Some iPhone and iPad users are seeing "The iTunes Store is unable to process purchases" when opening apps

By Oliver Haslam
published

iPad app Store
iPad app Store (Image credit: iMore)

What you need to know

  • Some users are unable to open third-party apps.
  • It's affecting iPhone and iPad.
  • The cause is currently unknown.

If you're struggling to open third-party apps on your iPhone or iPad, fear not. It isn't an issue with your device – it's happening to more people around the globe. The error states "The iTunes Store is unable to process purchases at this time. Please try again later".

The issue was first noted by MacRumors but a quick search of Twitter suggests that there are plenty of people taking to social media to complain.

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So far there doesn't appear to be any information on what's causing this or, more importantly, how to work around it. Apple's System Status page currently shows everything as green but we'll be keeping our eyes peeled for that changing.

This is a developing story and we'll be updating it as new information becomes available.

We'd love to year from you, too. Are apps downloaded from the App Store refusing to launch? If they are, do you have a fix? Let us know in the comments!

Oliver Haslam
Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.