How to put a removed App Store app back on an iPhone
iMazing can no longer sign in to an Apple ID on Windows. How to pull your own app with IPA Downloader and install it on an iPhone.
On macOS 18 and macOS 26, iMazing could still sign in as of late October 2026. On macOS 27 it cannot. Apple tightened login for third-party tools, so the old route through iCloud purchases is closed.
IPA Downloader, by kda2495, does the same job. It signs in to your Apple ID, downloads the IPA from your purchase history, and installs it on a connected iPhone. It can only restore an app this Apple ID has downloaded before. The year does not matter. On two phones, one of them running iOS 27.2, the account and the device stayed unlocked. The password still goes into someone else's program. If that is a problem, stop here.
Get the build from the author's 4PDA thread or the GitHub releases. The thread lists that repository as the home page. Skip archives from comments and chats. The IPA comes from Apple's servers and is signed by Apple, but you still type the Apple ID password into someone else's script. Steps follow the Sidorovich video from 30 October 2026. Menu numbers match the author's description.
What you need first
The author lists Windows 7–11, 64-bit only, macOS from 10.15 Catalina, and Linux. On Windows 10 and 11 the install needs the AppleMobileDeviceSupport64 driver. It ships inside iTunes: use iTunes from Apple or the Microsoft Store. The full iTunes app is optional. Open the installer in 7-Zip or WinRAR and install only AppleMobileDeviceSupport64.msi. Downloads work without the driver. Installing onto the phone does not. Windows 7 and 8.1 need the extra updates listed in the thread. Windows 10 and 11 do not.
A cable. For Lightning, an original or MFi cable is the safer bet. USB-C is rarely certified that way, and a normal cable is usually enough, including one from an Android phone. That is what was used in the test.
And the Apple ID that already downloaded the app. If it never did, the app will not be in the list. The author asks you to turn off hardware security keys and stay on ordinary two-factor codes. Otherwise the script cannot sign in.
Step 1. Install the driver and connect the iPhone
The driver is what makes the computer see the phone. After iTunes or the separate msi, plug in the iPhone, tap Trust, and enter the passcode. If the phone is missing, fix the cable and the driver first. That part is at the end.
Step 2. Sign in to the Apple ID
Unpack the archive. On Windows run Start_IPA_Downloader_Windows.bat. Pick the language and press Enter. Sign-in is item 1, then Enter again.
Email, Enter, password, Enter. On the phone tap Allow and type the six-digit code, then Enter. Without Enter the script just waits. Type the password only in this window. Do not leave it in a text file next to the program.
No code: turn airplane mode on and off, then open Settings, Apple Account, Sign-In and Security, Get Verification Code. Same code.
If login mentions iCloud for Windows and error -27952, turn off Advanced Data Protection on the iPhone: Settings, Apple Account, iCloud.
Step 3. Download the IPA from your purchases
Press 5, Enter, then 2. Item 5 picks a list. Item 2 is this Apple ID's purchase history. Wait for the table. It is everything ever downloaded on the account, including apps gone from the App Store.
Each row has its own number. In the video, Sberbank Online was 23. That number was typed in. There was no need to scroll to the end. Tinkoff was missing because that account had never downloaded it. 23 is somebody else's number. Several rows at once look like 1, 2, 3-5.
If the store listing is still up, you can skip the history: item 2, then the name or the ID. The ID is the number after id in the App Store link. A removed listing does not show up there. Use the purchase history. license is required means this account never bought it. Purchase error: app not found means you cannot buy a removed app again.
The latest build needs a newer iOS than the phone has: item 6, list 2 again, and pick an older version. Item 7 prints the minimum iOS for files already in the Apps folder.
The tool then saves an IPA. Same idea as an APK on Android. The file lands in the Apps folder inside the script directory.
Step 4. Install the file on the phone
Press 8. The script asks for the device number, Enter, then the IPA number, Enter. You should see a real iOS version, not question marks. In the recording it was 27.2, and both the device and the file were number 1. When the console finishes, the icon is on the Home Screen.
Question marks instead of the iOS version, or an empty device list, means the phone was not recognized. Installation will not start.
If the install fails
A red "could not install" line, or a failure around 80–90%. Same fix as the question marks. One change at a time.
- Swap the cable and the port. Reconnect the phone and open item 8 again. This is the usual fix.
- If that fails, install 3uTools, open the iTunes utility, and press the repair button. In the Russian build it is labeled "Исправить сейчас". Reboot. The driver fix often does nothing until you do. Then open IPA Downloader and item 8 again.
- If it still fails, open advanced mode in 3uTools and take the third item: reset WinSock and remove the old driver. Reboot again, install the driver once more through 3uTools, and retry.
Two of the three computers in that test worked. The third never showed an iOS version. The cause was Windows, not the tool. After a new cable, a driver repair, and a WinSock reset, another computer is the faster option.
No device found in the script is the same driver problem, not a bad IPA. If the install dies with APIInternalError or IXErrorDomain Code=46, delete the app from the phone, reboot it, and install the file again.
The icon is there and the app closes at once: open the App Store with the same Apple ID and install any free app. Then launch yours again.
On a Mac
The launcher is Start_IPA_Downloader_macOS.command. macOS blocks it the first time: Privacy and Security, then Open Anyway. PowerShell has to be installed first. The author keeps the package links in the repository. You can also AirDrop the finished IPA to the iPhone. The phone installs it on its own.
What this cannot do
The script will not download an app missing from this Apple ID's purchases, and it will not copy an app off the phone. Modified IPAs from forums are a different thing. Those files are not signed by Apple, and for a bank or mail app that is a risk.
If Apple removed the listing, the App Store will not push updates. The next version has to be downloaded the same way, once it shows up in purchases.
