Mac App Store Now Offering Re-Buy Warnings for Apps Purchased Elsewhere

mac app store rebuy warning
Macworld reports that Apple has made a change to its Mac App Store providing warnings to users attempting to purchase apps that are already installed on their computers but purchased from outside the Mac App Store. The warning says:

[App name] is already installed and was not purchased from the Mac App Store

Do you want to buy [app name] again?

The report notes that while Apple has yet to provide a way for users to bring their existing non-Mac App Store apps into the Mac App Store ecosystem, the step does help prevent accidental double purchases of apps in cases where users fail to realize that they have an application already installed.

As noted by The Next Web, however, the existing app and the Mac App Store must be the exact same version in order for the warning to be triggered. Consequently, users will still need to be careful to pay attention to their existing installed apps when browsing the Mac App Store.

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 14, 2025 5:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
apple watch ultra 2 new black

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Finally Coming After Two-Year Hiatus

Monday June 16, 2025 8:45 am PDT by
Apple will finally deliver the Apple Watch Ultra 3 sometime this year, according to analyst Jeff Pu of GF Securities Hong Kong (via @jukanlosreve). The analyst expects both the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 to arrive this year (likely alongside the new iPhone 17 lineup, if previous launches are anything to go by), according to his latest product roadmap shared with...
Logitech Logo Feature

Logitech Announces Two New Accessories for WWDC

Friday June 13, 2025 7:22 am PDT by
Alongside WWDC this week, Logitech announced notable new accessories for the iPad and Apple Vision Pro. The Logitech Muse is a spatially-tracked stylus developed for use with the Apple Vision Pro. Introduced during the WWDC 2025 keynote address, Muse is intended to support the next generation of spatial computing workflows enabled by visionOS 26. The device incorporates six degrees of...
iPadOS 26 App Windowing

Apple Explains Why iPads Don't Just Run macOS

Friday June 13, 2025 7:46 am PDT by
iPadOS 26 allows iPads to function much more like Macs, with a new app windowing system, a swipe-down menu bar at the top of the screen, and more. However, Apple has stopped short of allowing iPads to run macOS, and it has now explained why. In an interview this week with Swiss tech journalist Rafael Zeier, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi said that iPadOS 26's new Mac-like ...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday June 12, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
terminal macos tahoe

Apple's Terminal App Gets Colorful Redesign in macOS Tahoe

Monday June 16, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's Terminal app is getting a visual refresh in macOS Tahoe, and it's the first notable design update since the command-line tool debuted. The updated Terminal will support 24-bit color and Powerline fonts, according to Apple's State of the Platforms presentation at WWDC25. The app will also adopt the new Liquid Glass aesthetic with redesigned themes that align with macOS 26's broader...
apple watch ultra snow

6 Features Coming to the Apple Watch Ultra 3

Tuesday February 25, 2025 9:00 am PST by
The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is expected to launch later this year, arriving two years after the previous model with a series of improvements. While no noticeable design changes are expected for the third generation since the company tends to stick with the same Apple Watch design through three generations before changing it, there are a series of internal upgrades on the way. By the time the ...
iOS 26 Feature

Apple Seeds Revised iOS 26 Developer Beta to Fix Battery Issue

Friday June 13, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple today provided developers with a revised version of the first iOS 26 beta for testing purposes. The update is only available for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 models, so if you're running iOS 26 on an iPhone 14 or earlier, you won't see the revised beta. Registered developers can download the new beta software through the Settings app on each device. The revised beta addresses an...

Top Rated Comments

itickings Avatar
180 months ago
One small step in the right direction.

They really ought to provide a way to import licenses though. I'm getting sick of developers transitioning to "App Store only" leaving existing customers out in the cold.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Pumpkin King Avatar
180 months ago
I wish it would let you download it for free. I bought Aperture 3 prior to the App store and I'd like to get it linked to my Apple ID for updates, etc.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
commander.data Avatar
180 months ago
Being able to transfer the license from existing software to the Mac App Store would be especially useful for already bought games that still have a disc check now that Apple is moving away from optical storage.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Small White Car Avatar
180 months ago
Well, the old model was "big price up front, cheap updates." The new way seems to be "reasonable price for every version, same price for everyone."

SO, given that, I suspect most developers (and Apple) will just hope that the problem goes away by itself over time.

I mean, yeah, I'd sure LIKE to link Aperture 3 with the app store, but by the time Aperture 4 comes out it won't matter. Everyone will have to buy it for the same price no matter what you had before. So the problem will essentially solve itself over time.

Yeah, it's a little anoying, but long-tern it doesn't matter. We'll all end up in the same place eventually (and for the same price).
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
APlotdevice Avatar
180 months ago
The one thing that bothers me a little is that they made "buy" the default option.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
28monkeys Avatar
179 months ago
and the default button is on buy?
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)