The App Store refuses to install an application on your iPhone or iPad because your version of iOS is too old? With a little tip, you can recover and use the latest version of the app compatible with your device.

The App Store refuses to install an application on your iPhone or iPad because your version of iOS is too old? With a little tip, you can recover and use the latest version of the app compatible with your device.

Electronic products are not eternal. In particular in the world of mobile where everything ends up being obsolete, even unusable. And when it is not for a hardware problem – out of use battery, damaged connectors, out -of -service screen, etc. -, it is because of the software, in particular the operating system that has become too old. Apple does things right well in the matter by ensuring its iPhone and iPads for iOS updates for five or six years after marketing. But once this period has passed, the device no longer benefits from the new versions of the operating system. Suddenly, it is no longer possible to install directly from the App Store certain applications which require a recent version of iOS. When you try, you get a message like: “This article requires iOS 13.0 or a later version. To download this article, you must update your device to iOS 13.0.”

Should we condemn an ​​”old” iPhone or iPad to Rebut? No ! Because even if it can no longer receive iOS updates, it is a safe bet that a smartphone or a tablet of more than five years still works very properly. Thus, an iPad Mini of 2013 – This is only one example among others – always an excellent Retina screen, ideal for reading electronic books or watching videos on YouTube or Netflix. The problem is that this model is limited to iOS 12 and that Netflix, precisely, now requires iOS 13 at least. Hence the error message that appears when you try to download the app. And the most frustrating is that the App Store is perfectly capable of offering the latest version of the application compatible with an old version of iOS-we wonder why it is not offered by default: Apple would he want to push us to change the device?

The fact remains that with a little tip, you can easily recover a previous version of an application still compatible with your somewhat old device. There are three simple methods for that which are all based on the same principle: revealing the app for the list of your purchases on the App Store. However, do not lose sight of the fact that “the latest version compatible with your system” does not mean “some latest version”. In other words, the application that you can install on your device will probably not offer you all the latest functions. And if you miss these, you will have no other solution than to invest in a more recent model …

How to recover an old version of an application already installed on iPhone or iPad?

If you have already installed an application on your iPhone or iPad at least once, you can reinstall it without problem. To do this, it suffices to display the list of all the applications that have already been installed via your Apple account.

• On your mobile connected to the Internet, open the App Store.
• In our example with iOS 12, press the top right of the screen on The silhouette Or on your photoif you have one. Then press Purchases In the panel that opened.

  

• If you have adopted the family sharing function, the list of all family members is displayed. Choose the name From the person who already has, at least once, installed the application you need.

  

• Find the application by scrolling the list or use the search field at the top to type its name.

  

• Then press The cloud -shaped icon Arching an arrow pointing down, located to the right of the icon of the application concerned.

  

• And there, a miracle, a message offers you to download a previous version of this app. Press Download.

• The installation completed, you can use the app in its version compatible with your device.

How to temporarily use an iPhone or a more recent iPad to recover an application?

If you have never installed an application before it becomes incompatible with your iPhone or iPad, a solution is to temporarily use a more recent device to recover it. Indeed, it will then be one of the applications associated with your Apple account and you can reinstall it via the my purchases list, as explained above. If you do not have a sufficiently recent device, ask around you: a friend, a family member or even a colleague may may lend you his device using iOS 13 or 14 the few minutes necessary to carry out the operation.

Again, we will recover an old version of Netflix to install it on an old iPad, but via an iPhone with iOS 14. The method is identical whatever the app, as long as it is referenced on the App Store.

• On the recent device-here an iPhone-, go to the Settingsthen press the name of its owner at the top.

  

• In the next screen, press Multimedia and Purchasing Contents.

• In the shutter that slides from the bottom of the device, choose Disconnect. Confirm by typing a second time on Disconnect In the message displayed in the middle of the screen.

• Then type on again Multimedia and Purchasing Contentsto connect to your own Apple account.

  

• If your Apple account is protected by identification with two factors, which is most likely, look at your own device the message that indicates a connection request to your identifier on a new device. Press Authorize To display the validation code. Enter this code on the device that has been loaned to you.

  

  

• You can now go to the App Store via the recent device to find the application you need on your older device.

  

• Install the application on the recent device. It will now be part of the list of applications related to your own Apple account. You can without delay uninstalling the recent device – especially if you have been lent to you – via a long support on its icon on the home screen.
• Once done, go to the Settingspress the name the owner, then again on Multimedia and Purchasing Contents. And log out of your account.
• You can now return to its owner the device that it has lent you time to add this application to your own list. He can reconnect to his own account without problem.
• Go back to your purchasing list on your a little old device: the app that you are looking for. All you have to do is download in a previous version, as explained more. The tour is played!

How to use an old version of iTunes on computer to recover an application?

If you cannot install the application sought directly on an iPhone or an iPad-old or recent-as explained above, everything is not lost. You can use another technique using a computer (Mac or PC) by installing iTunes. Or, more precisely an old iTunes version. Indeed, the most recent versions of Apple software for Windows no longer manage iOS applications. As for the macOS environment, iTunes simply there are no longer any: the application has been divided into several independent modules to manage music, podcasts, etc. Please note, the Mac version also requires a relatively old version of macOS: iTunes 12.6.4 will not work with Mojave (10.14), Catalina (10.15) or Big on (version 11). And, therefore not on the brand new macs with Apple M1 chip.

In our example, we use the PC version, which works very well with Windows 10 to recover an old version of the Netflix application.

• Download version 12.6.4 suitable for your computer via one of the following links.

Download iTunes for 32 -bit windows

Download iTunes for 64 -bit windows

Download iTunes for macOS

• Click on Get in the next screen.

  

• Then log into your Apple account, with your username and password and, if necessary, the validation code sent to your device if your account is protected by the two-step validation system. Once this is done, the Netflix application for iOS will be downloaded from your PC. You will do nothing about it, but now this application is part of your collection.

  

  

• On your old iPad or iPhone, go to your purchase list to find it and install the latest version compatible with your system, as indicated above.