UPDATE: This problem has been around for months now and thanks to comments from Barry, Alex, JimmyJohn and further research there are now a few more effective fixes for this. Please see our new post titled ‘Best Fixes for Cannot connect to iTunes Store Errors‘ for the best current fixes for this issue.
This morning I encountered an issue I’d never had before on any of my iPads, or iPhones for that matter: I was unable to install updates or new apps on my iPad. In researching a solution this morning I saw that a number of other users have had this and similar issues, so I thought I’d share my experience and the ultimate solution to the issue that worked for me.
The Problem and Initial Troubleshooting Steps:
When I tapped to update an app, the app’s icon text changed to showing ‘Waiting’ and then sat there doing nothing for 15 minutes and more. It never got past that status. After 15-20 minutes an error dialog finally popped up – the one shown in the screenshot above, saying ‘Cannot connect to iTunes Store’. I tried several different apps that needed updates – and got the same result with each one.
I was on my home WiFi network with a solid connection – Mail app was sending and receiving just fine, Safari was happily loading web pages, and the App Store was opening and loading all its pages just fine as well. So there was no connectivity issue.
I tried rebooting the iPad, several times, during the course of trying to get things working and also did a hard reboot. There was no change at all and trying to update an app got the same result.
I had my newly-acquired testing iPad sitting nearby, and tested installing and updating apps (under the same Apple ID and on the same WiFi network) and everything worked as normal. So my impression was that this was not a connectivity issue and not an issue related to my Apple ID either. It appeared to be specific to my main iPad.
Web searches initially lead to some entries in the Apple Support Communities (like this one) that tended to just focus on connectivity – make sure you can connect to the internet etc. Further searching soon lead to a possible fix that involved using an app like iExplorer (or other similar ones) that allow a level of access to the iPad file system and renaming one file within a downloads folder – sqlitedb.
Renaming a file is generally a low risk way to attempt to resolve a computer problem – as if it doesn’t fix the problem at hand the file can just be renamed back to its original name. I could have just gone with that approach an was tempted to, but I decided to check with Apple Support and see what their suggested solution would be.
I called in to Apple Support, explained my issue and the steps I’d already taken to try to resolve it. The first agent I spoke to spent some time quizzing me on whether the iPad could connect to the web, whether the Apple ID in use was the same on both iPads, and eventually suggested that I do a reset of network settings (Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings). I did this and the issue remained exactly the same afterwards. The agent then brought in a ‘specialist’ who spoke with me for 5 minutes or so, checked on the issue and steps taken again, had me sign out on iTunes on the Mac (where the same Apple ID was also in use), quit iTunes and reopen it, and check for available downloads (via the Store menu) – none were shown.
At that point the specialist said he needed to discuss the issue with the iTunes Store team and call me back. When he called back 15 minutes later he told me that the iTunes Store team had found that there were a number of ‘pending downloads’ showing for my Apple ID and that they had cleared those out for me. I then signed out of and back into the App Store on my iPad – and updates worked as normal again.
I don’t recall any previous problems with downloads so I don’t have much idea what the ‘pending downloads’ were. I certainly never saw any App Store or iTunes messages letting me know that I had any pending downloads – or anything of that nature. I suspect that the iTunes Store team may well have just used the file renaming method that I considered using to ‘clear those out’ for me.
If you happen to get the ‘Cannot connect to iTunes Store’ errors under similar circumstances to mine described above, this is one method of getting to a solution – call in to Apple Support and explain that you need some help from the iTunes Store team.
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Hi. I’ve already faced a similar issue and could solved in 2 different ways:
- pushing the app installation via iTunes, with the downsize of the connecting need
- uninstall the app and have it reinstalled from the scratch.
Cheers,
Cristiano
This was happening with multiple apps, not just one.
I’ve just come off the phone to Apple Support, and they told me i have to contact iTunes support via email due to security reasons (they go by your email address to prove you’re who you say you are).
However, they did tell, as I only have this issue on my home network and not at my work place, to alter DNS settings on my devices (and perhaps even on my home router) to Google DNS server 8.8.8.8
According to some (a quick google search for “cannot connect to iTunes store dns” will show) this has worked.
