iPhone [MERGED] iOS 13 - app updates stuck on "Waiting"

[Morac]

I’m assuming everyone who is having this problem have contacted Apple Support? By that I mean talked to a senior technician?

I spent like 2 hours on the phone with them taking screen recordings, videos, doing screen sharing, etc. I even took a screenshot of this entire thread and attached it to my ticket.

It would be ideal if more people would contact Apple about this as one person is an outlier, a bunch of people less so.


My theory about what’s happening is that somehow the Apple ID is being denied when requesting the update, which would explain why all devices using the same Apple ID have this problem. It doesn’t explain why re-downloading apps works though. It also doesn’t explain why I can log out of the App Store and still attempt to update an app (which does nothing). Under iOS 12, the App Store wouldn’t allow updating apps unless signed into the App Store. iOS 13 doesn’t seem to care currently. I’ll mention that both iOS 12 and iOS 13 devices are being affected. I have an old iPad 2 running iOS 10 and I’m willing to bet that’s affected as well (though I haven’t tried it).

My current workaround for my iPad and iPhone for apps I care about is to offload and reinstall those apps. Unfortunately that doesn’t work for the Apple TV, but there’s less stored data on that.

 

[kurisub]

I’m assuming everyone who is having this problem have contacted Apple Support? By that I mean talked to a senior technician?

I spent like 2 hours on the phone with them taking screen recordings, videos, doing screen sharing, etc. I even took a screenshot of this entire thread and attached it to my ticket.

It would be ideal if more people would contact Apple about this as one person is an outlier, a bunch of people less so.


My theory about what’s happening is that somehow the Apple ID is being denied when requesting the update, which would explain why all devices using the same Apple ID have this problem. It doesn’t explain why re-downloading apps works though. It also doesn’t explain why I can log out of the App Store and still attempt to update an app (which does nothing). Under iOS 12, the App Store wouldn’t allow updating apps unless signed into the App Store. iOS 13 doesn’t seem to care currently. I’ll mention that both iOS 12 and iOS 13 devices are being affected. I have an old iPad 2 running iOS 10 and I’m willing to bet that’s affected as well (though I haven’t tried it).

My current workaround for my iPad and iPhone for apps I care about is to offload and reinstall those apps. Unfortunately that doesn’t work for the Apple TV, but there’s less stored data on that.

I had an appointment set with a sr. Tech but had to put it off until tomorrow because I was stuck at work. Hopefully it helps solve this problem.

 

[Morac]

Still broken today.

 

[craigy2302]

Experiencing the same issue here - tap update, the loading spinner appears and then goes back to the update button.

I've tried both soft and hard restarts and signing out and back in again with no luck.

 

[TravelerHD]

I’m assuming everyone who is having this problem have contacted Apple Support? By that I mean talked to a senior technician?

...

It would be ideal if more people would contact Apple about this as one person is an outlier, a bunch of people less so.


My theory about what’s happening is that somehow the Apple ID is being denied when requesting the update, which would explain why all devices using the same Apple ID have this problem.

I spent about four hours yesterday with Apple Support on twitter (each message was about 30 minutes apart, so it sounds like a long time but it wasn't that bad). They scheduled a phone call today with a Senior Technician. I'm very introverted, so I greatly dislike talking on the phone. But like you said, more people need to bring this to the spotlight so I'll do my part. The phone call will be during my lunchbreak at work, so at least I'll be able to use that as an excuse to not spend a terribly long time.

My gut feeling is that it's an Apple ID problem too, especially with all of the extensive information Morac has been sharing (thanks for keeping us updated). Funny enough that's one thing Apple Support on Twitter asked me: "do you have a secondary Apple ID that you can try"? Unfortunately I didn't.

 

[craigy2302]

I've seen a few more tweets about people experiencing the same thing in the last 30 minutes. Looks like it's affecting more people now (or they're just noticing it).

 

[Morac]

I've seen a few more tweets about people experiencing the same thing in the last 30 minutes. Looks like it's affecting more people now (or they're just noticing it).

I feel like there’s a bug on Apple’s end that’s slowly “infecting” (for lack of a better term) users. I found a few Tweets from users from a few days ago who have or had (one said it resolved itself) this problem. That’s prior to when I had it.

I’m trying to see if there’s a common denominator here, so I have a couple questions for people having the update issue:

1. Are you using the same Apple ID for both iCloud and iTunes? I’m not.
2. Do you have any TestFlight apps installed? I do.
3. Did you add any recent in app subscriptions or trials? I did.

 

[dave14305]

1. Are you using the same Apple ID for both iCloud and iTunes? I’m not.
2. Do you have any TestFlight apps installed? I do.
3. Did you add any recent in app subscriptions or trials? I did.

