Apple says App Store app crashing error has been fixed

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Apple said on Thursday that it had "rectified" an issue with an App Store DRM server that was causing newly-updated applications to crash on launch.

The Cupertino, Calif., company told AllThingsD in a statement that the problem had only affected a small number of users.

â€œWe had a temporary issue that began yesterday with a server that generated DRM code for some apps being downloaded,â€ the company said. â€œThe issue has been rectified and we donâ€™t expect it to occur again."

Users who are still experiencing the issue were directed to delete the applications in question and reinstall them. Earlier on Thursday, Apple reportedly told developers that it was aware of the issue and "working to resolve" it.

Marco Arment, the developer behind the popular read-it-later app "Instapaper," called attention to the problem earlier this week. Counter to Apple's claims that the issue's impact was limited, Arment collected a list of more than 100 apps affected by the problem before he stopped keeping track.

Some app publishers are calling for Apple to remove negative app reviews unfairly that blame developers for the crashing. Macworld reports that, according to its sources, Apple will remove one-star reviews arising from the issue.

The App Store has had an eventful few days. Apple revealed on Thursday that it had removed a Russian malware application from the store after security researchers discovered that the offending app would upload a user's address book without permission and spam contacts with a link to the application.

💬 15 Comments

daharder

said about 10 years ago

Good... though it'd have been better had it never happened.

charlituna

said about 10 years ago

[quote name="DaHarder" url="/t/151118/apple-says-app-store-crashing-error-has-been-fixed#post_2141299"]Good... though it'd have been better had it never happened.[/quote] Well maybe they should hire you to be in charge. Because these things would never happen on your watch.

vadania

said about 10 years ago

As always, it's better to read about it than live through things like this. Though I feel bad for the developers with bad reviews as a result. Imagine if everyone got all up tight every time the electricity went out... That only makes news when hundreds of thousands of people are affected.

macbook pro

said about 10 years ago

Not such a horrible problem considering the alternative... Android botnet ... (1) "The past quarter has seen the number of malicious apps double from 10,000 to 20,000 in just one month ..." (2) "... hundreds of thousands of devices were infected after malware found its way onto the official Google Play marketplace." (2) "... More worryingly for users, even Google’s official application marketplace, Google Play, was breached, with 17 malicious apps downloaded over 700,000 times before they were spotted and removed from the site..." (2) "The security firm said at the start of the year, it had found more than 5,000 malicious applications designed to target Google's Android mobile operating system, but the figure has since risen to about 20,000 in recent months. By the coming third-quarter, the firm estimates there will be around 38,000 malware samples, and close to 130,000 in the fourth-quarter." (3) "... malware targeting Android grew by 3,325 percent in the last seven months of 2011..." (4) 1. Terry Zink. Published 3 July 2012. [URL=http://blogs.msdn.com/b/tzink/archive/2012/07/03/spam-from-an-android-botnet.aspx]Spam from an Android botnet.[/URL] [I]Terry Zink's Cyber Security Blog[/I]. Retrieved 5 July 2012. 2. Unattributed. Published 2 July 2012. [URL=http://www.trendmicro.co.uk/newsroom/pr/the-true-face-of-the-android-threat/]The True Face of the Android threat[/URL]. [I]Trend Micro[/I]. Retrieved 5 July 2012. 3. Zack Whittaker. Published 4 July 2012. [URL=http://www.zdnet.com/trend-micro-warns-of-android-malware-pandemic-by-q4-2012-7000000274/]Trend Micro warns of Android malware pandemic by Q4 2012[/URL]. [I]ZDNet[/I]. Retrieved 5 July 2012. 4. Jeffrey Burt. Published 5 July 2012. [URL=http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/Android-Malware-Creates-Smartphone-Botnet-Researchers-Say-256584/] Android Malware Creates Smartphone Botnet, Researchers Say[/URL]. [I]eWeek[/I]. Retrieved 5 July 2012.