It sounds like your issue was probably quite different to mine, like yours was more of a connectivity issue. My connectivity was fine, the App Store loaded fine, Mail could send and receive, sites loaded fine in Safari etc.
My connection was fine other that too- mail, safari, app store, all loaded great. Just downloading new or updated apps was the issue, with that error message. I’m home now, changed the DNS in the Wi-Fi settings on my devices to 8.8.8.8 and both are downloading apps great now. No error messages :)
this issue has been driving me nuts! i was leaning towards the last iOS 5.1 update… I changed the DNS entry to 8.8.8.8 and things are working smoothly again…
thanks!
i am having similar issues i think, but wanted to ask someone better at this if it could also be an old router. i have a old linksys 2.4ghz 802.11B. Are there better routers for the ipad. When I say old it was bought in ’04.
I’ve been having this issue with my 21″ MAC. It started with Safari unable to find any page. Now, Safari us okay but the APP Store for the MAC Apps keeps cutting me off. It’s fine and then says cannot connect.
I have no problems with my connection and other browsers have not acted like this.
I finally said forget it and didn’t buy the program I was looking at.
Where can I get that wallpaper?
Changed DSN to 8.8.8.8 in ipads network settings and it is now working! Thanks!!!
I made some music purchases over the weekend via iTunes on my iPad. All my network connected apps work fine: browsers, games, mail, weather, etc., but I cannot connect to iTunes. Apple wants to charge me $30 to troubleshoot. I guess I don’t need to buy or upgrade apps for a while.
I had the same problem and I tried NL comment idea to change the DNS to 8.8.8.8 and it worked flawlessly after that. Thanks for the post and thanks NL for the helpful comment, you really save me.
how do I change the DSN to 8.8.8.8? when I go to network under Settings, there’s my WiFi and something called VPN…
Been updating all apps on iMac, iPad and iPhone no problem until this morning – 21 July 2012 – when my iPad told me it could not connect to the iTunes Store when i keyed in username and ID.
All connections to internet are are sound.
Can’t check it on other devices as there is nothing to update that needs me to connect to the app store on anything other than my iPad..
I suppose I could try downloading a freebie on my phone and see if it accepts my apple ID .
Judging by the posts it’s something that’s gone wrong with the app store in the last day or two and maybe, just maybe it’ll mysteriously resolve in a day or two.
I can live without an update to ‘Handy Spirit Level’ for a while.
Barry,
I tried your trick with the DNS and 8.8.8.8 and it is now working. Ta muchly
Changed the DSN to 8.8.8.8. – nothing changed; still cannot access iTunes on my iPad; this really sucks. I think it has to do with AT&T – my Internet service provider.
I’m now trying to find another reliable ISP with DSL for my area -I live in rural
Northern California! Any suggestions would be most helpful.
I had a similar problem. It was occurring both on my home wi-fi and my mobile. The final solution was to tell my ipad to “forget” my home network and rejoin it ‘freshly’. This fixed the issue.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I have been working on this problem with an AppleCare person all morning. Nothing worked. Tried signing out and them signing back in using your idea and IT WORKED! I am so grateful for your suggestion! So, thanks again!
Thanks for sharing this! This works for me! Logout and Login in you iTunes account!
How do you “tell your iPad to forget the home network and rejoin it freshly”
if I may ask?
Log out of iTunes, log back in again with your credentials. Problem solved.
Yep, This worked for me. Cheers
I’ve tried all of the above suggestions, rebooted router, forgot network & reconnected, changed dns to 8.8.8.8, & still nothing. May just have to restore the iPad. I don’t know what else to do & Now my phone is having the same problem.
I removed sbcglobal.net Mail info from Ipad…and now all is well again. I also disconnected iCloud…so far, so good. It’s definitely a AT&T/sbcglobal.net issue – - they’re playing with our
Macs…and our minds. Good luck, Ang.
After originally posting about this a week or so ago I’ve seen lots of you have had the same issue.
I tried rebooting a coup,e of times then had to leave it to get on with other things.
By the end of the day it had actually resolved itself without any further intervention from me.