1. Yes
2. No
3. Yes, 1Blocker trial subscription.
Also have Family Sharing enabled and a few days ago family members were being told they no longer owned the shared, paid apps I bought from my account.

 

[TravelerHD]

1. Are you using the same Apple ID for both iCloud and iTunes?
Yes I am.

2. Do you have any TestFlight apps installed?
Yep. I tried uninstalling all beta apps and TestFlight entirely, but that wasn't a fix. None of the apps I'm testing have an update, so I can't tell if updating beta apps works or not.

3. Did you add any recent in app subscriptions or trials?
Nope.

 

[mzanker]

My "Waiting..." issue has been resolved - apps have been installing normally for 24 hours. Must have been something at Apple's end because I didn't make any changes.

 

[sharp65]

It's been happening to me too for about 3 days now. Can't update apps across iphone, ipad, and mbp. Tapping update leads to a spinning circle for a few seconds and then it reverts back to the update button.

 

[Morac]

Also have Family Sharing enabled and a few days ago family members were being told they no longer owned the shared, paid apps I bought from my account.

That makes me think the problem is that Apple no longer thinks the apps were bought under that Apple ID. That would explain why updating doesn’t work, but if that was the case re-downloading apps wouldn’t work, which it does. Overall though I’m confused as to why this is happening.

Apple supper never called me back this morning like they said they would.

 

[kurisub]

1. Are you using the same Apple ID for both iCloud and iTunes? I’m not.
2. Do you have any TestFlight apps installed? I do.
3. Did you add any recent in app subscriptions or trials? I did.

1. Yes…it's the only Apple ID I have

2. Yes, currently testing Microsoft's new all-in-one Office App. It's set to expire in 78 days.

3. Yes? I had a one-month subscription to Tinder that actually ended on the day this problem started. One thing to note is that I canceled the subscription a few days in advance so it wouldn't resubscribe. But the subscription itself was set to end on the 12th. I had no problem updating apps through most of the day on 12th, and this problem didn't start until about 5pm PST. I had a trail subscription to another dating app that I cancelled and let expired a few days before that as well…but that came and went without any issue, so I'm not sure if the subscriptions are related to the issue we're having or not. I have another sub to HelloTalk that isn't set to expire for a few months. I have no problem using any of my subscribed apps.

I know it seems like we're in a minority with this problem, but in a way we may be a canary in the coal mine for a much bigger problem for Apple. How many thousands/millions of people just have their apps set to auto-update and never even look in the app store for updates? There may be a large number of people "infected" with this problem that don't even realize it.

 

[wasmal]

For those with the apps stuck on waiting problem can you check if your notes and photos are still syncing (if you use iCloud). I have the problem since iOS 13.2 on both my iPad and iPhone and when the app store problem appears the notes and photos syncing fails, too. Restarting the device fixes the problem for a day or so but it always reappears. Already restored both devices to no avail.

 

[K3y]

I feel like there’s a bug on Apple’s end that’s slowly “infecting” (for lack of a better term) users. I found a few Tweets from users from a few days ago who have or had (one said it resolved itself) this problem. That’s prior to when I had it.

I’m trying to see if there’s a common denominator here, so I have a couple questions for people having the update issue:

1. Are you using the same Apple ID for both iCloud and iTunes? I’m not.
2. Do you have any TestFlight apps installed? I do.
3. Did you add any recent in app subscriptions or trials? I did.

I still have the same problem on my iPhone and iPad...

1. Are you using the same Apple ID for both iCloud and iTunes?
Yes.

2. Do you have any TestFlight apps installed?
Yes, I have a TestFlight app, and I can still update it from TestFlight.

3. Did you add any recent in app subscriptions or trials?
No, if we are not counting the free year with Apple TV+.

 

[kurisub]

OK guys I have another question to add to the list that might help.

If you go to Settings > Apple ID >iTunes & App Store, then scroll all the way to the bottom, does it say:
SANDBOXED ACCOUNT
followed by your apple ID and the description:
This account will be only used for testing your in-app purchase while developing locally. Your existing App Store account will be used for TestFlight apps.


I noticed this the other day, but I never set up a sandbox account using my Apple ID…unless this is what happens by default when you install/use a TestFlight app?

 

[K3y]

OK guys I have another question to add to the list that might help.

If you go to Settings > Apple ID >iTunes & App Store, then scroll all the way to the bottom, does it say:
SANDBOXED ACCOUNT
followed by your apple ID and the description:
This account will be only used for testing your in-app purchase while developing locally. Your existing App Store account will be used for TestFlight apps.


