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Mac App Store bug allows iWork trial users to update the entire suite for free (Update: Aperture, too)

Screen Shot 2013-10-23 at 5.32.48 PM

Users who have previously downloaded the free 30-day iWork trial and kept it on their systems found themselves able to update to the latest version of Apple’s productivity suite for free yesterday due to what is apparently a bug with the way the store finds copies of the software purchased through other sources.

Since the Mac App Store now detects boxed copies of iWork and allows them to be updated to the Mac App Store version, it seems the trial versions of Pages, Numbers, and Keynote are perceived by the App Store as being a full purchased copy. This allows users to install yesterday’s updated apps without having to pay anything.

While the suite is free with the purchase of a new Mac, users on older machines who have never purchased any version of iWork in the past must pay the full price for each app. This bug allows those users to circumvent that process.

It’s unlikely that Apple can even fix the issue, since the trial versions of old iWork apps are identical to the retail copies (but require a serial number to activate). Since the apps use the same identifier whether activated or not, the App Store has no way to determine if the trial has been activated.

Update: Aperture users are reporting that the trial version of that app also allows a full upgrade for free.

[tweet https://twitter.com/samradford/status/393130270368759808 align=’center’]

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Comments

  1. Shhhhhhhhhh!!!!!! COME ON!!!

  2. Richard Getz (@RichGetz) - 10 years ago

    I thought iWork was free moving forward so why would this be a surprise?

  3. Alex Yamil - 10 years ago

    apple will not do anything about this i think.

  4. Shantanu Bhave - 10 years ago

    I got it…!!!

  5. weakguy - 10 years ago

    Oh wow. I deleted my trials long long time ago. Too bad.

    • Falco Menz (@Raddilein) - 10 years ago

      just google for iWork Trial. I just downloaded the 2009 Trial Version, installed it and voila, i get the free update to the new iwork suite

      • weakguy - 10 years ago

        Yeah, I was going to do that, but then I realized there was a better way – Time Machine. I just restored my iWork and hopefully I can upgrade to full version as well. We shall see… My Mac App Store still showing no update available.

    • weakguy - 10 years ago

      It’s working! Updating now :) I’m so excited!!!

  6. iFraaank (@SorenFrank) - 10 years ago

    I still have the trial of both, but they aint showing up. What do I have to do? :P

  7. William Parker - 10 years ago

    Hmmm… Aperture is $90… Think Apple will close loophole quickly? What about Final Cut trial?

  8. Jacob Reed (@jreed91) - 10 years ago

    I was wondering how I got keynote for free

  9. Just installed the apeture trial and can also confirm that it does allow me to upgrade to the full version for free

  10. can someone share the trials?? :P

  11. Can also confirm it works for Final cut Pro x

  12. It is just updated or associated to your Apple ID account?

    • Yes the associate to you Apple  ID, I can confirm! they ask for your ID so they can do it and in the future you will be able to download updates!

      • It asked for my Apple ID, I entered it and installed the updates, but I can’t see how it’s associated with my Apple ID. Can I install the apps on another Mac from my account? I’m not seeing the apps in the Purchased section.

    • That’s what I’d like to know myself….I guess it doesn’t matter for me though, because it’s not working. I think i’ll try going to Mavericks and see if that makes it works.

    • iFraaank (@SorenFrank) - 10 years ago

      It associates to your account!

  13. Jacek Witkowski - 10 years ago

    Its not working for me. Im waiting already like for 1 hour and still no update in Mac App Store. Also i cant open any of app from that trial version on Mavericks…

    • Mike Galicki (@mgalicki) - 10 years ago

      i had to reboot.

      • Jacek Witkowski - 10 years ago

        Still nothing.. i’ve reinstaled iwork.. reboot macbook like three times.. nothing :(

    • haruhiko2013 - 10 years ago

      You have to change OS X’s system language to English in order for the free conversion from DVD/Trial to App Store to work.

    • DaRk_ViVi (@DaRk_ViVi) - 10 years ago

      If your OSX is not in English, switch it to to English language (Prefs -> Language -> Preferred languange and drag-and-drop English on the first place, then reboot) and try again to open Mac App Store. It should work. ;)

  14. Brian Dunkel - 10 years ago

    All of the iWork trials that I have found on the net will not install. I get an error saying invalid checksum whenever i go to open the downloaded file.

  15. Kevin Rye (@RyeMAC3) - 10 years ago

    Dang. Sort of makes me wish there was a Logic trial.

  16. Jacek Witkowski - 10 years ago

    Did you put the same email when you open first time trial as your apple id? Becouse i populated my other email.. not connected directly to apple id. is that becouse of that i don’t have update?

