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Nearly every time I see updates available on my iPhone (4, iOS 5.1) whilst browsing the app store, the list of updates is empty even when the badge says there are some.

Selecting update all will successfully do the updates, but I have no idea what was updated without hunting them down as they download.

Is this a common issue? Is there a known fix or workaround?

In the first screenshot is the "loading screen" for want of a better description. It consists of the the central information nugget, and the spinner in the top bar. When this completes, the available updates should then show.

enter image description here

However, more often than not, I get the following:

enter image description hereenter image description here

Curious variation in background shading also I just noticed, but the darker screenshot is older, and might be from iOS 5.0.1

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That is definitely not common. I always see an explicit list of apps that have updates pending. –  Ian C. Apr 2 '12 at 17:02
Agreed–not common, or at least not always the case. Wonder if the UK App store might be implicated? –  jaberg Apr 2 '12 at 17:06
Any chance you have any apps installed using a different account? –  JW8 Apr 2 '12 at 18:23
Only ever used 1 iTunes account. Since noticed that if I go back in after telling it to update all, the list is there. Also, if I get my password wrong, same. Odd. –  stuffe Apr 2 '12 at 18:25

2 Answers 2

up vote 1 down vote accepted

It shouldn't display a blank screen. It should either display "Loading..." or "All apps are up to date." or a list of apps that have an update available.

I've only seen this happen when I had a good internet connection when I opened the app store and started "Loading..." but lost the connection before it was done loading. I don't recall if it happens when switching from wifi to cellular or back during the loading stage, but I suspect it might.

I have hundreds of apps on my 3GS, though, and it can take quite awhile to go from "Loading..." to a list, or to the "up to date" notice.

It can also happen if you experience a temporary internet glitch during loading, such as if you are close to a microwave, using an 802.11b/g network, while the microwave is running.

It shouldn't happen when you know you've got a good internet connection and the connection state doesn't change during loading. I suppose it could happen on a particularly busy network if significant numbers of packets are being dropped.

If it happens consistently, I'd try rebooting, then a system refresh, then taking it to apple in that order.

The app store is one thing that doesn't seem particularly robust in the face of network disruptions, so that's what I'd suspect first. If you're experiencing frequent network disruptions in other apps as well, you might have an iOS or hardware problem, and it might be worth a visit the apple store anyway.

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I've had these symptoms occasionally. I usually see this when my internet connection is slow or congested. I also have apps from multiple App Store Apple ID's, which may account for some of these issues.

Whenever I've seen this, I usually close the app, and then manually kill the running App Store application in the multitasking bar.

So, while this behavior is not common, it is not unheard of nor is it a hardware problem. The most likely scenario is that the app is waiting for a response from Apple's servers, and the connection may be stuck in a queue or have timed out.

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