Now that Apple has removed the ability to access the iOS App Store in iTunes 12.7 on Mac/Windows (See MacRumors article), I can't find any way to download an IPA file from the App Store. As a note, I'm not worried about installing the IPA files (see "How do I backup and restore my IPA app backups in iTunes 12.7?"), I just need the IPA files as a developer looking for some basic information on the apps. I'd like to solve this without resorting to jailbreaking as my devices are already updated to iOS 10.3.3.
Here are things that I've tried that didn't work:
- Extract from backup: The apps seem no longer to be backed up.
- Save to Mac from iPhone management software: I believe this has been blocked by Apple works as far back as iOS 8.3.
- Figuring out how the file is downloaded via proxy connection: At least for me, this looks too complicated to do because you have to authenticate with your Apple ID and I'm sure that by now, Apple even requires the phone to be authenticated in some way. Not sure if it would even be possible in the same way that you see all those Android APK download services out there.
At least for now, it looks to me like maybe the only way is to hold onto an older version of iTunes for as long as that works.
Best Answer
This isn’t exactly what you want, but just to add this option too...
If you use the "Apple Configurator 2" app, you can still download and update apps from multiple Apple IDs - as you also could with iTunes.
Connect the device with USB
Sign in under Account:
A more detailed description can be found here: http://krypted.com/apple-configurator/upgrade-devices-and-apps-using-apple-configurator-2/
The Apps are downloaded to: