Filed under: iPod Family, iPhone, App Store
iPhone 101: Re-downloading an application
Has a sync somehow gone terribly wrong and you've lost your favorite paid application for your iPhone or iPod touch? Well, if you didn't have a backup of it in your iTunes library, fear not. Apple has designed the App Store to allow for re-downloading purchased applications. All you have to do is navigate to the application that you originally bought in the App Store and tap "Buy." You will have to enter your password, and the App Store will return you to your home screen where it displays a message saying that you've already bought this application and are entitled to an additional free download. After you tap "OK," your app will begin downloading.
Now you don't have to fret about losing your favorite iPhone or iPod touch application.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
jonathan ober said 2:07PM on 7-18-2008
this is very similar to the Wii's "storage solution" for downloading games from WiiWare and Virtual Console. Delete and redownload app as needed since you bought it once, its yours.
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Basye said 2:09PM on 7-18-2008
Geez, wish we could do that with music too!
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Eric said 2:18PM on 7-18-2008
So do I. I downloaded a song one night, and didn't sync for a day or two.
For some reason, out of nowhere, the iPod went into recovery mode and I lost the song. I've e-mailed Apple about it, but they haven't responded.
welchb said 2:09PM on 7-18-2008
"An" additional download? As in, if it jacks up again, you're SOL? Haven't seen an answer to this question around..
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Cory Bohon said 2:11PM on 7-18-2008
No, as for as I know, you can download again as many times as you want.
damien said 2:10PM on 7-18-2008
I've bought Apps directly on my iphone, but I can't seem to get them backed up on itunes? How do i do that? I go to applications on iTunes and what i paid for isn't there...?
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RicMac said 4:45PM on 7-18-2008
damien, .....ah, .....yeah, we're gonna have to go ahead and ask you to sync your iPhone, ok? Yeah, that's great!
Macroy said 3:36PM on 7-18-2008
You can re-download them from iTunes for free, as well.
george said 2:15PM on 7-18-2008
after doing this, I got a screwy message that my PC was not not an authorized machine for the apps..
kinda weird.. i found no way to authorize the machine. the phone and my itunes account are on the same account
no biggy as they are free... but bizarre bug..
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Peter Zich said 2:18PM on 7-18-2008
My family was so happy to discover this, now if only they'd do the same for the rest of the iTunes content.
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Mark said 2:20PM on 7-18-2008
Unless your app was Nullriver's Tuner, which has disappeared from the store for some reason.
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mike said 10:35PM on 7-18-2008
yes I am pissed. I paid for it and lost it on restore. Now it's gone. My friend received updates for it today though so I think they removed and readded it instead of upgrade or something
Mark said 10:45PM on 7-18-2008
It's back in the store now!
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=284205617&mt=8
Mark said 10:48PM on 7-18-2008
No, it should update properly. Mine did, anyway. So contact the store if the problem continues.
Klint said 2:53PM on 7-18-2008
after a botched attempt at updating facebook and loopt, my iPhone won't allow me to redownload them until I attach it to a computer... Which is a problem, since I'm touring in a van until September.
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Bethany said 2:29PM on 7-18-2008
I'm glad to hear that this is possible. I downloaded SplashMoney on my iPhone when I had the unofficial 2.0 software last week. Now it won't sync back to iTunes and I haven't been able to upgrade to the official software since it's not in iTunes.
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paperless said 2:34PM on 7-18-2008
Now do the same with songs and you get youtself ana new client. Make it like steam!
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Rob Jones said 2:47PM on 7-18-2008
http://twitter.com/TheMacJedi/statuses/857412440
Transferring iPhone apps from one computer to another does not seem to work, requires re-downloading it on other computers.
I've not tested this a lot but I think Apple intended for you to download to each location, transferring apps from one mac to another didn't work.
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Bullet said 2:56PM on 7-18-2008
It works for me, i just had to re-add my itunes folder from the add to library button on the File menu.
sean carter said 3:16PM on 7-18-2008
This has actually been giving me problems. I noticed updates, already, to some apps. Tried to update via iphone. problem. it says it'll fix it when i sync it via itunes (at home). that doesn't work since the itunes gives me an error that it couldn't sync (those same programs). and now it seems almost everytime i start the iphone i get a request for my itunes password (which is getting real annoying).
anyone else experiencing all this? mine is not the 3g, btw.
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