destroys* music collections willy nilly?

From Slate:
"Pinkstone lost 20 years' worth of music files as a result of signing
up for Apple Music where Apple Music had hoovered up the collection
of MP3 and WAV files he had been keeping in his iTunes library and
replaced them with streaming versions that lived in an Apple-owned
cloud. The original files, as Pinkstone understood it, had been
deleted off his computer in the process. To his surprise, when he
called Apple Support to find out what happened and how to fix it, he
was told that this was exactly how Apple Music was supposed to work!"

*It's _designed_ to destroy unsuspecting users' entire music collections!*
<http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2016/05/will_apple_music_complete_itunes_destruction_of_my_will_to_collect_music.html>

JF Mezei

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Oct 9, 2018, 1:00:42 PM10/9/18

to

On 2018-10-09 02:15, David Empson wrote:

> It won't. iTunes has never included the apps themselves in its backups,
> only data from apps.

I agree that the "backup" operation didn't backup apps. But if you
purchased an app on the iPhone, wouldn't the next sync bring it to the
computer?

I know that sync would update the iPhone with apps you bought on iTunes
and then designated to be installed on the phone.

A couple times, I recall having to DFU my iPhone to reload it from
scratch. After re-installing fresh OS, a backup and then sync brought
the phone all back, apps , music. (and whatever photos are set to sync
TO the iPhone)

It woudln't make sense if the sync only brought back part of your apps.
I am not sure IOS (back then) had the capability to automatically
re-download apps that were installed but not loaded.

nospam

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Oct 9, 2018, 1:04:29 PM10/9/18

to

In article <Z85vD.110258$OM2.1...@fx37.iad>, JF Mezei

<jfmezei...@vaxination.ca> wrote:

>
> > It won't. iTunes has never included the apps themselves in its backups,
> > only data from apps.
>
> I agree that the "backup" operation didn't backup apps. But if you
> purchased an app on the iPhone, wouldn't the next sync bring it to the
> computer?

itunes used to sync apps downloaded on a device, but with app thinning,
it no longer does that. in its place, itunes can automatically download
apps on its own that are downloaded on a device, without the sync.

JF Mezei

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Oct 9, 2018, 1:05:11 PM10/9/18

to

On 2018-10-09 02:40, Ant wrote:

> No Mobile Applications. I had this 64-bit W7 HPE SP1 since October 2016. I
> stopped downloading apps via computer's iTunes since then.

Having a copy of the app on your computer also required that iTunes was
configured to sync apps. There were check boxes on what you wanted to
sync. If Apps were not checked, then iTunes "sync" operation would not
compare what the phone has to what the computer has and make necessary
exchange to ensure they matched.

nospam

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Oct 9, 2018, 1:06:13 PM10/9/18

to

In article <ppimbl$981$1...@news.mixmin.net>, Arlen Holder

<a%rlenh...@no.spam.net> wrote:

>
> Want more facts about how Apple *destroys* music collections willy nilly?
>
> From Slate:
> "Pinkstone lost 20 years' worth of music files as a result of signing
> up for Apple Music where Apple Music had hoovered up the collection
> of MP3 and WAV files he had been keeping in his iTunes library and
> replaced them with streaming versions that lived in an Apple-owned
> cloud. The original files, as Pinkstone understood it, had been
> deleted off his computer in the process. To his surprise, when he
> called Apple Support to find out what happened and how to fix it, he
> was told that this was exactly how Apple Music was supposed to work!"

nope. that was entirely user fuckup.

Arlen Holder

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Oct 9, 2018, 1:29:09 PM10/9/18

to

On Tue, 09 Oct 2018 13:06:12 -0400, nospam wrote:

> nope. that was entirely user fuckup.

*Classic Apple Apologist behavior to blame the user!*

I am well aware of the propensity of the iTunes abomination to *destroy*
the entire library of unsuspecting users, since that iTunes abomination
first destroyed the libraries of my friends and of myself.

In fact, the Internet is flooded with users who have lost their entire
library due to the propensity of iTunes to destroy files without any
contemporary warning whatsoever.

