Trick To Download Older iOS Apps Via iTunes

People who want to download older iOS apps for some reasons then here’s a little trick to download older iOS apps for their iPhones, iPads. By tricking iTunes the legacy version is possible to download. Check out the detailed guide here how to download.

older ios app

There are couple of reasons why we want the old app. As we like an app and the developer release a  new version by killing the favorite features of that app. This little trick will help you to have the older iOS app version that you love to use.

Trick To Download Older iOS Apps Via iTunes

Before getting started you need following:

  • Fiddler app installed on Windows. The tool is free and can be downloaded from telerik.com/download/fiddler.
  • Latest version of iTunes installed.
  • On your computer launch Fiddler
  • Click Tools menu and then select Fiddler Options
  • Click HTTPS tab, and check the “Decrypt HTTPS traffic” check and next click Yes if popup appears showing “Scary Text Ahead!”
  • Click Actions button and then Export Root Certificate to the Desktop after exporting a notification will showing that the certificate file “FiddlerRoot.cer” has been exported to desktop. Simply hit OK and go back to main interface of Fiddler
  • On your desktop locate the exported certificate file and right click on this file and select Install Certificate. Click Next and then select Place all certificates in the following store click Browse
  • From list select Trusted Root Certification Authorities and click OK, click Next then finish
  • Now on your computer launch iTunes, and sign-in with your Apple account
  • Search the app for which you want to download the older version start downloading the app, but as the download start pause it and then delete it
  • Switch back to Fiddler and  in the crowded list locate the downloaded item. The item can be identified with name such as “iosapps.itunes…”. Right click on the item and click Remove – > Selected Sessions
  • Now locate another item with p32-buy.itunes.apple.com host name, select it and click Inspectors tab in right side panel
  • Click yellow header showing the label “Response is encoded and may require decoding before inspection. Click here to transform”
  • Right on item you selected in step 11, and go-to to Save –> Response and then select Response Body….
  • A prompt will show you to save the XML file, so just save it where you want
  • Now open the saved XML file by using any browser.
  • Scroll-down to find the text “softwareVersionExternalIdentifiers”, and here you will find a list version identifiers showing each and every version of the of that app
  • Copy the identifier, go back to Fiddler, right-click on the item identifier p32-buy.itunes.apple.com selected in step 11, click Replay –> Reissue and then Edit.
  • In the Inspectors tab, click Raw sub-tab and just below the “appExtVrsId” string, paste the copied version ID on existing version ID. Click the green Run to Completion button
  •  In the lower right panel click the XML tab
  • Wait the XML content will be generated very soon. Scroll down, and find the string containing the name of the app followed by the shorter version ID of the app, as showing on the App Store
  • Go back to iTunes, and here open the detailed view of the app, where you will find  the Get button. Do not hit the download
  • Open Fiddler again and from menu-bar, navigate to Rules > Automatic Breakpointsand select Before Requests
  • Now from iTunes and start downloading
  • Back in Fiddler, on the left panel in the list you will find some new items, with red icons. click the one with host identifier: p32-buy.itunes.apple.com
  • Once again, replace the identifier under the string “appExtVrsId”  with the same external identifier you copied earlier in Step 17 in the Raw view on the right panel
  • Go-to menu-bar, click Rules  –> Automatic Breakpoints, and then selectDisabled followed by green Run to Completion button

With the help of iTunes you can download the old iOS app version of the app. But you should not close the iTunes or Fiddler before the app has finished downloading.