A purchase doesn’t mean you need to be able to re-download it forever though, it just means you own it. So while the terminology is different the end result is the same, Apple is not required to provide downloads of something forever.
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Never stated you have a right to unlimited download. Just clarified the concept of “software licenses” or “usage rights” is wonky.
I had a bad Mac App Store experience some years ago. I bought an upgrade to iMovie from the App store (this was back when it was a paid app) then it was revised to a new version for a new OS X that was released. I needed to redownload it but couldn’t because the old version was no longer available. A conversation with Apple concluded in that everyone should make backups of their App store downloads, because there is no guarantee that Apple will maintain availability. I’ve done so ever since. A few notes:
- Apple now seems to keep old versions of their apps available if you try to download on the older OS.
- You can’t download older versions than that which you have initially purchased.
- You can no longer download old OS versions, so be sure to archive their installers!
- None of this applies to the iOS App Store,
I’ve lost the ability to install apps from the Mac and the iOS App Stores because
- The app wasn’t compatible with an OS X or macOS update, or, usually, and iOS update – iOS change seems to put more apps out of business than macOS changes.
- The developer or Apple pulled the app – usually because of #1 or because the developer went out of business.
- Apple discovered malware in the app (this one was weird)
- The app was counterfeit and I had bought it in order to tell the legit developer about it – Apple banned the counterfeit and it disappeared from my account
Frankly, severall of these reasons applied to apps bought from developers, too, over the years. Software becomes cruft and rots just like anything else.
It is still possible to back up and reinstall your iOS apps via the Mac @ehler , as long as you have the “right” version of iTunes. It’s version 12.6.3 and can be installed over any later version of iTunes with no problem (FYI: @RosemaryOrchard @MacSparky).
There’s a link to an article about it here.
For a direct link to the dmg for Mac on the Apple support site, click on this link..
If you’d rather read about it first on the Apple support page, then just click here.
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Sorry about your sticker pack. I lost a $10 George Harrison Guitar app when the developer abandoned it, rather than making it compatible with iOS 11. I lost a number of apps during that transition.
I have an app on the iOS App Store that has about 5 users, including me. For that privilege (yes, there are others), I pay $99 per year. At some point I’ll start feeling it’s not worth it and I’ll stop paying (or I’ll get kicked out), and that will be the end of my app. It’s not hard to see how this could happen to any indie developer.
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