Download old versions of any iOS app using Brook

Updated at: 2024-12-25

Update: I've released a standalone app to simplify downloading iOS apps.

iOS Old App Downloader: https://www.txthinking.com/iosoldappdownloader.html

Purpose

Download old versions of apps from AppStore, here we take YouTube v17.15.1 as an example

Software required

1. Brook.exe, and CA has been installed

2. iTunes64Setup.exe v12.6.5.3 This link is downloaded from apple.com. (Tip: It is a good habit to download only from official software websites)

Theoretically, it works on macOS, but I didn’t find the download address for the corresponding version of iTunes

Log in to iTunes and set download without password

1. Disconnect Brook
2. iTunes menu -> Account -> Login
3. iTunes menu -> Edit -> Preferences -> Store -> Purchases: Never Require. Free Downloads: Never Require

We need to find two things

• appid: App ID
• versionid: Historical version ID

Find the App ID and the list of historical version IDs

1. Enable Fake DNS
2. Enable module: Block google secure DNS
3. Disable Bypass related modules
4. Enable module: iOS app version list
5. Connect to Brook. Then download YouTube iPhone App from iTunes.
6. In the MITM log, you should see a POST https://p52-buy.itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZBuy.woa/wa/buyProduct in the body. The domain name may not be exactly the same as above
7. appid: The songId in the body is 544007664
8. versionid: The softwareVersionExternalldentifiers in the body is a list, you can record it first

Download the old version of the App

1. Modify the appid in the module: iOS app downgrade to the one seen in the previous step, such as 544007664
2. Modify the versionid in the module: iOS app downgrade to one of the ones in the list seen in the previous step, such as 848374799
3. Enable the module: iOS app downgrade
4. Disconnect Brook and reconnect.
5. Right-click and delete the YouTube App you just downloaded from the iTunes Library. Re-download the YouTube iPhone App. You can see the old version of YouTube that has been downloaded from the Library. Right-click to view the ipa location.

If you find that the downloaded version is not the expected version. The historical version ID list is arranged in order. Download it by jumping and check it. Modify versionid and repeat the above steps to download it again

Install ipa file to the phone

Here we use ideviceinstaller. macOS has brew that can be installed directly. If you don't want to compile it yourself on Windows, you can use it here. Use this first.

1. Must be the same Apple ID
2. Uninstall YouTube on iPhone first
3. Connect iPhone USB to Windows
4. I use GitBash

git clone https://github.com/iFred09/libimobiledevice-windows.git
cd libimobiledevice-windows
./ideviceinstaller.exe --install ~/Music/iTunes/iTunes\ Media/Mobile\ Applications/YouTube\ 17.15.1.ipa

Share the situation I encountered:

• ideviceinstaller prompts Could not connect to lockdownd. Exiting., I re-plugged and unplugged the USB several times and it worked

Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-njbSgXRlAo

The video may be outdated, but the general steps can still be used as a reference