Where did the program tab go in iTunes? Returning App Store Programs to iTunes
The iTunes media player has changed beyond recognition over the past 5 years - Apple developers have added a dozen new functions, thoroughly redesigned the interface, and discovered technology for synchronizing data between PCs and iPhone, iPad and iPod touch via Wi-Fi, reinvented the music section and even experimented with subscriptions - from now on, instead of individual purchases, family purchases are also available.
Apple developers prepare every major upgrade for the release of a new operating system iOS, and small changes produce another 7-8 times a year. Hence the main conclusion - if some sections have disappeared in the “standard” edition of iTunes, for example, there is no program tab in iTunes or there is no sounds tab, then it’s all due to technical changes and updates that have occurred.
How to return “Sounds”?
The procedure depends on current version iTunes:
Up to version 10
A tab with “Ringtones”, which allow you to replace the standard notification for calls and messages, is available in the left menu by default, no settings and additional options not needed. To add sounds, just call the “File” menu, then click on the “Add file to library” item, and then upload a track no longer than 30 seconds with the M4A extension.
10-11 versions
Changes are accepted immediately, and a corresponding section related to interaction with music will immediately appear on the left side of the menu.
After version 11
The song did not play for long again - the developers from Apple once again attacked iTunes with changes and hid the usual parameters for expanding the capabilities of the interface. From now on, the “General” menu is empty and does not allow in any way to adjust the display order of “Ringtones” or “Sounds”.
But even here there were brave souls who figured out how to call up the settings menu in version 11 and put everything back in place.
The button you need is located directly below the “Edit” and “Song” sections and is called “Music” by default. If you click there, the system will allow you to “Edit Menu” and again put in “Sounds”, as well as “Books”, iTunes U and even “Internet Radio”.
Changes are accepted automatically and remain unchanged until users want to update iTunes again.
12 version
The usual ways to return “Sounds” are again kindly hidden by Apple developers, and no settings will help here. Is it really impossible to change the ringtone anymore, and you’ll have to settle for the most boring standard melodies? No way!
You can now download pre-prepared tracks (no more than 30 seconds long, M4A format) by simply dragging and dropping the file into iTunes.
And you can search for what has been added already in iPhone settings, iPad, or iPod Touch in the "On My Device" section, which is located on the left side of the iTunes interface.
How to get "Applications" back?
On September 13, 2017, Apple developers released an update for iTunes numbered 12.7.0.166, which was remembered for three important changes:
- Podcasts and a separate Podcasts tool have been added;
- Stylistically changed Apple Music, a system appeared personal profiles, which allow you to subscribe, and then monitor activity and change playlists;
- A section has been cut out at the root App Store.
And the last point came as a real shock. Users are no longer able to download applications to a computer and then transfer them to iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. And there are two reasons for this:
- "Apps" on a PC aren't really of any interest to anyone. As Cupertino residents suggest, the technology of loading data first to hard drives, and then only 5% of active participants use it on iOS. Others have long been accustomed to using the App Store built into smartphones and tablets;
- The “Applications” tab in iTunes is simply inconvenient. Long search, problems with updating and selection required versions, strange politics regional restrictions, first displaying some content, and then prohibiting downloading. As a result, the guys from Apple took a risk and were not mistaken - downloading games, programs and other entertainment items is much more convenient from the App Store.
But, if for some reason and personal preference you need a version of iTunes with a built-in application store, then there are options here too:
It is quite possible to prepare for unexpected news from Apple, no matter what innovations the developers prepare. But, if you are already tired of delving into the settings once again, studying each section and adapting to changes dozens of times, then no one bothers you not to download updates for iTunes, each time refusing the offer that appears on the screen. And most importantly, such a “refusal” will not lead to any surprises. Updates for iOS are easily downloaded over the network, content (books, movies) is downloaded using third party applications(for example, bots from Telegram or VLC Player), and synchronization has long been working not via USB, but in iCloud.