For example:
Apple Tech support destroyed my iTunes library & only offered $100 in compensation
<https://forums.imore.com/itunes/337077-apple-tech-support-destroyed-my-itunes-library-now-what.html>

As Ant is finding out for himself, the iTunes abomination itself, is
responsible for all the problems, since _no other platform_ has these
problems, but the Apple platforms - where with every release - the user has
to be scared that iTunes will _destroy_ their entire music collection!

Major iTunes 12.2 bug is ruining music libraries
<https://mashable.com/2015/07/01/itunes-icloud-music-library-bug/#Uj_SYTYZNOqu>

nospam

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Oct 9, 2018, 1:35:15 PM10/9/18

to

In article <ppioh4$cvc$1...@news.mixmin.net>, Arlen Holder

<a%rlenh...@no.spam.net> wrote:

> I am well aware of the propensity of the iTunes abomination to *destroy*
> the entire library of unsuspecting users, since that iTunes abomination
> first destroyed the libraries of my friends and of myself.

you told it to do that by blindly clicking a confirmation button.

> In fact, the Internet is flooded with users who have lost their entire
> library due to the propensity of iTunes to destroy files without any
> contemporary warning whatsoever.

nope. it *always* asks.

<https://cdn2.techadvisor.co.uk/cmsdata/features/3589752/Remove-Duplicat
es-iTunes-3.jpg>

Ant

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Oct 9, 2018, 3:17:45 PM10/9/18

to

Lewis <g.k...@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> wrote:
> In message <qJadnWi7zPVRhyHG...@earthlink.com> Ant <ANT...@zimage.com> wrote:
> > In my iPhone 4S (iOS v9.3.5), I had to uninstall a purchased free app due to
> > technical issues so I went to App Store and told it to redownload it.
> > However, it told me it was incompatible with my iPhone. I found out it now
> > requires iOS v11. I noticed with other apps, App Store would give me an
> > older version. How come it didn't give me the older version?

> Depends entirely on the developer. If they kept the old version
> available, you would get it. If they did not, you won't.

> > Does iTunes' backups and sync keep copies of these old installed apps? If
> > so, then how do I restore that single app (not the whole iPhone!)?

> If the developer pulled the old version, then probably the old version
> will no longer work.

Yeah, it looks like the developer/company pulled the older versions from
App Store. I even asked the support guy if he could send me the old IPA
file. Nope. Funny, that the old uninstalled app worked even though it was
lacking some features (the support guy told me it was available and told
me to uninstall, redownload, and reinstall). Stupid.

I am never uninstalling my old apps again unless I know it is really
broken and unsupported. It will suck if I ever have to do a full
recovery on the iPhone since apps aren't backed up like the old days.

Bah. :(

Arlen Holder

unread,

Oct 9, 2018, 3:31:08 PM10/9/18

to

On Tue, 09 Oct 2018 13:35:15 -0400, nospam wrote:

>> I am well aware of the propensity of the iTunes abomination to *destroy*
>> the entire library of unsuspecting users, since that iTunes abomination
>> first destroyed the libraries of my friends and of myself.
>
> you told it to do that by blindly clicking a confirmation button.

*You Apple Apologists always blame the user, just like Steve Jobs did.*
(i.e., "You're holding it wrong", or "all devices need to be throttled")

But only an Apple Apologist _believes_ what you believe, nospam.
(i.e., *"We have always been at war with Eurasia"*.)

Meanwhile, I only need to speak facts...

Apple tries to kill your music at every turn
<https://www.macobserver.com/columns-opinions/devils-advocate/itunes-music-library-apple-music/>

Arlen Holder

unread,

Oct 9, 2018, 3:32:56 PM10/9/18

to

On Tue, 09 Oct 2018 14:17:40 -0500, Ant wrote:

> Yeah, it looks like the developer/company pulled the older versions from
> App Store. I even asked the support guy if he could send me the old IPA
> file. Nope. Funny, that the old uninstalled app worked even though it was
> lacking some features (the support guy told me it was available and told
> me to uninstall, redownload, and reinstall). Stupid.

Bummer...

>
> I am never uninstalling my old apps again unless I know it is really
> broken and unsupported. It will suck if I ever have to do a full
> recovery on the iPhone since apps aren't backed up like the old days.

Yup.