I noticed this the other day, but I never set up a sandbox account using my Apple ID…unless this is what happens by default when you install/use a TestFlight app?

Yes, mine is like this, too.
And I’ve also noticed it “after the problem”, when I tried to logout/login, but I thought it was “normal”.
Maybe we can search online to determine if it is actually normal.

 

[sharp65]

OK guys I have another question to add to the list that might help.

If you go to Settings > Apple ID >iTunes & App Store, then scroll all the way to the bottom, does it say:
SANDBOXED ACCOUNT
followed by your apple ID and the description:
This account will be only used for testing your in-app purchase while developing locally. Your existing App Store account will be used for TestFlight apps.


I noticed this the other day, but I never set up a sandbox account using my Apple ID…unless this is what happens by default when you install/use a TestFlight app?

I'm seeing the same thing.

 

[TonySCV]

I just realized this is also happening for my Mac OS Mojave app store updates. So Apple TV, my Mac Mini, my ipod touch, ipad, iphone... all of them have this update problem. I tap update, and after spinning its wheels for a few seconds, just says “update” again.

 

[TravelerHD]

OK guys I have another question to add to the list that might help.

If you go to Settings > Apple ID >iTunes & App Store, then scroll all the way to the bottom, does it say:
SANDBOXED ACCOUNT
followed by your apple ID and the description:
This account will be only used for testing your in-app purchase while developing locally. Your existing App Store account will be used for TestFlight apps.


I noticed this the other day, but I never set up a sandbox account using my Apple ID…unless this is what happens by default when you install/use a TestFlight app?

I used to have that, but I removed it/signed out of it a week or two ago. I can 100% confirm I was having app updates as recently as Tuesday of this week, so I don't think that it's a related issue. It's definitely something to keep in mind though.

I should probably install something on my MacBook Pro to see if I have the issue there. I never use the Mac App Store so I dunno.

 

[Morac]

For those with the apps stuck on waiting problem can you check if your notes and photos are still syncing (if you use iCloud). I have the problem since iOS 13.2 on both my iPad and iPhone and when the app store problem appears the notes and photos syncing fails, too. Restarting the device fixes the problem for a day or so but it always reappears. Already restored both devices to no avail.

They are for me, but I’m using a different Apple ID for iCloud than the one I’m having issues with for the App Store. Note syncing has been hit or miss, though usually killing the Notes app fixes this.

 

[Morac]

OK guys I have another question to add to the list that might help.

If you go to Settings > Apple ID >iTunes & App Store, then scroll all the way to the bottom, does it say:
SANDBOXED ACCOUNT
followed by your apple ID and the description:
This account will be only used for testing your in-app purchase while developing locally. Your existing App Store account will be used for TestFlight apps.


I noticed this the other day, but I never set up a sandbox account using my Apple ID…unless this is what happens by default when you install/use a TestFlight app?

I have that as well on my iPad. It got added when I was testing the Tapatalk TestFlight app and made an in-app purchase, which I’m pretty sure is not supposed to be logging into a Sandbox account.

I signed out of my Apple ID, but the option to sign in stays there pretty much forever.

This was months ago though. I don’t know why it would be causing an issue now, nor do I suspect everyone having this issue logged into the SANDBOX.

 

[Morac]

Someone on Twitter hooked up a debug console so he could see what the device logged when requesting an update.

He got “Failing purchase with error: Error Domain=SSErrorDomain Code=13"

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1195381500428128256

He then found that on an older discussion post on Apple’s forums of people having the same problem. They claimed it fixed itself after a few days.

Unable to update Apps in App Store on iOS… - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com

 

[sharp65]

It seems to be showing different errors for iphone/mac:

My iPhone is hitting this:
PurchaseOperation: [917F67D8] Purchase finished with error: Error Domain=SSErrorDomain Code=13 "MZFairplay.sinftoolFailure_message" UserInfo={NSLocalizedDescription=MZFairplay.sinftoolFailure_message}

My mbp is hitting this:
Purchase failed with error: Error Domain=ASDServerErrorDomain Code=0 "MZFairplay.sinftoolFailure_message" UserInfo={NSLocalizedDescription=MZFairplay.sinftoolFailure_message}

 

[TravelerHD]

Thanks for the finds, Morac and sharp65. That's some good stuff. Much further progress than we've had so far.

That Apple thread concerns me. I spoke with a Senior Advisor today who's getting in contact with the engineering team, and they're supposed to contact me again next week. I hope they don't come back and tell me to factory reset my phone as new. That would be a pain, especially since that Apple thread proves that a factory reset as new doesn't work.