  17. Just downloaded the trial iWork software from Softonic.com and instantly appeared on the App Store the updates, this is really cool!!

  18. Just to give you all an update, it wasn’t working for me at all. Then I updated to Mavericks, and they all (iWork, Aperture, but not Final Cut X) updated and linked to my Apple ID. Cool.

  19. Dale Madz - 10 years ago

    this Works even if u had a pirated version

  20. Raphaël Touchette - 10 years ago

    Can anyone tell me if this work with OS X Server as well ?

  21. Duston Foster - 10 years ago

    I can re-confirm this is all still valid, I also just did it with aperture as well :)

  22. Biju Egwuonwu - 10 years ago

    Trials on both are no longer available for download.

  23. Kenny Tang - 10 years ago

    I have the full version of iWork 09 installed. However the App Store does not show the update for me. What should I do? I also cannot download iMovie and iPhoto from App Store for free too, even after I press the accept button.

    • Kenny Tang - 10 years ago

      I found the answer of it!!! It’s because I am using a different language OS X. After changing my language into English, the update appears!!! I downloaded and “updated” the Aperture too :P
      However the iMovie and iPhoto still have no luck…

  24. Josh Koterba - 10 years ago

    Aperture trial update still working.
    Final Cut X Trial Update NOT working.

    • rjgodoy - 10 years ago

      I tried with all Apple software and only iWork and Aperture works. The rest doesn’t work. For iWork, download the “iWork 2013” torrent from mac-torrents and update from Mac App Store. Enter your password to sign in and that’s all!!

  25. Justin Mabee (@jmabeebiz) - 10 years ago

    Confirmed, didn’t have to reboot for an update of Aperture. Downloaded a trial version and installed the update over it.

  26. I downloaded the iWork 09 trial from here.

    http://appldnld.apple.com.edgesuite.net/content.info.apple.com/iWork/Trial/2Z693-6764.01022009.awq23/iWork09Trial.dmg

    I ran the installer and did not launch the apps after installing.

    Go straight into the App store and the updates appear and download with no problems.

    • Jerry WSL (@JerryWSL) - 10 years ago

      Do you have the link for Aperture from the same site, the one I found does not work :(

      • Gusmão Al F - 10 years ago

        magnet:?xt=urn:btih:c424ae63ade57cd2e9fbf928800e7b7fb6b36e46&dn=Apple+Aperture+3+-+Trial+version&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.openbittorrent.com%3A80&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.publicbt.com%3A80&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.istole.it%3A6969&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.ccc.de%3A80&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Fopen.demonii.com%3A1337

    • Gusmão Al F - 10 years ago

      thank you.

  27. And I can confirm that installing the aperture trial also works fine. The App store recognises it and does the update :)

  28. Hakan Erdur - 10 years ago

    I just downloaded trial, installed it with shift, right click – open
    Opened up the programs and they stated that there is an update, would you like to update?
    Clicked yes, but no update found :(
    any reasons?

  29. silas681 - 10 years ago

    You would not walk into an apple store and try and walk out with £100s if stolen gear! Thieves all if you.

    This is simply not acceptable behaviour.

    (But I can afford to buy software)

    • That is very true. But for try you can do it :) if you want to buy cheap software use ebay :) buy iWork 09 for 15-20 and than upgrade same with aperture buy aperture 2 for $12 than buy upgrade license for $10-$19 :) you will be saving a lot of money

    • Alexander Ribbink - 10 years ago

      I am just happy i got to download the new version of iWork. And for the record: i actually bought iWork 2009 on DVD with my first Macbook.

    • Iliya Levin - 10 years ago

      I’ll receive it for free when I’ll update my mac anyway (probably next year when my 3 years of AppleCare run out), so it’s not looting. It’s like a free preorder :P

    • andrewmccreath - 10 years ago

      Agreed… we’re better than this… you’d expect that type of behaviour from Micro$oft customers ;)

  30. This works I gave it a shot and it worked. The catch might be its showing as Installed. and It not getting updated in my purchase history. So if you format and reinstall I assume you might not be that lucky next time :)

    • refresh your purchase history, and it should be there now. Worked for me. I even did a clean OS install afterwards and I could still download them from my purchases tab.

  31. Jiří Fiala (@stooovie) - 10 years ago

    Will this add new iWork to your Apple ID account? If not, you can just torrent it, same thing… Apple’s mistake doesn’t make it legal.

  32. Bray90820 (@Bray90820) - 10 years ago

    If anyone is looking here is a working trial of iWork
    http://iwork.en.softonic.com/mac

  33. Igor Netchaev - 10 years ago

    Just tried it. Installed trial versions of iWork and Aperture, run it once. Then opened AppStore and successfully updated both. But they stayed trial versions.

