Issue with corrupt iOS and Mac app updates fixed, says Apple

Apple says it has fixed an App Store issue which saw the company rolling out corrupt updates to apps in its iOS and Mac App stores, causing them to crash.

In a message to AllThingsD, the Cupertino company said, “We had a temporary issue that began yesterday with a server that generated DRM code for some apps being downloaded. The issue has been rectified and we don’t expect it to occur again.”

Anyone with an affected app is advised to download a fresh copy from the store, which should now work without any hitches.

It was the creator of the popular Instapaper app who brought attention to the issue. Marco Arment wrote in a blog post on Thursday that within just a few minutes of Apple approving an update to his offline reading app – an update he had of course tried and tested before submitting to Apple – he was “deluged” by messages from disgruntled users saying it was crashing the moment it launched.

It soon became clear that it wasn’t just his app that was affected. Developers and users of other apps – GoodReader and the free version of Angry Birds Space HD among them – began to contact Arment to say they too were having problems.

Until a few hours ago, Arment had been compiling a list on his blog of apps affected by the corrupt updates, but due to the high number of incoming messages, he decided to pull the plug on it. “After adding 114 apps to the list with more reports coming in every few minutes, it’s no longer practical for me to maintain the list,” he wrote. “Obviously, this is a very widespread problem for many apps updated from July 3–5.”

With Apple’s fix apparently done and dusted, hopefully this is the last we’ll hear of its app stores rolling out corrupt updates.

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