July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Apple’s app store appears to be having some technical challenges today. Perhaps it’s the massive influx of people downloading Google’s new Gmail app.

I haven’t been able to update apps all day, and apparently, I’m not alone. Others can’t download apps either:

iTunes and App Store down for many, can't get or update apps dld.bz/bSvap #iPhone

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John Morgan (@IPhonesAppMgr) November 30, 2012

Is @AppStore down?? Can’t download apps, “app no longer available” #frustrated #apple

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 Rafael C. (@Rafo1580) December 04, 2012

It’s possible that the new Gmail app has something to do with the issue, as it seems to be particularly challenging to download and/or update. Devindra Hardawar, our national editor, was able to download the Gmail app, but only after deleting the existing app and re-installing. Others have been entirely out of luck:

Whoa. The new Gmail app for iOS bringing down the app store ?

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Amit Bhor (@daamitt) December 04, 2012

When I tried to download the Gmail app for an earlier story, the app store app on my phone could not find it, although it was most certainly visible on the web. Now I can see it but cannot download it — as you can see in the title graphic for this post.

I’ve contacted Apple and asked for an explanation or statement, and will update this post if I hear anything.

The service is certainly not down for all — our own Tom Cheredar was also able to access the app store and download apps. If you can’t, there is only one option, however unpalatable as it is for us impatient denizens of the digital world … being patient:

Looks like the App Store is getting hammered; if you get a message about the new Gmail app not being available, try again later.

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Lifehacker (@lifehacker) December 04, 2012