On the one hand, Apple seems to have acted logically - iTunes now includes movies, music and videos, and to install applications on Mac computers and Windows have corresponding stores Mac App Store and Windows Store. On the other hand, searching for applications in Mobile App The Store made it much easier to get acquainted with the development - all the programs were at hand and there was no need to reach for an extra iOS device.
All this remains in iTunes 12.6. And if you updated to iTunes versions 12.7, get ready to change your habits - the App Store is not there. But everything can be fixed if you follow a few simple steps.
1. Close the iTunes application by pressing the key combination CMD+Q.
2. Open Spotlight Search (the magnifying glass icon at the top right of the screen near the system clock) and launch the Terminal app.
3. Enter the following command:
Cd /Applications/
A directory with an applications folder will open. Now we need to remove current version iTunes 12.7.
4. To do this, enter the following command:
Sudo rm -rf iTunes.app/
Be careful that you entered the command correctly, as there is a risk of deleting the wrong directory. You will be required to enter an administrator password.
5. Open Finder and press the keyboard shortcut CMD + Shift + G. Enter the following directory address:
~/Music/iTunes/
6. In the list of files, find the file named iTunes Library.itl and move it to any other folder. For example, on the desktop.
7. Open the folder " Previous iTunes Libraries" and sort the files By date. Select last file iTunes Library 2017-XX-XX.itl, where XX-XX is the month and date the file was created. Copy it and copy it to any folder for future use.
8. After moving to new folder rename the file, removing the date value. As a result, the file should be named iTunes Library.itl. Now you need to move it to the iTunes folder, opened in step 5 of these instructions.
9. Go to Apple website and download iTunes 12.6.2 for macOS. Install it. Save the installation file for future use just in case.
After installation you will receive "new-old" iTunes 12.6 with App store Store.
How to Bring Back iTunes with the App Store on Mac
1. Open the folder with installed iTunes and find the "Previous iTunes Libraries" directory. Make a copy of the latest current iTunes Library.itl file (by creation date).
It’s not a rare case that content suddenly disappears from iTunes on a PC or Mac. Just yesterday it was there, but today you can’t find the album, movie or application you need. In this instruction, we will tell you what to do if any content is missing from iTunes.
The problem with iTunes and missing content in it occurs quite often among users. This problem is not completely widespread, but there are quite a lot of requests for help on the Internet, and most importantly, almost nowhere they give the right advice. Well, now we will correct this situation.
Step 1: Close iTunes completely 
Step 2: On Mac: Open Finder, select the menu bar item “ Go» → « Personal", then go to the folder " Music» → « iTunes»
On Windows: go to the folder \Users\username\Music\iTunes
Step 3. Transfer the file " iTunes Library.itl» to your desktop. Current file iTunes libraries you most likely won't need it, so you can remove it
Step 4: Go to the " Previous iTunes Libraries", located in the folder iTunes, which you went to in step 2
Step 5: Find the library file whose name matches the iTunes update date and drag the file into your main iTunes folder
Step 6: Rename this file giving it the name " iTunes Library»
Step 7. Launch iTunes - your content should be back where it belongs
This simple method can help you return missing content to iTunes and in most cases all content is returned. However, it is worth understanding that if the iTunes library file to which you are restoring was created, for example, after you created a new playlist, then you should not wait for this playlist to appear in the application.
In any case, this method is the most effective and efficient, and most often only it helps to return missing content to iTunes, be it music, videos or applications.
After iOS release The 11th logical step for me was updating iTunes to the latest version 12.7. As it turned out, this time iTunes not only did not improve, but also became worse... I call it degradation. Below I will explain what disappeared from iTunes applications on the computer and how to live with it...
There is no more App Store in iTunes!
From now on, the App Store opens only on gadgets. To find an application on your computer, you need to type its name into Google, but it no longer redirects from the application page to iTunes.