This suggests to me that it was an Apple side issue as I previously mentioned that all my connections were working fine.
I tried everything, changed my DNS to 8.8.8.8, signed in and out of iTunes, forget the network… But nothing happened. Do you know what else I should do? The apps that I need to do update are piling up already. :(
You should be able to get into Itunes from your computer and update your apps thru the computer. That’s how I fixed my problem on the Ipad…thru the computer, not the Ipad.
I have tried changing the DNS to 8.8.8.8, forgotten the network then reset, logged in and out of iTunes on my iPod and computer at least 100 times, deleted all the apps that need updating…… and still cannot connect to iTunes store.
I have no problem with the connectivity on my iPod or computer.
Short of running my iPod over with the car, I am not sure what to do.
I have this problem on iphone4 but none of these ways help me.what should I do?
oh my geez, the 8.8.8.8 thing totally worked for me. Yahoo!
I am having the same issue.
iOS is up-to-date on iPhone and iPad. I can access iTunes on the pc, iPhone and iPad. I can update apps via pc, and iPhone.
Connectivity is as it should be. I have done a hard reset, signed I and out and the dns 8.8.8.8 swap and nothing has fixed the issue.
I hadn’t used my iPad in a couple of months when I ran into this problem. I checked the usual stuff: wi-fi connectivity, apple id sign in, current iOS, ability to access internet, and so forth. After reading this and other articles, the one thing in common was we all had waiting updates. I realized I had 9, but couldn’t connect via the “update” tab due to the dread “couldn’t connect to iTunes Store” message. This worked for me: I clicked the “Purchased” tab instead. There were all my apps, variously displaying “Installed” or download icons. I downloaded one of them and it updated correctly. This cleared the queue and I was able to install updates for all remaining 8 in the usual manner.
I’m having the same problem and I’ve tried all of the methods you guys suggested but mine’s still not working. This just sucks! I can still update via iTunes on my Mac but I’m the type where I don’t feel at ease when something is not working. I still want to fix the problem with my iPad.
I had this when I had let my ipad updates pile up. I fixed it with Alex’s suggestion: click on the Purchased tab and do updates from there. When it got down to about 25 updates remaining the ‘can’t connect’ message stopped appearing and the normal updates list popped up.
I just fixed my son’s ipod a little differently – his would not allow updates, but EVERYTHING else worked (Safari, downloading new apps, mail, etc). I set the date to two years into the future (2014 – it’s 2012 now) and tired to update – I got the usual apple date and time security warning. Then I changed the date back and the updates are now working!
My best guess is that he was “time shifting” in games to get through them quicker and somehow this messed with the system. Hope this helps others.
OMG! FINALLY! A solution that worked!!!
Thank you so much.
Worked perfectly. I can update happily again!
This solution works!
thanks!
Changing the date two years ahead and back solved my issue. My iPad would not update only.
been a couple of weeks, and I have tried everyone’s solutions with zero success. stiil can’t connect to iTunes on my iPad.
This worked for me -> Set the clock ahead a year, try updates again, dismiss the time error, close and set clock back to auto.
You’re welcome ;)
Just went to Settings, Turned OFF “Set automatically”, changed the year to 2013, closed the page, went to Itunes, same message, went back to Time, changed back to 2012, went back to Itunes, same message “Cannot connect to Itunes”…
Thanks but…
It worked. I repeated the change year . . .twice; second time worked. Of course, I don’t trust that it will continue to work, but it works now. Only time will tell if it’s permanent!
THanks to all, and to all a “good day!”
Tried everything suggested with no luck but then changed the time to 2014 and back again and it worked! Thank you!
Sounds like you have apps that you do not own installed and and/or used a different appleID to download them.
Your apple ID is only used to update apps purchased with THAT appleID, if another app has an update availible but was downloaded using a DIFFERENT appleID other that the one listed in Settings>Store>AppleID than it will say unable to connect to store (but you’ll still be able to download new apps). Just sign in the Settings>Store with the appleID you may have used for other installed apps, then try to update them. Worked for me since I have three appleID’s…. if you don’t know what apps your appleID owns, try to rate the app, it will tell you unable since ‘you don’t own this app’.
