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

[Morac]

From your description in your other comment, you probably don't have the same problem as we have: you get the round circle and nothing happens. We jump back immediately to the "Update" icon when taping on it.

I’ve occasionally seen the round circle, but it never progresses and eventually goes back to a spinning icon and then the update button. This can happen if I do an update all.

Normally though, I just get the spinning wheel and the update button again.

Dave14305 said his is working now though, so it might be a different issue.

Also my Apple ID isn’t a developer account. I’ve just tested TestFlight apps on it.

I asked some other beta testers of the apps I’m testing and they say they are logged into the Sandbox account, but not having any App Store issues.

 

[shidevil]

I would say that this is an account issue related to the backend. Not an iOS issue as it happens on multiple devices with the same Apple ID.

don’t restore your devices it will be a pain.

 

[tweedledivo]

Which issue do you have the one where the download hangs or the update never even starts and tapping update simply shows the update button again?

The second one - update never even starts. Consistent across all devices, iOS and macOS alike.

 

[Morac]

I think most of the reports are coming from Twitter, but DownDetector has a fairly large number of people reporting this issue. At least more than are posting here.

App Store down? Current problems and outages

Real-time problems and outages for the Apple App Store. Can't log in? Is the server down? Here you see what is going on.

downdetector.com

 

[tidalwav1]

I’m one of the folks that had reported this on Twitter. I talked to both senior Apple ID and iTunes support and didn’t get anywhere useful, but I am supposed to have a callback with then tomorrow.

I captured App Store traffic locally on my phone using Charles Proxy and see the same error response as reported earlier in this thread when attempting to update apps:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?>
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>pings</key>
<array></array>
<key>failureType</key><string></string>
<key>customerMessage</key><string>MZFairplay.sinftoolFailure_message</string>
<key>m-allowed</key><false/>
<key>cancel-purchase-batch</key><true/>
</dict>
</plist>

 

[Morac]

So here’s a dumb question, but I didn’t think you needed to be logged in to an Apple ID to download updates, only to re-download a previously purchased app.

Maybe that changed at some point, but it doesn’t make any sense to require “purchasing” an update since the only way to update an app is to having an existing version of the app installed, which could only be done if the app was “purchased”. I’m wondering if Apple is now trying to “purchase” updates for some reason.

When I was testing things I attempted to update the apps when I was not signed into to the App Store. On my devices on iOS 13, it would let me attempt to do so as I could see the update buttons, but the result would be the same (spins and fails). On my iOS 12 device though, it wouldn’t even let me try to update when I was signed out. I got an error message saying I needed to sign in to download updates. Again I don’t know why that would be.

Does anyone know how the Apple TV handles updates with multiple users? I can’t believe that apps purchased by different users won’t update unless that user logs in.

 

[Cptnodegard]

Same issue with spinning->back to update. Started happening around the release of Toolbox Pro, where I had fake-purchased the in app upgrade during the beta to test it out. Can others comment on whether they have done something similar, like Morac ask?

 

[Ybot]

Same issue with spinning->back to update. Started happening around the release of Toolbox Pro, where I had fake-purchased the in app upgrade during the beta to test it out. Can others comment on whether they have done something similar, like Morac ask?

I am currently beta testing a number of apps using TestFlight (same email as my apple ID email) and have made in-app purchases that weren’t real. Interesting. I wonder if this is part of the problem.

 

[K3y]

Same issue with spinning->back to update. Started happening around the release of Toolbox Pro, where I had fake-purchased the in app upgrade during the beta to test it out. Can others comment on whether they have done something similar, like Morac ask?

As I’ve written before, I also tested the in-app purchase in Toolbox Pro beta, and yes, the whole problem started approximately when Toolbox Pro was released.

However, I think it started for everyone at the same time, so it’s probably a coincidence (if we are not all using Toolbox Pro).

TestFlight apps (including Toolbox Pro) are able to update fine, by the way.

 

[x666x]

Yo. I have the same problem with the failure of update anything from AppStore ios 13.2.2 - i had an hour call with apple support (russia) and we tried absolutely everything but no success. Problem is on both my iphone X and ipad pro 2018. Support even connected to my device remotely (oh my god!!!) and couldnt solve that.
i think the only thing we can do is to wait for software update

 

[Ybot]

Yo. I have the same problem with the failure of update anything from AppStore ios 13.2.2 - i had an hour call with apple support (russia) and we tried absolutely everything but no success. Problem is on both my iphone X and ipad pro 2018. Support even connected to my device remotely (oh my god!!!) and couldnt solve that.
i think the only thing we can do is to wait for software update

Yeah it definitely isn’t a device issue. It’s a problem on Apple’s end.

 

[sledgehammer89]

Same to me, I've finished my support call with Apple right now. Never expected they fix my problem, because it must be a problem on Apple Servers and not on our devices. Apple Support saw that update doesn't work, but also saw that I can buy an App without problems. Apple Support have noted my case and they escalate it to the next instance. Have done everything I can do. Now need to wait.

 

[x666x]

Anyone saw the same thread on apple forums? Maybe the problem needs to be noticed on their official forum? Apple discussions or smth like that

 

[vinz.sordid]

There are some threads regarding this issue on apple forums:

My apps won’t update - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com

Apps will not update - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com

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

discussions.apple.com

Still no updates on any devices : Mojave, High Sierra, iOS 13.2.2, tvOS 13.2, didn’t try yet on older devices (iOS 12) but I’m pretty sure it’s the same.

