Naively, I used to think that once I’d purchased music, I could easily download it again, for free, on any other computer or WiFi-connected iPhone or iPod touch as long as I was signed in with my iTunes account. As most of you probably know, that’s not the case. Instead, if you try to download it again, iTunes recognizes that you’ve already purchased the content, but notifies you that should you download it again, you’ll actually be paying for it twice.
The nice thing about the App Store, whether on a computer or using an iPhone or iPod touch, is that you can re-download titles you’ve already purchased elsewhere, or maybe deleted for whatever reason. I’ve used this feature many, many times, because I don’t really like having a cluttered springboard, so I regularly cull apps that fall into disuse. I honestly couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve re-downloaded Shazam just to find out the name of a song I hear in passing. You’d think at some point I would just keep in installed, but those occasions where it comes in handy are just so few and far between.
This much-appreciated ability to download an app as many times as you want from wherever you want may be in jeopardy in iPhone OS 3.0, according to The iPhone Blog and others. They recently posted an article in which they describe how some users with the 3.0 beta on their phones are receiving notification that should they wish to download an app they’ve previously purchased, they either have to buy it again, or sync with their computer to re-install for free.
I tested this out on my own devices, and was able to replicate the new “feature,” which you can see in the screenshot attached to this article. The iPhone Blog proposes that the new measures are designed to prevent people from installing apps they don’t own while on the go quickly and easily using the new iTunes account switching-feature included in the latest builds of the upcoming firmware revision.
Even though I’ve taken to installing and updating apps exclusively via iTunes on my Mac and syncing (which is why I haven’t noticed this before, I guess), the ability to re-install on the fly is still very useful in cases like the one I describe above with Shazam. In fact, in terms of pure convenience, account switching is far less of an advantage if it means sacrificing re-downloads. This is inevitably going to cause some folks to pay twice for the same app, too. So far, 3.0 has been nothing but roses, so hopefully this occurrence of thorns is an isolated example.
This is one of the reasons I don’t like the fact that I can’t download the actual app from my Web browser and back it up to a CD or HD.
The new “feature” you are describing here is in place simply to prevent account switching and associated stealing of apps and is perfectly reasonable for that purpose although you fail to even discuss that aspect of it. It will also be a boon to the developers in that if you purposely delete the app that you paid for from your computer, there is now no way to get it back for free. This is also completely reasonable behaviour.
In the scenario you describe wherein you are downloading Shazam on the fly, you are basically using the app store’s bandwidth as a sort of free storage facility that it was never intended for. You are basically leaching bandwidth from the store to deal with your own lack of organisation or foresight, or in loading the apps on your iPhone.
It’s not like the average iPhone can’t store bazillions of apps anyway. What more do you want?
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@ James Dempsey : You CAN back them up to CD or HD. Seach your hard drive for .ipa files. (Or if you use a Mac, right click on the app in iTunes and choose “Reveal in Finder”) – the fact that the store is tied to the iTunes application (not acessable via web browser) is a seperate issue (one that may be solved with HTML5).
@ Gazoobee : “In the scenario you describe wherein you are downloading Shazam on the fly, you are basically using the app store’s bandwidth as a sort of free storage facility that it was never intended for. You are basically leaching bandwidth from the store to deal with your own lack of organisation or foresight, or in loading the apps on your iPhone.”
I agree with all of that, but all over-the-air restrictions automatically smell of AT&T to me.
@ neurotic nomad
Notice that the image is on an iPod touch.
oooh! I did not see that. Thx.
[...] point for iPhone users. But this will be a great point for iPhone apps developer. As mention at theappleblog.com currently in OS 2.0, applications that you have purchased before, you will be able to download it [...]
It’s been proven over and over and over again that draconian anti-piracy measures kill the ones that introduce them, not the pirates. The pirates will always have a way, it’s the little people, that are actually willing to pay for their software that suffer the consequences.
[...] Read the original here: Re-Downloading Deleted iPhone Apps May Become Costly in OS 3.0 [...]
@Gazoobee “It will also be a boon to the developers in that if you purposely delete the app that you paid for from your computer, there is now no way to get it back for free. This is also completely reasonable behaviour.”
This is like saying you can’t reinstall anything. For example if I bought a game or piece of software for my computer, and I have uninstalled it as I needed space for another project. That I cannot reinstall because thats just an acceptable practice of the developer. No I paid for it, I own rights to have a copy weither I have to download again, or reinstall via a cd the options should be available without a repurchase, provided the software version that I own is the most current.
On your note of bandwith use I agree, to the extent of my above comment, if the version that is online, is what I have, and I have purchased I have every right to delete, redownload, reinstall. I paid for a license I deserve the ability to use.
Now as per the comment that this was just an iPod screen, maybe they are the lesser of the individuals and it wont affect iPhone users. I can’t see this situation being the case as it has been in the past. But I dont think either should suffer because they deleted and want to reinstall. If it is something constant of reinstalling every now and then like the poster said they do with Shazam, I can somewhat see the otherside of the scale, as is with the Bandwith usage.
But hey, as long as you still resync you’ll be fine so the issue is only half an issue in reality, and that is mainly for the on the fly downloader.
While this seems like it would be a major pain in the butt, the way around this is to make sure that you keep your iPhone/iPod touch synched with your computer. Problem solved.