Shared files
Apple also removed the ability to manage applications from iTunes. Because of this, icon management on iPhone and iPad in iTunes has disappeared. Only control is left " Shared files”, which was moved to a separate section.
Now films, books, documents and other files are entered into the corresponding programs only through this item.
How can I now transfer ipa files to iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch from my computer?
If you still have ipa files with old versions of the application that you would like to install on your iDevice, then you still have the opportunity to transfer them to the device. To do this you need:
a) open your device in iTunes.
b) drag the file from Explorer (Windows)/Finder (Mac OS) to the “On My Device” section in iTunes.
c) Wait until the ipa file is downloaded.
The same applies to ringtones, section with which disappeared too from iTunes 12.7.
Is it possible not to update to iTunes 12.7?
Theoretically, yes - no problem. But iTunes 12.7 is also designed to work correctly with devices running iOS 11.
Also in iTunes 12.7, interaction with Apple Music has been redesigned: new options have been added. We are mainly talking about the social component. You can see and listen to friends' playlists.
These are the changes...
Many product users Apple after updating to computer iTunes up to version 12.7 We were horrified to discover that now There is no Programs item in the application and, accordingly, the section disappeared App Store.
In this article we will talk about what the main inconveniences of such an innovation are, we will briefly describe how Apple indirectly admitted their “mistake”, and, of course, we will find a way out of this situation.
Problems after updating iTunes to version 12.7
For those who may not yet know what happened, let us explain.
September 13, 2017 Apple released iTunes product update with version 12.7.0.166. In this update, in addition to support for synchronizing devices with iOS 11 and some improvements in working with media files, some very useful and convenient functions were cut out.
The greatest resonance among users was caused by removing the Programs section from iTunes. Why didn’t everyone like this innovation? Below are three points that people are complaining about: iPhone owners after changes in software released by the developer:
Release of Apple iTunes 12.6.3 with Applications section
Great user dissatisfaction with the changes made in the update iTunes version 12.7, did not go unnoticed by Apple. It's worth noting that this is certainly a smart gesture on the part of the developers. Even though they did not return the excluded functionality in new releases of the program, the proposed solution is quite workable and speaks of the loyalty of the IT giant to its customers
And this is what happened: after a bunch of negativity addressed to them, Apple met the users halfway and October 9, 2017 released a version iTunes 12.6.3(despite the presence of a release 12.7 months ago).
In iTunes version 12.6.3, the familiar function of installing ringtones on iPhone and the much-desired access to the store have been returned Apps Store.
Here's what the official Apple website says about this:
Free translation of the message:
Deploying Applications in a Business Environment with iTunes
Learn how to deploy apps using iTunes.
Apple offers Volume Purchase and Apple Configurator on Mac to help enterprise environments manage and distribute applications across iOS devices. But some business partners still need to use iTunes to install applications.
Installing apps using iTunes
If you have already installed new version iTunes, you can download this version of iTunes on your Mac, PC 32-bit or PC 64-bit* and run the installer. Once the installation is complete, you can continue deploying apps using iTunes.
After installing this version, you will not be prompted to automatically download new versions of iTunes. Update iTunes to latest version manually when you are ready to update.*Apple provides technical support only for the latest version of iTunes.
Downloading and installing iTunes 12.6.3 on Windows and Mac
As is clear from the above, download iTunes 12.6.3 and you can install it manually. After this, you can also manually update to version 12.7 by downloading the installer from the official website, because automatic update disabled in iTunes 12.6.3.
iTunes 12.6.3 for Mac OS:
iTunes 12.6.3 for Windows x86 (32 bit):
iTunes 12.6.3 for Windows x64 (64 bit):
After downloading the archive, you need to unpack it and install the program. We recommend that you first make a backup of your existing data.
Launch iTunes and use the Applications section at our discretion. Now we can again install applications from the App Store from computer to iPhone, including with outdated version iOS.