Can't update iPhone apps

Question

After making an update to an iPad app I released some time ago, I've been getting reports that people are unable to actually update the app without deleting and re-installing. However, as far as I know, nothing in the update should be causing this. (All the update deals with is letting people email PDF documents, nothing major.) When people attempt to update, they're asked for their iTunes password, but after entering it, it merely goes back to the update screen and nothing happens. Additionally, it would seem that this only happens with my app, the people in question aren't having any issues with the other various apps on the App Store. Does anyone know what might be causing this and how I could fix it?

Thanks in advance!

(Also, if it matters, the app is a custom B2B app, the general public can't purchase it.)

Answer 1

I'm by far not an iPhone expert, but it seems something related might have been fixed in iOS 6.0.1.

Fixes a bug that prevents iPhone 5 from installing software updates wirelessly over the air

Answer 2

When updating an app, iOS looks for the bundleId and if there is another app with the same bundleId, it updates the app with the highest version number. Maybe the version number is not set correctly or maybe people have issues because an other app (from the AppStore or an other B2B app) have the same bundleID but a higher version number.

Answer 3

It seems that apple wants you to develop the Iphone apps in the latest build. Sometimes this cause issues between realeases (diferent versions of Itunes, OSX, IOS, etc) when you try to update your apps.

Try to publish the app in the latest version of xcode.

That happens a lot in iphone development testing.

Hope this help.

Answer 4

What you are describing (assuming that it is accurate) would certainly be a bug on Apple's side. If users are trying to update the app and the update is not being processed, then in one way or another that is a bug that Apple needs to address. Nothing that you do as a developer should be able to cause that situation to happen. I would suggest contacting Apple and possibly filing a bug report.

Answer 5

I'm removing the text of my answer because it's so inaccurate it's embarrassing. I mistook "B2B" for "Enterprise" and answered based off of that. To make up for it, I'll look into the problem a bit more and if I find anything I will edit this answer accordingly.

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Edit:

Okay, I can see why you put a bounty for this question on SO; there's not really any data on a problem like this anywhere. Frankly, there's not much available information on B2B in general. I'll post what I found anyway, in case it can be of any help to you.

I found the details reason behind Maggie's question, there. Per Editing and Updating App Information:

Updates keep the same Apple ID and bundle ID, which means they are associated with your first version and free to your customers

Also, apparently, "You can't change the CFBundleIdentifier of a released app if you want to release updates for it, the App Store will automatically reject it when you upload." which is something I can vouch for, having experienced this with a normal app. I do know that for a B2B app you do have to submit it to Apple for review, but I can't tell from the documentation I found if you need to actually submit it to the App Store, so it may not go through the various checks that normal apps go through, so this could be your problem.

Aside from that, according to the VPP guide, if your customers are installing the apps on the devices with Apple Configurator (broken right now, per app store reviews) the updates also have to be done with the Configurator. You haven't said that Configurator was involved, but I did find this tidbit.

• Use Apple Configurator to install apps on new or supervised devices. Apple Configurator on a Mac makes it easy to mass configure and deploy devices that are centrally controlled. Redemption code spreadsheets acquired through the Volume Purchase Program can be imported by Apple Configurator, tracking the number of apps installed on each device. To update deployed apps using Apple Configurator, you must reconnect to the same Mac from which the apps were installed. Learn more at itunes.apple.com/us/app/apple-configurator

Anyway, good luck. Wish I could be more help.