David Empson

unread,

Oct 9, 2018, 7:30:46 PM10/9/18

to

JF Mezei <jfmezei...@vaxination.ca> wrote:

> On 2018-10-09 02:15, David Empson wrote:
>
> > It won't. iTunes has never included the apps themselves in its backups,
> > only data from apps.
>
> I agree that the "backup" operation didn't backup apps. But if you
> purchased an app on the iPhone, wouldn't the next sync bring it to the
> computer?

Only if your device was running iOS 8.x or earlier. iOS 9 introduced App
Thinning, which blocked syncing apps from the device to iTunes, because
iTunes needs the full app (which can be installed on any device), not a
device-specific and possibly incomplete thinned copy of the app.

iTunes can only get the full app from a device running iOS 8.x or
earlier, or by downloading the app from App Store itself.

> I know that sync would update the iPhone with apps you bought on iTunes
> and then designated to be installed on the phone.

Syncing apps from iTunes TO devices was still possible in iOS 9 and
later. iTunes installed full copies of apps, not thinned versions, so it
wasted a potentially significant amount of storage on the device
compared to getting thinned apps from App Store directly on the device.

To avoid wasting space, a restore from iTunes defaulted to getting the
apps from App Store, only falling back to using the copy in the iTunes
library if the app was no longer available from App Store, or the device
didn't have a suitable Internet connection.

I saw this behaviour when restoring devices running iOS 9 in late 2015,
so it was probably introduced with the release of iOS 9 and iTunes 12.3.

--
David Empson
dem...@actrix.gen.nz

Ant

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Oct 9, 2018, 9:22:21 PM10/9/18

to

Jolly Roger <jolly...@pobox.com> wrote:

> On 2018-10-09, Ant <ANT...@zimage.com> wrote:
> > Lewis <g.k...@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> wrote:
> >> In message <qJadnWi7zPVRhyHG...@earthlink.com> Ant <ANT...@zimage.com> wrote:
> >> > In my iPhone 4S (iOS v9.3.5), I had to uninstall a purchased free app due to
> >> > technical issues so I went to App Store and told it to redownload it.
> >> > However, it told me it was incompatible with my iPhone. I found out it now
> >> > requires iOS v11. I noticed with other apps, App Store would give me an
> >> > older version. How come it didn't give me the older version?
> >
> >> Depends entirely on the developer. If they kept the old version
> >> available, you would get it. If they did not, you won't.
> >
> >> > Does iTunes' backups and sync keep copies of these old installed apps? If
> >> > so, then how do I restore that single app (not the whole iPhone!)?
> >
> >> If the developer pulled the old version, then probably the old version
> >> will no longer work.
> >
> > Yeah, it looks like the developer/company pulled the older versions from
> > App Store. I even asked the support guy if he could send me the old IPA
> > file. Nope. Funny, that the old uninstalled app worked even though it was
> > lacking some features (the support guy told me it was available and told
> > me to uninstall, redownload, and reinstall). Stupid.
> >
> > I am never uninstalling my old apps again unless I know it is really
> > broken and unsupported. It will suck if I ever have to do a full
> > recovery on the iPhone since apps aren't backed up like the old days.
> >
> > Bah. :(

> Meh. You can still back them up. I do it regularly. I installed iTunes
> 12.6.3 which has the app functionality to download all of my iOS apps to
> the computer, and I have a Hazel rule set up to automatically copy new
> IPA files to an archive folder on my file server. Works great. I have
> almost every version of every app going back to 2008 or so (over 9000
> IPA files and counting).

How do I back up my iPhone 4S' current apps?

JF Mezei

unread,

Oct 10, 2018, 12:54:08 AM10/10/18

to

On 2018-10-09 21:22, Ant wrote:

> How do I back up my iPhone 4S' current apps?
>

If you have IOS prior to 9 and old iTunes (not sure how old it needs to
be), you can just "sync" and iTunes will determine which apps are on
your phone but not ins Mobile Applications forlder and copy them over.

There is apparently some software that mimicks the iTunes protocol to
access the file system of an ihone. (forget the name). If you find it
and it works, that would provide another means to fetch applicatiosn
from the iPhone to copy to the computer. (note app names are obfuscated
on the iPhone, so you also need to find the sqllite database that has
the applictaion name to obfiscated random file name concersion).

