Overnight Apple released the App Store on iTunes, letting users download apps to their computers. But without the iPhone 2.0 software you couldn’t get them to your iPhone.
Now it looks like you can get that iPhone 2.0 software, too, and get the apps to your phone via an update found by MacRumors. You have to download it manually via this link.
Use caution, however. To install the software after it has downloaded, remove the .zip file extension and hit the option key while asking iTunes to look for iPhone updates. And the software will erase all data on your phone. Apple says they will create a one-time media backup of the data. But I’m still downloading the update and haven’t tried it yet. I’ll update this post when I have.
Update: I’m in process of updating to 2.0 now. So far so good.
Update2: I can confirm this worked perfectly for me. My iPhone is now running v2.0 of the software and the apps I’ve downloaded work. Video is below, and more videos are embedded in the comments below.
SEE! I knew this would happen. I should have called in sick. Although, I might start to feel “bad” here in a little bit and have to “force” myself to go home and “rest”.
Can you say “brick”?
How about iPod Touch? Do we sadly have to pay another $9.95 to get another firmware update? Steve, I’ve paid 399 for that device and 19.99 for an update!
Mike - does that mean we’ll get to see your app reviews today?
Can you explain this a little more thoroughly for windows users? I don’t want to brick this mafucka.
@Jay M
Are you hiding file extensions? I’m no expert, but I’ve run into similar problems in the past that a simple preference change fixed.
iphone upgrading now
@steve then don’t do it until the first reports come in.
this will likely work through the iTunes store directly in the next few days anyway i would presume.
@Jason i double checked on that to make sure i see no .zip
@Jay M
Are you on a Mac? Try looking at this http://forums.macrumors.com/sh.....p?t=395047
ok, update is complete, everything looks good. video coming up.
I didnt find also the app store but it is there !!
Nath
http://www.themostpowerfulcompany.com
@Michael Arrington
When you follow up can you let us all know how long the entire process took?
Thanks for the info!
Scott: I updated the post, everything went smoothly. Here’s the video:
did you lose your contacts?
Working here.
Thats awesome Mike, cheers for sharing…it must be pretty damn late for you. Ok, screw it - i’m going for it…what the hell.
Thanks for the download link and option key secret. However, I downloaded several apps (AIM, Ebay, etc.) and after initializing the OS on the iPhone everything looked ok but none of the applications, with the exception of the new Contacts, worked. They would launch the flash screen then go away. My guess is nothing is live until the Apple network is or am I doing something wrong?
bert - i did not lose my contacts.
How do i take away the .zip extension?
woooot woooooot, let the phone app clutter begin
ok here’s my video of jott, which transcribes voice comments to text. worked very well.
By the way, to those of you downloading apps, download loopt via this link. I’ll explain in a couple of hours why.
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObj.....&mt=8
Hey if I pay 9.99 for the ipod touch software update, does it come with the previous updates as well??
2.0 upgrade worked for me too. very nice
Yeah what ^^ abhishek asked.
Happy Birthday Seth Godin!!!
Anyone know if it’s OK to do this with a sim-unlocked iPhone? And if not, is there a way of reversing the sim unlock on Windows?
Installed 2.0 Upgrade.
Everything worked fine. All Data has been saved. Apps fro the store have been installed succesfully.
They seem to have forgotten the clock settings tough
@Abhishek - yes… I recently lost my “january update” apps when I restored after upgrading from tiger to leopard - the apple rep told me the 2.0 update will include the apps from the january update.
this does not work for ipod touch users
The 2.0 upgrade worked for me. A bit nervewracking though. It took quite some time while iTunes said it was “preparing my iPhone.” I think it was actually updating. I thought for sure I’d bricked it, but then it all started working perfectly. it does ask you if you want to restore your data. I selected yes, and all is working fine. It’s even let me in to MobileMe set up for my Mac, but not yet for my iPhone.
Now, off to the Apps store!
Hi,
Does this work for unlocked iPhones?
Chris
I’ve tried it twice now on my PC and unfortunately both times it has failed with unknown error 5 after starting the upgrade process.
Both times, it has required me to do a complete restore and the update to my last sync. This certainly takes a while but in the end, everything is as it was. So, not sure if this update is only for Mac users or what, but it is not working for me.
Link to the upgrade package seems to be dead (or just buried in requests)…I wanna try!
Stupid question, but did anyone upgrade a jailbroken phone?
Ideas on how to make it work with iTunes on Windows?
for both Mac and Windows you need to go to apple.com/itunes and download new version 7.7.. It appears that if iTunes is already installed and you select check for updates it doesn’t provide the update to 7.7 for now…
Shift-Ctrl == Option key in the above instructions for Windows users. And I didn’t have to remove the .zip extension, it looks like something either in vista or itunes did the right thing.
Quick update on my ‘not working problem’. I reset the iPhone to ground zero, zapped all programs, etc. Then restored by forcing a reboot, then synced with iTunes.
All works!
Does this upgrade erase all of your text messages before the update process?
Hmmn anyone got any word on when 2.0 update will be released for the ipod touch :/
Windows users:
Be sure to fully sync prior to proceeding. In order to install this firmware, you will have to do it manually by pressing the Option key (Shift under Windows) when pressing the “Check for Update” button in iTunes version 7.7. Then select the .ipsw file manually. If for some reason your download is a “.zip” file, rename it to “.ipsw” before proceeding.
In response to my pot above, the “Check for Updates” button is located when you press your iPhone, in the Summary tab. Hold Shift while pressing Check for Updates.
Anyone else have trouble launching their Mail.app after this update? Mine crashes back to the home screen every time. Trying to delete the email accounts from Settings doesn’t work either. They just stay there even after I hit “delete”.
Anyone figure out how to get around the Error (5) when installing this? I’ve tried both Mac and Windows, with iTunes 7.7 and keep getting Error (5). I’ve hard-rebooted the phone and even ‘refurbished’ it using ZiPhone. Any ideas guys?
I read your comment online about error code 5 on your iphone did you figure out what to do to get out of it all I get it the error code 5 and my phone is in emergency calls only screen If you know I would really appreciate it I have spent five days trying to get this done. jdncarroll@hotmail.com
It’s shift+ctrl while clicking Check for updates
Not shift by itself.
For those of you getting crashes with mail.app after this update:
Googling around, this appears to have been a problem in the past with other firmware updates that was caused by some kind of Mail permissions bug. Jailbroken phones can fix it with SSH and a chmod, but non-jailbroken can repair this by:
-force an update to the same firmware again.
-iTunes prompted to restore my backup, which I ignored.
-Once the iPhone showed that my phone was activated, I launched the mail app once and set it up with my gmail account.
-Then I went to iTunes, and did a restore backup.
-After the backup was restored, the mail app worked again.