Unless you have turned on ‘Automatic update’ for the Apps on your iPhone or iPad, you surely fail to keep up with the up-to-date versions of the apps on your devices. Let’s face it, who’s got the time to go to the App store on a regular basis and update the apps? I can tell it’s surely not you!
However, sometimes, even manual updating comes with challenges. You try to go for an app update, and voila! It’s not updating! Well, let’s give it a second try! Uh ho, nope, it’s not working. It takes a few moments to realize that the app store update not working for iPhone or iPad!
If this is happening with you, first of all, don’t freak out! There are thousands of users around the globe who are facing the same issue. Today, we are going to try out a few methods to solve this problem once and for all!
Why Does App Store Not Update Apps?
Well, there’re several reasons for the App Store to act this weird. The major reason should be your recent update to iOS 14.8 or 15. Many users have filed complaints that the App Store is not acting as it should to update the apps.
Sometimes, it’s freezing while updating, while sometimes getting you nowhere with the endless update bar. So, how to fix app store update not working for iPhone or iPad? Let’s find out.
How to Solve App Store Not Updating Apps!
Well, here are some quick hacks that you can try that should make it work. Although some iOS version bugs may need you to wait for a few days to fix themselves, you can fix them yourself most of the time.
Fix 1: Check Your Internet Connection
Sometimes it’s the elephant in the room that we tend to ignore. You may have a faulty internet connection that is causing you the failure to update the apps on your device. So, before you try out any other solutions, check if your iPad or iPhone is properly connected to the internet.
If you are using mobile data or a Wi-Fi connection, pull down the Control Center and see if those options are turned on or not. If yes, do you have enough mobile data purchased? You can check that with your carrier.
On the other hand, for Wi-Fi, check if your Wi-Fi at home is actually working or not. Sometimes, the speed of the wireless connection can make a difference in the performance of the App Store. So, make sure that the Wi-Fi connection is okay and the speed is well above the requirement.
Fix 2: Restart App Store
So, your internet connection is okay, but you’re still unable to update App Store apps. The next thing you can do is restart the App Store. It’s as simple as closing and opening any other app on your device. Simply pull up the background running app list from the bottom of the screen.
Now, simply tap on the App Store app and pull it towards the top of the screen. It will be eliminated, and the app will be terminated. Now, go to the App Store app on your device and start it all over again.
Hopefully, this will solve the update issue on your device.
Fix 3: Reboot Your Device
Another nifty way to make things work is to reboot your device. Yep, that’s a solution we all have tried multiple times for any issues, right. This should work for the App Store app update problem, as well.
Simply press the upper volume button and the side button simultaneously, and wait for a few seconds. This will bring up a screen that will allow you to shut the system down by sliding a text ‘Slide to power off’.
Another way you can turn off the device is to go to the Settings > General and scroll down to find an option named ‘Shut down’. This way, the device will get turned off, and you can again turn it on by pressing the sidebar.
Now, if this doesn’t work, you can also try resetting the device. It won’t remove any data from your iPad or iPhone, but it will reset the settings to a default position. This may easily solve the issues if there’s a setting that you have somehow messed up.
To reset your device’s settings, you need to press the upper volume button quickly and then the lower volume button. After that, immediately press and hold the side button till you see the Apple logo on the screen. Now, as the logo blinks and the screen turns black, release the buttons.
For the devices that have a home button, you need to press the home button and the sidebar at the same time for this.
Fix 4: Check the Service Downtime Page
Apple has a great tool to communicate with its users when there’s a service is down. They have a System Status page on their website that constantly gives updates on which service is currently active and which one is under maintenance.
You need to check for the App Store there. For example, the App Store is shown beside the green circle in the picture above, which means the service is active and there’s no issue. However, the circle color may turn yellow or even red in some severe cases if a maintenance or service update is going on.
So, check if the App Store is undergoing any service update or maintenance by visiting this page. If there’s maintenance going on, you need to keep patient and wait for the service to resume.
Fix 5: Pause and Resume Update
Sometimes, the update may take too long for random issues that you may not be able to locate. In this case, you can try to pause or cancel the update and resume it or restart it to see if there’s any improvement.
While the app is being updated, you can simply tap and hold on to the app icon, and it will bring up a list of options, including Cancel Download and Pause Download. You can try pausing the download first for a few seconds by clicking the Pause Download option.
