One of the “features” of iTunes 12.7.0 — the latest official version of Apple’s media store — that has befuddled a number of Mac users is the removal of the iOS App Store. For bloggers, having the iOS App Store in iTunes was very useful, as we could use the app to easily search for apps on our Macs while writing. The removal of the iOS App Store also caused issues for Volume Purchase Program (VPP) customers who need to deploy apps within a business through iTunes. Apple has released iTunes 12.6.3 specifically for VPP customers, providing a way for other users to bring back the App Store if they wish.
Now there’s one little problem if you want to do this on your own Mac — if you install iTunes 12.6.3 on your personal Mac that already has 12.7 installed, 12.6.3 will not be able to read an iTunes 12.7 library… If you have a past backup of a 12.6.x iTunes library that can be restored, then here’s how you can download the version of iTunes you need (Mac, PC 32-bit or PC 64-bit), and install it on your computer.
In addition to not being able to read an iTunes 12.7 iTunes Library, there are some other caveats you may wish to consider prior to installing 12.6.3:
- It’s unsupported, so if anything goes wrong you’re out of luck getting Apple to help you
- You will no longer be prompted to download new versions of iTunes and will need upgrade manually