Savageduck

unread,

Oct 10, 2018, 1:17:07 AM10/10/18

to

On Oct 9, 2018, Ant wrote
(in article<fJ6dnXEJIdTVySDG...@earthlink.com>):

>
> How do I back up my iPhone 4S' current apps?

<https://imazing.com>

--
Regards,
Savageduck

Lewis

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Oct 10, 2018, 4:35:41 AM10/10/18

to

Have you not been listening? iOS 9 uses a feature called "App Thinning"
and it is not possible to backup a thinned app. If you want the CURRENT
versions of all your apps, install iTunes something something .6.5 and
you can download every app you ever bought that is still in the app
store.

I used to do this, and kept copies of every version, but well before
Apple removed the App Store from iTunes I decided I was entirely wasting
my time and drive space.

--
I NO LONGER WANT MY MTV Bart chalkboard Ep. 3G02

Arlen Holder

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Oct 10, 2018, 11:37:59 AM10/10/18

to

On Wed, 10 Oct 2018 08:35:40 -0000 (UTC), Lewis wrote:

> Have you not been listening? iOS 9 uses a feature called "App Thinning"
> and it is not possible to backup a thinned app. If you want the CURRENT
> versions of all your apps, install iTunes something something .6.5 and
> you can download every app you ever bought that is still in the app
> store.
>
> I used to do this, and kept copies of every version, but well before
> Apple removed the App Store from iTunes I decided I was entirely wasting
> my time and drive space.

Classic explanation of why IPA management is an iTunes abomination.

APK management on non-Apple haredware is trivially simple; it just works.

Arlen Holder

unread,

Oct 10, 2018, 11:49:14 AM10/10/18

to

On Tue, 09 Oct 2018 22:17:02 -0700, Savageduck wrote:

> <https://imazing.com>

*$45 Buy iMazing just so you can manage your own apps!*
<https://imazing.com/store>

*Only $45!* <https://imazing.com/ios-app-management>
"Manage your favourite iPhone and iPad apps your way [and not
the restrictive Apple way!] Enjoy a powerful tool to download
your apps (.ipa) to your computer, and install them to your
iOS devices. Save and restore your game progress or app
documents and settings."

If this were a non-Apple device, installers like APKs would just work.
Once the iTunes abomination is involved, IPAs are an abomination.

Arlen Holder

unread,

Oct 10, 2018, 11:51:55 AM10/10/18

to

On Wed, 10 Oct 2018 00:54:07 -0400, JF Mezei wrote:

> If you have IOS prior to 9 and old iTunes (not sure how old it needs to
> be), you can just "sync" and iTunes will determine which apps are on
> your phone but not ins Mobile Applications forlder and copy them over.
>
> There is apparently some software that mimicks the iTunes protocol to
> access the file system of an ihone. (forget the name). If you find it
> and it works, that would provide another means to fetch applicatiosn
> from the iPhone to copy to the computer. (note app names are obfuscated
> on the iPhone, so you also need to find the sqllite database that has
> the applictaion name to obfiscated random file name concersion).

Savageduck recommended that Ant pay $45-$70 for iMazing to manage IPAs.
<https://imazing.com/store>

Yet another reason why the iPhone has an atrocious cost of ownership.

If this were a non-Apple device, installers like APKs would just work.

Sadly, once the iTunes abomination is involved, IPAs are an abomination.

Those are the facts.

JF Mezei

unread,

Oct 10, 2018, 2:46:21 PM10/10/18

to

On 2018-10-10 04:35, Lewis wrote:

> Have you not been listening? iOS 9 uses a feature called "App Thinning"

App thinning removes variants of media/code in an app that are not
applicable to the model the app is running on. (eg: if you have an SE,
you don't keep iumages of size needed for a +/MAX model).

But doesn't prevent you from backing up an IPA made for device X and
restoring it to device X.

David Empson

unread,

Oct 10, 2018, 7:34:27 PM10/10/18

to

JF Mezei <jfmezei...@vaxination.ca> wrote:

> On 2018-10-10 04:35, Lewis wrote:
>
> > Have you not been listening? iOS 9 uses a feature called "App Thinning"
>
> App thinning removes variants of media/code in an app that are not
> applicable to the model the app is running on. (eg: if you have an SE,
> you don't keep iumages of size needed for a +/MAX model).

