Is this true? I was under the impression that after iOS 9 the only way you could install games was if they were still on the App Store. Previously you could use utilities like i-FunBox and iExplorer to keep a copy on your pc and reinstall the game from that, but I thought Apple stopped all that. I could be wrong as I have never understood fully what actually gets stored after iOS 9.
Yeah, I discovered this after failing to download Soccer Physics. Here's how I discovered it all... You may know that Otto Ojala made his games free back in May 2017 before cancelling his Apple developer membership on 28th May (http://toucharcade.com/2017/05/16/soccer-physics-developer-otto-ville-ojala-makes-all-his-ios-games-free-until-delisting-on-may-28th/). I downloaded Soccer Physics to my iPad at the time & this was before I realised what I now know. Fast forward to June/July. I bought the new iPad Pro & started installing my apps (I didn't fancy restoring from a backup). It was here that I noticed Soccer Physics wasn't on my computer (I'd turned off automatic downloading a long time ago as I, nievely, assumed that I could just re-download what I wanted in the future). I jumped into my purchase history to find is missing from there too. It's here I realised that a cancelled Apple dev membership removes all traces of the app. The store listing of course, but also the item in your purchase history. I guess if they're not paying, then Apple won't host the files for free. So, I have a 32-bit Soccer Physics on my iPad Air 2 that I want to move to my iPad Pro. I attempted to use the menu option in iTunes called "File/Devices/Transfer Purchases", but the app didn't transfer over. After a little online searching, I found this article, http://www.macworld.com/article/3125509/iphone-ipad/more-on-backing-up-your-ios-device.html This is what helped me realise that an app installed to an iOS 9 or greater device is (quite cleverly to be perfectly honest), trimmed down to what it needs to be & not actually the full package that you'd get from the store. Since an app downloaded to your computer has no idea what device it will be installed on, the full package is downloaded until you install it. This is where the penny dropped & I started to download everything (the good, the bad & the down right ugly) to my computer through the 'purchases/family purchases' option in iTunes. Of course, without Soccer Physics & however many other games that have dropped off. This is also when I decided to throw even more at this thread to try & help other users realise what I have & do something about it if they wish to. I can now install (from iTunes of course) the apps to either of my devices which I intend to keep as 32-bit. That'll be an iPhone 5S & iPad Air 2. Future devices will, of course be updated to iOS 11 when it comes.
i contacted "stuarts pixel games" regarding him pulling his sokoban game "the nodus". he said it's because of the 32 culling thingie and that he will work on a fix and re-release it very soon on the appstore (you can check his facebook for the receipts). on the other hand he is also working on an expanded fuller version of the game titled "the nodus remastered" and that will feature more and brand new levels. hopefully that won't take too long.
Thanks for your reply but I still don't think what I want to do is possible. What I want is to be able to have the .iap file stored on my pc (which can be done through iTunes) but then I want to install that .ipa file on my iPad 3. There seems to be no way to make my iPad 3 access that .ipa file. Before iOS 9 it was a simple cut and paste process if my memory serves me correct. I cannot see anywhere in iTunes where it gives me an option to install the game from the pc. Edit; Your post inspired me to do some more searching. I think iFunbox will actually let me do what I need. The unfortunate thing is I already had a backup of all my old .ipa files for my old games and I deleted them all just a week ago as I thought they were useless to me. Now I will have to re-download over 100gig of games....if they all still exist lol. #
It's all good fun eh! Mine clock in at around 250gb, but now I have them I can (gradually) go through the arduous task of eventually deleting the genuinely bad ones & then hiding those from my purchase history. For now though, I continue to build that list #
I've added Blazing Souls Accelate to the spreadsheet. Record of Agarest War ZeroWas already on there. Thanks for your contribution
Oh man, I haven't played Sway in so long. I think I'll have to redownload it just to give it a proper goodbye. What a great early game in the app store.
Note that you'll need to be on ios10 for this to work. (Me, I'm still rocking ios7 on an iPod Touch 5, and ios8 on an iPad Air 1)
Heh... the AppShopper app hasn't even been updated for 4" screens (you still see the black bars on the top and bottom), let alone 64-bit support! Not a biggie, as I too prefer the website (and good to hear that's still getting worked on even though I don't buy much iOS stuff these days).
Well i nearly gave up iOS gaming due to this. Depressing how many games i'm losing. On the other hand its like i've got app-OCD, i've got about 700 games installed on my phone and i was gutted how many i would be losing. I'm glad some favourites (Baldurs Gate, Dot Emu) games should be returning soon to 64 bit. But i've contacted Irem countless times to see if the Metal Slug games would be updated, or Activision for their Anthology and you're met with silence. I have put all of these on an old ipad so i still have them but due to being an 'app dipper' (!) i'm quite sad not being able to have the odd go of these on my phone. Wanted to install the beta of ios11 so its been interesting. Sad though
Yep good to see you. Got an iphone 7 earlier this year (256 gig !) and for once i havent filled it up ! Still got a lot of spare space Being buying tons of premium games as theres been a ton of great ones released to be fair. Gutted i lost MAME (From builds.io) as that doesnt work with ios 11 but oh well. Got so many games to play i love it. Did get addicted to Madden 17 but i had to delete that as i was playing it way too much and ignoring all my other games !! Cant wait for the Dot Emu games (R-Type) to be updated to 64 bit but sad Metal Slug doesnt seem to be (Impossible to contact Irem). Nearly switched over to Android but i've just got SO many games on iOS it would be impossible to move really. But the 32 bit cull nearly made me move. But cant really complain, its my fault for not always playing some of those older games more ! Still so many great games coming out
I could definitely see two problems with contacting Irem about Metal Slug. First is that Irem only exists on paper these days, with all of their game development staff being let go shortly after the March 2011 earthquake. Second is that Irem had nothing to do with Metal Slug at all. You need to ask SNK Playmore. Not that they're going to reply, if my experience has taught me anything.