 

[Morac]

I just noticed I haven’t been getting App Store purchase email receipts this month. I don’t know if that’s related to the update issue or not, since it started around Oct 31 and is also affecting iCloud storage purchase receipts.

 

[Cptnodegard]

Looking at my update backlog on my iPad now, they actually go back further than Toolbox Pro. Not sure if the issue was ongoing then or if I just didn't update in a week (unlikely, though it's set to manual).

Again, it would be really really nice if people who add their voice can simply confirm or deny whether they have made test purchases in Testflight apps.

 

[vinz.sordid]

My account is not listed as a sandbox account, I’m testing some apps on TestFlight with the same Apple ID, but I didn’t do any in-app purchase (on TestFlight apps or on any normal apps) for at least a year...

 

[shidevil]

Did not do any in app in TestFlight as well.

 

[tweedledivo]

Interesting development:

Went to sleep last night with 50 pending updates on my iPhone X (iOS 13.2.2), woke up this morning with 51. The new one was the Amazon app - tried to update it, AND IT WORKED! Now back down to 50, none of which will update. Bizarre.

I read through the Apple forums and a number of people have commented that the Apple Support reps they spoke to hadn't heard of this problem. The one I spoke to on Thursday told me I was the second person he spoke to that day with the same issue (which he then "escalated"). I have a follow-up call with him scheduled for tomorrow afternoon...

 

[Morac]

Interesting development:

Went to sleep last night with 50 pending updates on my iPhone X (iOS 13.2.2), woke up this morning with 51. The new one was the Amazon app - tried to update it, AND IT WORKED! Now back down to 50, none of which will update. Bizarre.

I read through the Apple forums and a number of people have commented that the Apple Support reps they spoke to hadn't heard of this problem. The one I spoke to on Thursday told me I was the second person he spoke to that day with the same issue (which he then "escalated"). I have a follow-up call with him scheduled for tomorrow afternoon...

Curious. I’ve updated all my apps (50 of them across 2 devices) by offloading and reinstalling them. This morning I had a new update on my iPhone, but it didn’t work.

Did you do something similar with Amazon app?

Someone had a theory that the installed apps somehow got delinked from the Apple ID that installed them and as such wouldn’t allow updating. He claimed wiping the phone and setting it up as new would fix the problem, but if his theory is correct, then simply deleting and reinstalling all the apps would fix the problem. I haven’t tried that, but I’ve been reinstalling the ones with updates. At this point none of the ones I’ve reinstalled have had new updates, so I can’t tell if reinstalling apps fixes them or not.

This seems like it should be fairly easy to troubleshoot as it’s a reproducible problem. Devices requests to download the update and the server returns a denied response, but one that the device doesn’t understand so it doesn’t report a problem, it just silently fails. The problem is getting in touch with the person at Apple who could do that.

 

[tweedledivo]

Curious. I’ve updated all my apps (50 of them across 2 devices) by offloading and reinstalling them. This morning I had a new update on my iPhone, but it didn’t work.

Did you do something similar with Amazon app?

Curious, indeed. No, I simply pressed "update" and it worked, but only for that one app. Out of curiosity I tried the same thing on my iPad (iOS 12.4.1) - same result. No problem for Amazon, but no other apps will update.

Do your offloaded/reinstalled apps still show up in the update list? I've tried it with a couple of mine but they still show up as requiring an update even though I can confirm that I (re)installed the most recent versions.

 

[TravelerHD]

That info about the Amazon app is strange. Mine isn't updating, it's failing like all of my other updates.

With this problem being on macOS as well, you would think that some significant troubleshooting progress could be made yeah. Debugging should be a lot more easy and thorough since macOS isn't locked down as tightly as iOS. If I talk to an actual engineer this week I'll mention that I'm having issues on macOS and have my MacBook on hand.

 

[Morac]

Do your offloaded/reinstalled apps still show up in the update list? I've tried it with a couple of mine but they still show up as requiring an update even though I can confirm that I (re)installed the most recent versions.

The reinstalled apps originally did not show up in the update list, they simply vanished. Yesterday for awhile, they would still show up as needing updating, even though when I checked the version installed it was the same version as what it said I needed to update to. I restarted my iPad and iPhone and after that reinstalling removed the updates again.

So basically no, none of the ones I reinstalled, with one exception that shows “open” even though I didn’t install it as an update, are still in the update list. The list shows I haven’t updated anything for 3 days and shows no recent updates.

As for the Amazon update, that didn’t work for me either yesterday, I had to reinstall it.

 

[yeahtyeaht]

Same for me here but since 13.2. I can fix it temporarily with restarting my iPhone 11

 

[kurisub]

Again, it would be really really nice if people who add their voice can simply confirm or deny whether they have made test purchases in Testflight apps.

Around last year, maybe up until last summer, while beta testing OkCupid's beta app via testflight, I made a number of in-app purchases in the beta app that I wasn't charged for. Funny thing was these "purchases" would fail most of the time. I assumed this was either OKC not wanting us to game the beta and get free stuff for months, or it was just the flakiness of the beta app itself.

This was the only beta app I ever made any purchases in, and the OKC beta itself has since long expired. The only beta I am currently participating in via TestFlight is Microsoft's new all-in-one Office app for iOS, and I've made no purchases through that app…hell other than opening it for a few minutes I've barely even used it.

I don't know if this makes a difference, but I'm currently using the regular OKC app and have an in-app subscription currently with them.

I'm not a dev and the only thing I use Testflight for is to occasionally beta-test an upcoming app.