Some Users With Older Copies of iLife and iWork Having Difficulties Upgrading to New Versions [Updated]

Some users with legacy versions of iLife and iWork that were not purchased through the Mac App Store are having difficulties upgrading to the new versions released earlier today, according to Macworld.

Users who own iWork '09 or iLife '11 are supposed to receive the latest versions of both those app suites for free through the Mac App Store, but some are having difficulties.

Some users (including yours truly) are reporting issues where the Mac App Store doesn’t recognize their copies; when they click on an iLife or iWork app’s price, they receive the following alert: “[App] is already installed and was not purchased from the Mac App Store. Do you want to buy [app]?” Macworld spoke with an Apple spokesperson who noted that there’s currently an issue with some legacy customers, and the company is working on a fix.

Users who do not yet own iLife '11 or iWork '09 can purchase them from the Mac App Store. The iLife apps are $14.99 each, while the iWork suite is $19.99 per app.

Update: Apple appears to have updated its systems to resolve this issue.

iPhoto for Mac - [Mac App Store]
iMovie for Mac - [Mac App Store]
GarageBand for Mac - [Mac App Store]

Pages for Mac - [Mac App Store]
Numbers for Mac - [Mac App Store]
Keynote for Mac [Mac App Store]

Top Rated Comments

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troop231

75 months ago

So what am I supposed to do if I bought Keynote and Pages to do my homework that is due Thursday? Will Apple issue a refund?

I believe Tim Cook will do your homework for you until they fix the issue. :)

Rating: 14 Votes

ouimetnick

75 months ago

I don't think there's anything that needs to be fixed.

If you have redeemed/bought iLife/iWork through the Mac App Store, you can update. If you haven't, you can't.

So even though I bought iWork 09 on a DVD back in 2010, I shouldn't get the new versions, and instead should simply buy it again? Should I throw out my iLife 11 install DVD that I bought, remove the apps, and pay $14 each for them again?

See what the issue is? This is what the article is about. :)

Rating: 12 Votes

LordDeath

75 months ago

This made the update for iWorks 09 available on my Mac:

1. Change system language from German to English
2. ???
3. Profit :)

Rating: 11 Votes

Shadow%20Mac

75 months ago

I don't think there's anything that needs to be fixed.

If you have redeemed/bought iLife/iWork through the Mac App Store, you can update. If you haven't, you can't.

Not true. Apple is offering the update to everyone who purchased iLife / iWork, even if outside the MAS. I bought iLife 11, yet the App Store prompted me to 'accept' licenses from the purchase page. However, not so with iWork yet :(

See this article for more information:
http://www.macworld.com/article/2056159/what-you-need-to-know-about-apples-free-apps-policy.html

Rating: 9 Votes

fr4c

75 months ago

I don't think there's anything that needs to be fixed.

If you have redeemed/bought iLife/iWork through the Mac App Store, you can update. If you haven't, you can't.

Can you please stop posting this in all the iLife/iWork threads. Please, and I'm saying this nicely, but you are 100% wrong on this.

The updates are free, regardless if you have iLife '11 or iWork '09 through DVD or MAS. The update will show for some users, but if not the solution to get the Apps updated at this point in time is to create a new "Administrator" account and running Software Update through the new account and deleting the temp account afterwards. Until Apple fixes this issue on their side this is a way for users to update their iLife/iWork apps to the latest version.

I have done this update on 3 machines, all with clean 10.9 installs and brand new installs of iLife and iWork using my previously purchased DVD install medias.

Rating: 9 Votes

singhjeet29

75 months ago

So this worked for me:

1. Go to Mac App Store (MAS) > Click on Store > Check for Unfinished Downloads

2. You will have to enter your iCloud ID

3. Once complete, all the iWorks and iLife apps showed that they could be updated instead of bought.

4. But you need to individually click into each application > Click update > enter in your iCloud user/pass and then it will start updating

Hopefully this works for people, it worked for me. Before I did all of this I had restarted my computer, but I doubt that had anything to do with it since when I went back into MAS the iWork and iLife suite still said I had to buy etc.

Rating: 8 Votes

apple_iBoy

75 months ago

I don't think there's anything that needs to be fixed.

If you have redeemed/bought iLife/iWork through the Mac App Store, you can update. If you haven't, you can't.

Do you think your solution is reasonable? What's the logic for punishing people who purchased their copies a different way than (presumably) you did?

Rating: 7 Votes

RyanKohl

75 months ago

This is good news for the iWork '09 and iLife users.

Rating: 6 Votes

Sanford1988

75 months ago

New User

Just spoke with someone at Apple and this is what you need to do:

You need to create a new user under settings, standard account type is ok and just call it test. Log out and log into new account. Go to system updates and there they are. Once completed you can delete the test account. Hope this helps

Rating: 5 Votes

SvP

75 months ago

I don't think there's anything that needs to be fixed.

You're posting this a lot. I suspect you feel less special if more users got the updates for free. You'd rather stay in the "lucky" group, the happy few.

It's the difference between jealousy and envy. Try not to envy, and be jealous instead. Your life will be better for it :-)

Rating: 5 Votes

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