Then resume it once again and see if it’s working. If that’s not working, you can tap on the Cancel Download option and cancel the download and start the update process all over again.
If you are lucky, it will solve the problem right away.
Fix 6: Check Storage
Apps need a good amount of storage for the back-end data. In case of an update, the data simply increases. That’s why you need to have enough space on your iPhone and iPad to house the additional data that will be stored in your phone from the update.
If you don’t have enough space on your device, App Store will not process the update, and it may seem like the App Store has an issue. However, it’s actually the storage shortage that’s causing the problem.
To check if you have enough storage on your device, go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage.
If there’s not enough storage available, you may need to clean up some space there. Deleting old photos, videos, or files can help.
Fix 7: An Easy Way Out – Delete the App and Reinstall
Well, we won’t say it’s a fix, but it may relieve you from the stress you are having while updating the app you are concerned about. If you are unable to update the app through App Store, a simple way to make sure you get, the latest app is to remove it from your device.
Removing the device will allow you to re-install the app from the App Store with the latest version. So, the purpose of updating the app should be served accordingly.
To remove the app, simply go to the app on your app drawer and slightly tap on it. You will find a few options to choose from a list of actions. The top-most action should be ‘Remove App’. Simply tap on it and remove the app from the device.
It will take a bit of time to remove it completely from your iPad or iPhone. Once it’s totally deleted from the device, now go back to the App Store and download the app again. Now, it will be installed with all the latest updates. So, you won’t need to update it right now.
Fix 8: Turn the Automatic Update On
Yes, most of us do have the auto-update options activated on our devices, but sometimes, that system doesn’t seem to work properly because of some software or network glitches. As rebooting the entire device can work in solving some un-explained issues, toggling the automatic update on and off can also work magically at times. Why not try it out?
Simply go to the Settings > App Store. Then find the App Updates option. Simply toggle the option off and wait for 30 seconds.
After that, turn it on again. This way, it should solve the issue. However, you may want to reboot the device again to make sure it’s actually working.
Fix 9: Is the Restriction Off?
If the screen time restriction on your device is turned on, it can directly affect any app’s installation and uninstallation process. You may face difficulties in this case. First of all, you need to make sure that there’s no restriction on Content and Privacy. To do that, go to the Settings and then find the Content & Privacy Restriction option.
See if it is activated or not. If activated, simply deactivate it by toggling it off.
Then again, if you need to turn it on for some reason, you need to make sure that the app installation process is excluded from the restriction. To do this, simply select the iTunes and App Store Purchases option from below and make sure that the Installing Apps option is allowed.
This way, it will allow the apps to install and update even if there’s a restriction on the content and privacy of your device. The best choice should be to disable the restriction altogether for a better result.
Fix 10: Sign in and Out of Your Apple ID
Another way to reset the App Store is to log out from your Apple ID and re-login to the profile. This may reset the memories and settings of the ID and hopefully play a part in solving the freezing issue on the updates.
To do this, you need to go to the App Store and click on the ID picture on the top right. This will allow you to access your ID from here.
Now, simply scroll down to the end of the screen to find the Sign Out option at the extreme bottom.
After you sign out, you need to sign in again. Now, check if the update issue is persistent or not. In ideal cases, the issue should be resolved immediately.
Fix 11: Reset the Network Settings
If turning the Wi-Fi and mobile data on and off didn’t work, you can try resetting the network settings on your device, too. It may easily solve the problem if there’s a network bug that is causing the problem.
Go to Settings > General > Reset.
From here, simply select the Reset Network Settings, and the entire network setting will be reset to default factory settings. There’s a high possibility that this would resolve the issue.
Fix 12: Update OS Version
Finally, you can try updating your iOS or iPad OS version. If this is a bug on the OS version, updating it should immediately resolve it. To update the OS, go to Settings > General > Software Update.
This will show you the available update on your device. All you need to do is simply tap on the Download and install option.
This will begin the update process, and once it’s done, you can check the App Store again to see if there’s any freezing problem anymore. Hopefully, there won’t be!
Takeout
If nothing above works, you will definitely need to visit the Apple Service Center without any delay. If the problem has occurred because of a hardware issue, you should let the expert deal with it, lest you may worsen the problem.
Good luck!