Download an older version of this app loop

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Apple hasn't totally left old iPad owners behind. In addition to still signing the last iOS releases for those devices, you can still download software for them — assuming you know where to look.

This tip doesn't cover shopping for the old apps if you don't already own them, because there is no good way to tell if that app that now requires iOS 11 even had an iOS 9 version for the original iPad mini, or an iOS 5 one for the original iPad. But, if you bought the app, here's how to download it.

In this procedure, we've left out user credential verification steps. The frequency you have to enter them will depend on your device settings. With that in mind, authorize through password entry when asked.

Patience is also a must. The older devices aren't exactly snappy when responding to queries, and can have limited wi-fi speed. That all said, on with the show!

To speed this up a bit, power-cycle your iPad completely before you get started. Hold down the power button for a while, and slide the toggle on the screen to turn the device off. Turn it back on by holding down the power button again.

Open up the App Store. Tap on Purchased..

Let the list load. The names of the apps will load first, and icons will follow, if you wait long enough. We did say you'd have to be patient.

Find what app you used to use, or you know has a version for your device. Click on it, and select Install.

The App Store will consider your request for a moment, and then pop up a dialog box, asking you if you want to install the old app. Click Download to get the older version, and the app store will chew on your request for a minute, and start installing.

However, this procedure does not allow you to access deprecated cloud services, if the app developer has shifted to a new architecture. It is also, obviously, not the most recent version of the app, and will likely lack some features found in the newest version.

This same procedure can also be used to download apps that have been stricken from the App Store — if you own them already.

Getting this dialog to appear is what takes the time

AppleInsider may earn an affiliate commission on purchases made through links on our site.

Apple hasn't totally left old iPad owners behind. In addition to still signing the last iOS releases for those devices, you can still download software for them — assuming you know where to look.

Maybe you're hanging on to an older iOS device or maybe you just got a great secondhand bargain. Either way, you can't update the device to the latest iOS and so you also can't download the latest versions of your apps. Since the App Store only ever shows you the latest versions, it looks as if you're stuck unable to get your old apps back. Yet you can do it, and you can do it easily — if you know where to look.

Watch an AppleInsider two-minute tip video on this or read on for extra detail.

Certified pre-owned

Open the App Store on this older device of yours and then tap on the Purchased button. As great as older iOS devices are, they are older and they are usually slower so this won't be quick. Especially not as you need to wait until the complete list of your previously purchased apps is displayed.

Once the list is complete — and all the icons have displayed too — search for the app you want.

It will be there with an iCloud download icon next to it.

This is too easy

Just tap on that iCloud download icon and you're done — or very nearly. The trick here is to wait. And maybe wait for a considerable time, too. Don't tap away, don't leave the App Store, just wait.

After some amount of time, the App Store will display a notification saying that no, you can't have this app because it doesn't work with the version of iOS that your device has. However, it will also offer to let you download a previous version.

This is a really smart feature from Apple because it offers you this compatible version but it also makes sure that you're getting the newest that you can. If an app has been updated five times a year, you'd struggle to know which was the very latest you could use but Apple knows and Apple tells you.

Simply tap the Download button and soon that app will be on your older device.

There are limits, though

Apps get updated for a reason. You're not going to have the same experience with an older version of an app on an older device than you will with a newer setup.

Speaking of newer setups, though, it looks as if you can only use this download trick with apps that you have previously bought. If this older device is your sole iOS one then that's true, but if you have a newer one as well, you can do something more.

On the newer iOS device, find and buy an app you want — that you know has a previous version which will work on your older machine. That's the hard part. There's no surefire way of knowing for certain and the best you can do is take an educated guess. If you can find references online to the app being updated around the date of your older device, you're probably in luck.

If the app is regularly updated then the App Store's Version History simply won't go back far enough to be of use

Buy it on the newer device and then it's in your Purchased history on all your iOS devices. And that means also on your older one. Give it a few minutes for the information to propagate through the App Store but thereafter you should be able to do this download trick and get the previous version that works with your older device.

If for some reason there wasn't a version that ever worked on your older device then there's nothing you can do. However, you've at least got that app on your new iOS device and can use it there.

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