When Apple released iTunes 12.7, they surprised many users by removing the iOS App Store from the iTunes Store. We had been accustomed to being able to buy apps on Macs and PCs with iTunes, as well as buying them directly on iPhones and iPads.
One of the more troublesome changes this introduces is the inability to manage apps with iTunes. No longer can you download apps to your computer, then sync them to your iOS device; now you can only download apps on an iPhone or iPad. This is especially problematic for people with limited bandwidth, or with bandwidth caps, and who have multiple iOS devices. If you have, say, a family with four iOS devices, and many of them share the same apps, you now have to download all apps – including all updates – to each device, multiplying the amount of bandwidth you use. Some people may need to pay more to their ISPs; others may hit a cap and find that they’re throttled until the end of the month.
With iMazing 2.5 (macOS, Windows coming soon!), we introduced a brand new app management screen to help you manage your apps, including downloading them from the App Store to your computer.
I’ve written this article for iMazing. It’s really great that they’ve been able to come up with a way to download apps to a computer, after iTunes 12.7 removed app management and syncing.
This will be a big help to people with limited bandwidth, or with bandwidth caps, who have multiple devices to manage.