Day 2 and it’s working just fine…changed the date to 2014 as in previous comments
and it’s back to normal, whatever that is!
I wish you all good luck in finding your solution
to the issue.
had the exact same issue. connectivity fine, apple id fine, power off then on didn’t help, hard reboot didn’t work. called apple and told them all this AND about the pending apps mentioned here. the representative still went through all the usual steps, then when they (of course) didn’t help, she moved me to a supervisor. i told him we tried all the usual stuff and it may be an itunes issue. he talked to itunes people (took my apple id over the phone) and they found something “holding things up.” “reset it” and now things are fine.
so thanks for the hint!
The DNS trick didn’t work.
The time change trick worked.
Article should be updated with the changing the dates solution. Worked great for me and others.
You really wrote all that bull Sh#t when all you had to say was Call it in.
You are a massive turd, This was 100% useless. Please never write again.
At first the time change fix didn’t for me. I changed my time settings to 2013 and 2014 but it still didn’t work. I had a feeling that this “time change fix” would work as many of the guys here were able to fix the problem by using this method. Alas, i remembered that i was changing my Date and Time, while playing CSR Racing, up to the last calendar year in the settings which is 2038. With this in mind, i changed my Time to 2038 and then back to 2012,and then it finally WORKED! Thank you guys for the help. I Hope this helps for those who tried using the “time fix”. Maybe you were in the same scenario as me.
same issue here, internet worked, all apps updated none of the above advice helped at all except form lippo’s comment above. jut reset it, theres probably a different way to get out of this problem for each ipad
deffinitley suggest
resetting it
THANKYOU LIPPO
Trick with date and time is working. Yes, when you play some games, and changing time on Ipad back and forward for that- it brings problem with apple update.
Change clock to Jan 1, 2038 -> restart apple application->got sign ( date and time wrong)-> back to setting and turn auto update for date and time- back to apple update and it works.
Thanks for previous reply for this problem.
I did the “date” solution — two years to 2014.
That fixed it.
I tried all of the above but it was changing the time that did it for me. Thank you
Okay, if nothing works, let me give you the solution I got from Apple (took 2 hours on the phone):
1. Backup your phone completely.
2. Connect your phone to iTunes and perform a full restore.
3. Syncronize your emails, contacts, etc. BUT DONT SYNC APPS.
4. Try to acess the apple store, see if you can acess it completely (including, updates, etc.) – without having any apps installed.
5. Sync app by app and keep checking the app store to see if its going to stop working.
Reasons:
The app store may be broken by a corrupt file that can get corrupted by an app (either intentionally or not, they are looking into this).
Other reasons are: wrong dates (as stated above), the DNS problem (only happens in few phones and regular problems (such as internet connectivity problems, etc.).
The last case would be the “interrupted download queue” in which your account gets stuck and can only be restores by apple itself. That’s about 1% of the cases, according to them.
Hope this helps.
Only due that,reset your date in setting and voila!!!!
Ej:pass the year to 2014 and reset you app store(kill in the task bar) and before change to he current in automatic zone!!!!
I had the problem of unable to connect to itunes store. Could not buy stuff for games or do updates to apps. Very frustrating for 2 days then found this thread.
Was not happy to start changing DNS, so
Bought first ever song at random from itunes for 59 pence and downloaded it to my laptop, then separately downloaded it to my IPAD using itunes as described above. This cured the problem quick as a flash.
Really glad , thank you very much for the advice, 59 pence well spent and quicker than 2 hours on the phone to apple :-)
Now discovered we quite like Shakespeare’s Sister!
I read all comments and it appears that the type of solution varies. I was able to surf but could not do the iPad system update. It kept telling me that I didn’t have Internet access. After I updated all iTunes apps…BINGO! I was able to do the system update.
THANKS!
This worked on my iphone 5 when it would now update or download apps via wi fi
I tried the set date forward, reboot, finally tried the Dns trick worked good for me. I noticed I had the same DNS number repeated twice. Dunno if that was issue, although my neighbour had just installed a new network similar to mine and his seems more powerful than mine. I might change router settings