Apple Confirms Fix Of Infuriating iOS 13.5 Bug That Made iPhone Apps Unusable

It’s only a matter of days since iOS 13.5 launched with actual life-saving potential. But a crazy bug that appeared with it led to apps refusing to open. Apple has now confirmed that the problem has been fixed, as reported by Tech Crunch.. Here’s what happened and how to make sure you’re sorted.

Soon after iOS 13.5 was launched, users began to report a strange bug that rendered their apps useless. It didn’t apply to everyone but many people said that when trying to open an app, they were met with an unfamiliar message, saying: “This app is no longer shared with you. To use it, you must buy it from the App Store.”

It turns out that the issue was related to the Family Sharing System – hence the reason that not everybody was affected by it. Only users who were part of a family account, where one family member pays for apps for the rest of the family from their Apple ID, were affected.

That Apple ID Family Sharing also applies to free apps, which is why the same, confusing message appeared on apps that were free to download.

In fact, some users who hadn’t updated to iOS 13.5, or even iOS 13, reported the same issue, so it wasn’t just limited to the latest software.

Some users found that old tech standby, turning the iPhone or iPad off and on again, worked to correct the issue.

Others deleted the app and downloaded it again, which also sorted it out. But many more were left pondering what to do. It was chaos.

Apple took action on Sunday, May 24 and as Forbes Contributor Kate O’Flaherty reported, another mysterious set of circumstances arose. Many Apple users suddenly noticed that apps were updating on their iPhone in far larger numbers than usual. Scores, sometimes hundreds of apps were updating at once. That’s only if they had set their device to automatically update apps. Those who didn’t instead saw a clutch of apps suddenly showing as pending.

Essentially, what Apple was doing was the same as those users who had deleted and re-installed the app: the update was over-writing the previous version with no discernible difference or improvement apart from the fact that the clash with the Family Sharing system was now resolved. Not an update, then, more a repeat install.

The cause is still unclear, though as 9to5Mac pointed out, it was likely down to a signing issue which made the apps behave as though they were paid downloads which had suddenly lost the right to be shared.

Now, TechCrunch says that the issue has now been resolved for all affected customers. No more details have been shared, but the fast action was necessary so users didn’t blame the app developers for a problem for which they were blameless.

If you’re still getting the issue and the disturbing “no longer shared” message, the solution is straightforward enough. Go to the App Store app on your iPhone or iPad, tap the Apple ID icon in the top right that leads you to your account and check out if you have any pending updates. Scroll through the list – there may be more than you’d expect.

Then, just click Update All, and you’re golden. You could also choose to have updates happen automatically in the future. To do so, go to Settings, iTunes and App Store, then select App Updates in the Automatic Downloads section.

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