Data loss from App Store updates

Hi, I found out a minor problem with App Store application name link. Does anyone of you also know about this? Clicking on the name link of applications in App Store displays error message. This is kind of weird. Read the detail report here http://www.iphonefootprint.com/2008/10/app-store-iphone-application-name-link-not-working/

This problem is suppose to be fixed in 2.1. This is important for data protection apps like My Eyes Only, www.softwareops.com, to retain the encrypted data after a download of an update.

i lost all of my contacts and texts when the iphone downloaded the lastest version. somehow it reverted back to the memory of the month of march. i have encountered multiple ppl that also have lost their data too.

I lost all my OmniFocus data as well.

:(

Now I'm syncing with my iDisk even though I don't have OF for Mac.

I actually found a bug with the app store not relating to this bug. I updated mpg to accufuel for free due to an apparent bug with the way the app store removes listings and then gives you the paid versions for free.

Well I updated Enigmo and it kept my Level 13 game... Seems to be luck of the draw, just like when your 3G DF will ship :( (i'm using a 1st gen atm)

This happened to me when I updated SplashID just after having entered about 50 items and not having the desktop app. Trust me, that's pretty annoying!

Here's a VERY interesting twist.

I updated last night and had to reenter my information in NetNewsWire and Platinum Solitaire but not Pandora. I had started all three updates on the iPhone itself, but my phone has some issue where it doesn't like installing things that it downloads directly from the phone's App Store, so I did the "check for purchases" and downloaded them through iTunes and installed them from there. I don't know if that had anything to do with it.

While I was at it, I also downloaded the new version of Aurora Feint. I had DELETED the app from my iPhone along with the app file on my computer. So as far as I know, I had no version of Aurora Feint anywhere before I downloaded it. I installed it onto the phone and started it up and was surprised to see that my created character and stats were still there. This either means that the save files for the game were stored somewhere else, or that deleting the files doesn't actually remove them from the phone.

I would guess this is because some apps store ancillary data in the app bundle (which is replaced in the update) and some use the other directories created in the sandbox. But it gives me something to test assuming (and we all know what that means) that xCode tethered has similar behavior when replacing the app.

The version number is dependent on the application supplier actually changing it. I am not sure the App store cares what the dev puts there. Though it would be nice if they bounced an app because it was not numbered differently. But I could have version A followed by Z followed by Щ if I wanted to. It is just Unicode. Only convention says it is 1.1.1 etc.

And because the NDA is still in effect I can't be more specific. Let's just say I think it is the DEVELOPER at fault not the App Store.

I don't see how this can be an app developer issue. The install and update process is handled completely by Apple and is out of our hands. We don't even have real file system access -- we can only read and write files in our own "sandbox". Either the saved files are still there when we startup or they aren't.

I suppose that if an app changed its save file format with a new version and didn't provide an ability to read the old file format, that would be a problem for the app developer. But I have seen so much flakiness with the install and update process on Apple's side of things that I'll bet this problem is with them too. Especially since it seems to be so inconsistent.