It also may remove part of the app content, if the developer chose to
use that feature (e.g. an initial download of a game only including
early levels, with later levels being downloaded once you get far
enough).

> But doesn't prevent you from backing up an IPA made for device X and
> restoring it to device X.

Yes it does.

Under no circumstances (short of jailbreaking) will iOS 9 or later allow
an app to be copied FROM the device.

There is no version of iTunes or third party software which can get
around this restriction, because it is imposed by iOS. It doesn't make
any difference whether the app is actually thinned or not, but thinning
is the reason this change occurred as of iOS 9.

I've tested it with iMazing, and that doesn't work either.

--
David Empson
dem...@actrix.gen.nz

Arlen Holder

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Oct 10, 2018, 8:01:51 PM10/10/18

to

On Thu, 11 Oct 2018 12:34:25 +1300, David Empson wrote:

> Under no circumstances (short of jailbreaking) will iOS 9 or later allow
> an app to be copied FROM the device.

You gotta love the abominable sadness inherent in that factual statement.

Meanwhile, on Android, it just works exactly like you expect it to.

At _any_ time, you can copy any free app & give it to anyone you want.

Yet another reason why iOS is "Orwellian".

Arlen Holder

unread,

Oct 10, 2018, 8:05:44 PM10/10/18

to

On Wed, 10 Oct 2018 15:49:14 -0000 (UTC), Arlen Holder wrote:

> Once the iTunes abomination is involved, IPAs are an abomination.

It seems that Savageduck is dead wrong, yet again, since he just guesses.

David Empson clearly said:
"I've tested it with iMazing, and that doesn't work either."

It's iOS which is what restricts this, according to David Empson.
Not the iTunes abomination.
<https://groups.google.com/d/msg/misc.phone.mobile.iphone/56nEgAZIjGk/dANzH5O_AgAJ>

Arlen Holder

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Oct 10, 2018, 8:09:10 PM10/10/18

to

On 10 Oct 2018 01:00:30 GMT, Jolly Roger wrote:

> Meh. You can still back them up. I do it regularly. I installed iTunes
> 12.6.3 which has the app functionality to download all of my iOS apps to
> the computer, and I have a Hazel rule set up to automatically copy new
> IPA files to an archive folder on my file server. Works great. I have
> almost every version of every app going back to 2008 or so (over 9000
> IPA files and counting).

Are you yet again, brazenly fabricating imaginary iOS functionality?
<https://groups.google.com/d/msg/misc.phone.mobile.iphone/56nEgAZIjGk/dANzH5O_AgAJ>

"Under no circumstances (short of jailbreaking) will iOS 9 or later allow
an app to be copied FROM the device.

There is no version of iTunes or third party software which can get
around this restriction, because it is imposed by iOS. It doesn't make
any difference whether the app is actually thinned or not, but thinning
is the reason this change occurred as of iOS 9.

I've tested it with iMazing, and that doesn't work either. "

Jolly Roger,
*Did you, yet again, brazenly fabricate imaginary iOS functionality?*

Why do the Apple Apologists deny facts & habitually fabricate imaginary content?
<https://groups.google.com/d/msg/misc.phone.mobile.iphone/eRTC23FyVDY/fDk0k8KAAwAJ>

Ant

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Oct 10, 2018, 11:59:23 PM10/10/18

to

Savageduck <savageduck1@{removespam}me.com> wrote:
> On Oct 9, 2018, Ant wrote
> (in article<fJ6dnXEJIdTVySDG...@earthlink.com>):

> >
> > How do I back up my iPhone 4S' current apps?

> <https://imazing.com>

Is there a freeware product that can?

David Empson

unread,

Oct 11, 2018, 1:01:11 AM10/11/18

to

Ant <ANT...@zimage.com> wrote:

> Savageduck <savageduck1@{removespam}me.com> wrote:
> > On Oct 9, 2018, Ant wrote
> > (in article<fJ6dnXEJIdTVySDG...@earthlink.com>):
>
> > >
> > > How do I back up my iPhone 4S' current apps?
>
> > <https://imazing.com>
>
> Is there a freeware product that can?

No, and iMazing can't do it either. (I already tested iMazing, which I
mentioned elsewhere in this thread.)

