Comment by lpsz | Hacker News Reader

Comment by lpsz | Hacker News Reader

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Updating iOS via iTunes (for beta installs, restores, etc.) has the quirk of syncing apps to iTunes, and then syncing them back to the phone. This seems like a legacy annoying thing to me: why can't it just transparently re-download them? In fact, the new iOS 9 upgrade has the "delete and then re-download apps" feature for those with insufficient space for upgrade. Not to mention, there's the "purchased" tab on your device. So, this is possible!

Going further, even the prompt to "delete and then re-download apps due to insufficient space for OS upgrade" seems unnecessary, as if revealing an unimportant implementation detail. Why can't it just automatically do the right thing? I won't mind if the app is missing from my iPhone for a couple of minutes. If the reason is bandwidth, perhaps it could say "we'll do this on wi-fi only."

Similarly, I wish purchased iTunes media started working the "streaming" way, too. I don't want the TV show to take up Gbs of disk space, don't particularly care for the physical file present on my disk. Could still have an opt-in "use offline" option for those who need it.

Or are these all issues to appease people who want to feel like they "own" content (apps, media, etc.)?

I think this is a great forward-thinking feature of iOS. Some apps I have are no longer available via the app store. The only way I can retain access to them is via local copies.

That's not true. You can access the last version of any purchased app from the AppStore -> Updates -> Purchased, regardless if it is available or not on the store for you.

Tammer has the right of it, actually. There are (at least) two classes of "not on the app store," the first is as you describe, not generally available but there for legacy purposes and can be re-downloaded from the Purchased (not on this device) tab. The second is completely gone and only available if you've backed them up somewhere. There's even a modal dialogue alerting you to this fact when you have finished a restore (basically: go sync if you want certain apps that could not be downloaded back)

Unless an app has been completely removed from the AppStore by Apple (for instance, a malware app), the last available version of all apps will exist in the "Purchased" list. If an app is "completely gone", it probably has a good reason not to be there in the vast majority of cases.

The owner can remove it, too. Marco Arment's iOS ad blocker is the most immediate example that comes to mind.

If an app is "completely gone", it probably has a good reason not to be there in the vast majority of cases.

Cold comfort to those who paid for said app.

Are you sure Arment's app does not appear in the "Purchased" history list? As I remember, unless you request a refund, it will appear there.

I have an app that I love whose owner went out of business after removing the app from the store. I purchased it for my 3G,and since then I've had to manually transfer it from iTunes, until I switched to iCloud backups which have muddled the issue for me... Anyhow it shows up in "purchased" with an "open" button if it's on the device, and (my recollection is that it) just shows up with no button and no download icon if it is not.

It is. I just tested installing it on my iPad which didn't have it installed and it showed up and installed fine from "Purchased".

> If an app is "completely gone", it probably has a good reason not to be there in the vast majority of cases.

So want to take away my right for the app I legitimately purchased and downloaded to my PC for later installation ? This cloud BS has really taken its toll.

I think there is a misunderstanding. As I remember, even apps removed by developer will appear in the "Purchased" history. So what remains is a very narrow case where you'd actually lose an application you want.

Not true, some things are retroactively removed because they do not follow new guidelines from Apple. Or they got in and they break existing rules. Those are removed completely and only can be restored by back up.

But what if I don't want the latest version?

Correct, the completely gone case does not allow you to download the app any more. This can be due to copyright issues etc.

Half the time while watching Apple keynotes, I'm going "wait, it didn't do that already? Why the hell not?"

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