So if I sell my iPhone 4 now, Do I have to buy the apps again if I buy the iPhone 5?

gorcorps

aka Brandon
Jul 18, 2004
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Everything stays on your account for redownload later. Of course they don't make it easy to show you what you've purchased so depending on how many you have it'll take a bit to track down what you bought. That doesn't have anything to do with selling it though, I'm just warning you.
 

TheStu

Moderator<br>Mobile Devices & Gadgets
Moderator
Sep 15, 2004
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91
Everything stays on your account for redownload later. Of course they don't make it easy to show you what you've purchased so depending on how many you have it'll take a bit to track down what you bought. That doesn't have anything to do with selling it though, I'm just warning you.

They will be addressing that in iOS 5.
 

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
80,287
17,081
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I am almost positive everything is linked to your itunes account.
As soon as you sign in to the new phone with your previous email address it should start grabbing all your apps. I had to wipe mine a couple times to get it to sync to my computer, each time I had to sign in.
But maybe you have to wipe your old phone before going to your new phone.
 

NoStateofMind

Diamond Member
Oct 14, 2005
9,711
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76
All you have to do is be sure to Sync before you sell. When you set up your new iPhone it will take care of itself. Otherwise within iTunes if you go to your account/purchase history you will see a list of previously downloaded apps. If you hadn't Synced before you sold your phone its as simple as downloading the app again which will prompt a "already purchased" notice on your phone.
 

alent1234

Diamond Member
Dec 15, 2002
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Everything stays on your account for redownload later. Of course they don't make it easy to show you what you've purchased so depending on how many you have it'll take a bit to track down what you bought. That doesn't have anything to do with selling it though, I'm just warning you.

they fixed that last month. after WWDC on my wife's iphone 4 and our ipad 2 there is now a purchased button in the app/itunes stores and it shows the 1000 or so apps i've bought over the last 2 years

before this the hard way was to find the folder with the ipa files on your computer and back them up. then add them to itunes again. if you use the same computer with a newer phone you can restore a backup of your old phone onto your new phone. starting with iOS 4 the restore is actually pretty good and stable
 

gorcorps

aka Brandon
Jul 18, 2004
30,739
454
126
they fixed that last month. after WWDC on my wife's iphone 4 and our ipad 2 there is now a purchased button in the app/itunes stores and it shows the 1000 or so apps i've bought over the last 2 years

before this the hard way was to find the folder with the ipa files on your computer and back them up. then add them to itunes again. if you use the same computer with a newer phone you can restore a backup of your old phone onto your new phone. starting with iOS 4 the restore is actually pretty good and stable

I haven't updated in a while so I haven't seen it (still on 4.2.1). Good to know they finally addressed it though.
 

alent1234

Diamond Member
Dec 15, 2002
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4.2.1 should be OK. wasn't even an iOS update. you just had to log into the store again on your device. the app store/itunes store icons are just shortcuts to custom websites. they aren't native apps
 

Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
912
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4.2.1 should be OK. wasn't even an iOS update. you just had to log into the store again on your device. the app store/itunes store icons are just shortcuts to custom websites. they aren't native apps

I couldn't see it on my JB 4.3.1. Once I went to 4.3.3, I was able to see it. There's a chance it was added in 4.3.3, but not enabled until now.
 

alent1234

Diamond Member
Dec 15, 2002
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could be

i was JB'd on my 3GS last year but got tired of it and went back to stock. my ipad 2 and wife's iphone 4 aren't JB'd and don't really care. i remember i had to log in again after WWDC and it was enabled right after i logged into my account
 

Oyeve

Lifer
Oct 18, 1999
22,062
881
126
I couldn't see it on my JB 4.3.1. Once I went to 4.3.3, I was able to see it. There's a chance it was added in 4.3.3, but not enabled until now.

I have a J/Bed IP4 on 4.1 and it synched my apps from my old 3gs itunes account with no problems at all. Dont know if anything in between 4.1 and 4.3.x had a problem. I am reluctant to go beyond 4.1.