No software is able to copy apps from a device running iOS 9 or later,
because iOS 9 disabled the mechanism which allows apps to be copied from
the device. (Copying apps from the device can be done in iOS 8 and
earlier; you can't downgrade to iOS 8 either.)

The only possible way of copying apps from your iPhone 4S would be to
jailbreak it, if that can be done at all, and done without wiping the
iPhone in the process.

If you want to avoid jailbreaking:

For apps which are still available on App Store and the latest version
still runs on iOS 9, you can use iTunes 12.6.5 or earlier to download a
copy of the app from App Store.

For apps on your iPhone which are still available on App Store but the
current version requires iOS 10 or later, iTunes won't help because App
Store only allows downloading the latest version of the app. Third party
software like iMazing won't help here either, because they have to use
the same method as iTunes to get apps from App Store. (The only
exception is doing the download on the device itself, which can get an
older version of the app if it is still available.)

If the app has been completely removed from App Store (including not
being available for re-download by previous purchasers) then there is no
way to get any version of it.
--
David Empson
dem...@actrix.gen.nz

Lewis

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Oct 11, 2018, 1:19:30 AM10/11/18

to

Yes it does. As in, you cannot do it. It is not possible.

Do keep up.

--
'What can I do? I'm only human,' he said aloud. Someone said, Not all
of you. --Pyramids

Arlen Holder

unread,

Oct 11, 2018, 7:26:06 AM10/11/18

to

On Thu, 11 Oct 2018 05:19:29 -0000 (UTC), Lewis wrote:

> Yes it does. As in, you cannot do it. It is not possible.
>
> Do keep up.

Lewis,

Please cut good people like Ant some slack since their questions are valid.

Let me give you some adult advice, Lewis, since you're never helpful.
While I'm only average in intelligence, if even that, I _tower_ over you.

Hence, for you to berate Ant, is untoward, unseemly, & unfair.

You, Lewis, don't own the intelligence to berate anyone on this ng.

Ant is asking a question is a perfectly normal question.
a. What he gets from the Apple Apologists is *imaginary functionality*
b. The _only_ person advising him correctly, is David Empson

Yet, what David Empson says is so unnatural (while perfectly correct), that
nobody in their right mind would _expect_ the iTunes abomination and the
Orwellian iOS to actually work the way David Empson (accurately) describes.

Just as you Apple Apologists are not normal, iOS is not normal.
Please do cut people like Ant some slack since their questions are valid.

Only an expert would know what David Empson knows.
*The rest of you simply brazenly fabricate imaginary iOS functionality.*

If this were any other consumer OS, the question would never have been asked.

B...@onramp.net

unread,

Oct 11, 2018, 12:55:18 PM10/11/18

to

On 11 Oct 2018 15:05:00 GMT, Jolly Roger <jolly...@pobox.com> wrote:

>On 2018-10-11, David Empson <dem...@actrix.gen.nz> wrote:
>> Ant <ANT...@zimage.com> wrote:
>>> Savageduck <savageduck1@{removespam}me.com> wrote:
>>>> On Oct 9, 2018, Ant wrote
>>>> (in article<fJ6dnXEJIdTVySDG...@earthlink.com>):
>>>
>>>>> How do I back up my iPhone 4S' current apps?
>>>
>>>> <https://imazing.com>
>>>
>>> Is there a freeware product that can?
>>

>> For apps which are still available on App Store and the latest version
>> still runs on iOS 9, you can use iTunes 12.6.5 or earlier to download a
>> copy of the app from App Store.
>

>I told him that, but he wasn't interested, even though it's "a freeware
>product that can" download the apps on his devices.
>You can lead a horse to water...

Yep. You can explain things to some but you can't understand them for
'em.

JF Mezei

unread,

Oct 11, 2018, 3:16:32 PM10/11/18

to

On 2018-10-10 19:34, David Empson wrote:

> Under no circumstances (short of jailbreaking) will iOS 9 or later allow
> an app to be copied FROM the device.

Do we know what version of IOS is running on the OP's handset?

i agree that if he deleted the app from the phone, and can't redownload
it from App store and no backup made of the .IPA (back when they were
possible via iTunes), then there is no way.

> I've tested it with iMazing, and that doesn't work either.

I can understand the iTunes OS-X app no longer pulling .ipa from phone
during a sync, but am surprised that the existing iTunes protocol code
would have been changed to remove that ability.

Was there much fraud with .ipa files being distributed to people who
didn't buy the apps? Or would the signing mechanisms have made this moot
because a stolen .ipa wouldn't work on a phone with anothet apple ID ?

BTW, my "Mobile Applications" folder has files dating from September 19
2017. But I realise that this wouldn't be from synching to the computer,
but rather using iTunes to buy/update apps and then synching to the
phone. (and that would have been just before the loss of that ability
with last falls's downgrade of iTunes)

JF Mezei

unread,

Oct 11, 2018, 3:23:29 PM10/11/18

to

On 2018-10-10 23:59, Ant wrote:
>> > How do I back up my iPhone 4S' current apps?
>> <https://imazing.com>
> Is there a freeware product that can?

What IOS version is running on the 4S?

Mr Empson tested iAmazing and if you are running IOS 9 or later, it
won't work.

If you are running IOS 8 or earlier, you could do this, or just try to
get an old version of iTunes and do a SYNCH to pull the app to your
Mobile Applications (ensuring you check the "Application" in the Synch
configuration/preferences).

nospam

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Oct 11, 2018, 3:28:17 PM10/11/18

to

In article <jkNvD.161714$oM2....@fx07.iad>, JF Mezei

<jfmezei...@vaxination.ca> wrote:
>
> > Under no circumstances (short of jailbreaking) will iOS 9 or later allow
> > an app to be copied FROM the device.
>
> Do we know what version of IOS is running on the OP's handset?

we do. you obviously do not.

the very first post from this thread:
In article <qJadnWi7zPVRhyHG...@earthlink.com>, Ant
<ANT...@zimage.com> wrote:
> In my iPhone 4S (iOS v9.3.5), I had to uninstall a purchased free app due...

> Was there much fraud with .ipa files being distributed to people who
> didn't buy the apps? Or would the signing mechanisms have made this moot
> because a stolen .ipa wouldn't work on a phone with anothet apple ID ?

one of the main reasons people jailbroke their devices was to run
unsigned apps, including pirated apps, all to save a buck or two...

David Empson

unread,

Oct 11, 2018, 4:02:42 PM10/11/18

to

JF Mezei <jfmezei...@vaxination.ca> wrote:

> On 2018-10-10 19:34, David Empson wrote:
>
> > Under no circumstances (short of jailbreaking) will iOS 9 or later allow
> > an app to be copied FROM the device.
>
> Do we know what version of IOS is running on the OP's handset?

Do we know that you don't bother to do the barest minimum of research
before asking questions?

Yes to both.

In the original post in this thread, Ant said his iPhone 4S is running
iOS 9.3.5.

> i agree that if he deleted the app from the phone, and can't redownload
> it from App store and no backup made of the .IPA (back when they were
> possible via iTunes), then there is no way.
>
> > I've tested it with iMazing, and that doesn't work either.
>
> I can understand the iTunes OS-X app no longer pulling .ipa from phone
> during a sync, but am surprised that the existing iTunes protocol code
> would have been changed to remove that ability.

The protocol did not change: iOS 9 simply prevents apps being copied
from the device, probably something like returning an error when the
copy is attempted, effectively a permission violation.

iTunes versions released after iOS 9 retained the ability to sync apps
from devices that were running iOS 8 or earlier. I tested it two or
three years ago and haven't tried again more recently but I expect it is
still there up to iTunes 12.6.x.

> Was there much fraud with .ipa files being distributed to people who
> didn't buy the apps? Or would the signing mechanisms have made this moot
> because a stolen .ipa wouldn't work on a phone with anothet apple ID ?

You can use apps from another Apple ID. The device asks you for the
Apple ID and password. Therefore to use someone else's copy of the app
you need their Apple ID and password, which would be a violation of
their licence agreement.

(I've used this feature with apps obtained under multiple Apple IDs of
my own.)

As I and others have already said multiple times in this thread, the
reason for the block is that once iOS 9 was released, a rapidly growing
proportion of apps were using the App Thinning feature, and those apps
are not viable for transferring to an iTunes library because they would
be incompatible with other models, therefore no use for people who had a
mixture of devices or who ever wanted to upgrade to a newer device.

Allowing copying only for a limited and shrinking subset of apps that
weren't thinned doesn't lead to a good user experience, so it made more
sense to completely block app copying from the device.

At that point iTunes could still get the apps from App Store for those
who wanted to keep using iTunes to manage apps.

Since then, Apple clearly obsered that app management with iTunes was
used by a shrinking proportion of the user base, eventually leading to
App Store and app management being removed from the mainstream version
of iTunes (but retained for a subset of users who still needed it by
keeping an older version available for a while with minimal updates).

--
David Empson
dem...@actrix.gen.nz

Lewis

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Oct 11, 2018, 7:44:41 PM10/11/18

to

In message <jkNvD.161714$oM2....@fx07.iad> JF Mezei <jfmezei...@vaxination.ca> wrote:
> On 2018-10-10 19:34, David Empson wrote:

>> Under no circumstances (short of jailbreaking) will iOS 9 or later allow
>> an app to be copied FROM the device.

> Do we know what version of IOS is running on the OP's handset?

Yes, because we read.

--
Penny, I'm a physicist. I have a working knowledge of the entire
universe and everything it contains.

JF Mezei

unread,

Oct 12, 2018, 1:08:03 AM10/12/18

to

On 2018-10-11 16:02, David Empson wrote:

> In the original post in this thread, Ant said his iPhone 4S is running
> iOS 9.3.5.

Thanks. I missed the original posts and only got in this late, likely
during some thread drift and saw many arguments that didn't consider the
fact that he was already beyond IOS 9 which you had already confirmed
couldn't allow copies of apps TO the coputer.

Wouldn't Apple have software tools at its repair centres that would be
able to clone a phone to another and thus copy those apps over?

Other than that, it would really leave jailbreaking and installing an
ftp or afp server on the phone to be able to get to those files.

> As I and others have already said multiple times in this thread, the
> reason for the block is that once iOS 9 was released, a rapidly growing
> proportion of apps were using the App Thinning feature,

I understand that. but your thinned ap on iPhone X should still work
when you back it up and restore to to same iPhone.

And in terms of the app missing media designed for othert screen sizes,
if you do bring an app which was thinned to run on an iPhone SE and copy
it to an iphone Xs Max or even iPad, wouldn't the OS still run the app
normally and just scale everthing up to fit the screen ?

(I realise it wodn't look great, but just wondering if the OS is still
capable of scaling apps to fit a screen).

I realize that in vast majority of cases, older apps won't run on moder
640bit-only phones, but like the OP, there are always edge cases where
recovering an older app would work, especially for an app purchased
prior to IOS 9 (and thus not thinned)

David Empson

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Oct 12, 2018, 3:55:49 AM10/12/18

to

JF Mezei <jfmezei...@vaxination.ca> wrote:

> Wouldn't Apple have software tools at its repair centres that would be
> able to clone a phone to another and thus copy those apps over?

No. Apple doesn't want any back doors.

If an iPhone goes in for repair it is the owner's responsibility to have
a backup (including any apps they care about which are no longer
available from App Store).

> And in terms of the app missing media designed for othert screen sizes,
> if you do bring an app which was thinned to run on an iPhone SE and copy
> it to an iphone Xs Max or even iPad, wouldn't the OS still run the app
> normally and just scale everthing up to fit the screen ?

No. It would probably fail to draw parts of the app properly.

--
David Empson
dem...@actrix.gen.nz

Ant

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Oct 12, 2018, 5:25:38 AM10/12/18

to

JF Mezei <jfmezei...@vaxination.ca> wrote:
> On 2018-10-10 23:59, Ant wrote:
> >> > How do I back up my iPhone 4S' current apps?
> >> <https://imazing.com>
> > Is there a freeware product that can?

> What IOS version is running on the 4S?

> Mr Empson tested iAmazing and if you are running IOS 9 or later, it
> won't work.

The latest v9.3.5 so I am SOL.

Arlen Holder

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Oct 13, 2018, 12:58:08 AM10/13/18

to

On Fri, 12 Oct 2018 04:25:33 -0500, Ant wrote:

> The latest v9.3.5 so I am SOL.

That's too bad.
Sorry.