  34. rob nienburg (@robogobo) - 10 years ago

    Come on people. This is looting. Would you walk into a store left unlocked during a blackout and steal stuff? Pay for your software.

  35. Stano - 10 years ago

    It’s like a bloody free for all, reminds me of the riots in Britain but without the police violence…..

  36. SQ Mah (@SQMah) - 10 years ago

    Wow! It even associates it with your AppleID :D

  37. Gregor Di - 10 years ago

    Does it work with OS Versions other than Mavericks?

  38. Nils Ka - 10 years ago

    I own the iLife Suite as a non digital Copy but I only can update GarageBand.
    Does somebody know why I cant update iMovie/iPhoto?

    • albrip - 10 years ago

      If have the OS with a language other than english, set it to english and restart. Worked this way for me.

      • Nils Ka - 10 years ago

        changed it to english. Doesn’t work.

      • Andre Ramos (@jocazzz) - 10 years ago

        Thanks for the tip. I changed my language back to english and I did the update.

        I had iLife 11, iWork 09 and Aperture bought and working properly on Mountain Lion. When I was updating to mavericks it showed a problems with my hard drive, I replaced it, but I didn’t backed up the application. When I install from the CD iLife and Aperture, I couldn’t update the apps and Aperture and iPhoto wouldn’t open, even with serial number. After I changed the language to english and region to US (I live in South America) I updated all apps to the latest version as most people in this site.

    • andrewmccreath - 10 years ago

      Mine took an extra day to realise they needed updating, but went smoothly this morning on both.

  39. t_kore (@t_kore) - 10 years ago

    So Apple is throwing out everything for free. Big sales, kudos to them! What about the new Mac Book Pro? I suggest them to leave the Apple Store doors open tonight : D

  40. João Rafael (@jrmol) - 10 years ago

    Does anyone know why imovie keeps showing in updates, even after updated ?

  41. johndoewpyo - 10 years ago

    How can you install aperture trial without the trial serial number?

  42. Rick Garcia - 10 years ago

    Just downloaded the iWork ’09 Trial and am currently updating to the new version of iWork. Good catch 9to5. (Thumbs Up)

  43. Kevin Olbrich - 10 years ago

    Is iWork permanently added to my account as a download from the store then?
    Just in case the application is deleted, can I download an activated version from the appstore?

    • johndoewpyo - 10 years ago

      Yes, it appears on your purchases.

      • Kevin Olbrich - 10 years ago

        Can confirm this… Hmm just tested this as I already owned iWork ’09 and Apple provides updates to the new version for free (just did not install it after my new mbp in feb 13).

  44. Waldemar Agostini - 10 years ago

    This is crazy people, I had an outdated version of Aperture trial and it updated. I am not responsible for this mistake, it happens. But I do not encourage the looting of apps. Apple was more than kind to give us Mavericks for free and now you are robbing them blind because of a glitch.

    I am glad that the i’Work ’09 was updated because it was terrible before and it forced me to buy Office ’11.

  45. Chris Marmol - 10 years ago

    I downloaded cracked (full) versions of iWork 09 and it updated to the new version. If you cannot find the trial version do what I did. I will try aperture when I get home from work.

  46. Lonneke - 10 years ago

    For me it doesn’t work and the language was already set to English… Could it be because of my OSX version? My Macbook is still on Lion because it’s too old for Mavericks :-(.

    • I have the same problem Lonneke. Seems a ‘Mavericks-only’ glitch… So now Apple is not giving us both Mavericks and >$100 worth of free apps? Aargh! ;)

      • Eirik Luka - 10 years ago

        Same for me, but then I changed it to another language > restarted > then changed it back to English > restarted, then it worked

      • Eirik Luka, did you get this to work on an osx other than Mavericks? Because changing the language from and back to English doesn’t do any miracles here, on 10.7.5.

  47. infinidiv - 10 years ago

    Does this only work with Mavericks? Or how far back does it go? It does not seem to be working with installed and activated (from a trial installer) iwork apps in Snow Leopard…

  48. Manuel Reis (@ManuelReis) - 10 years ago

    Meanwhile, users with retail DVD boxes can’t upgrade. #fail, Apple. #fail.

  49. Marshall Farthing - 10 years ago

    Anyone getting it to work with Final Cut Pro X?

  50. nicknowsky (@nicknowsky) - 10 years ago

    who’s got an an aperture trial pkg laying around

  51. Yup, this glitch worked for me as well with both iWork and Aperture. I never purchased iWork in the first place, though, as I found it through a non-Apple source in ’09. So I just got $140 of stuff for free. :)

  52. Winski - 10 years ago

    So, the ‘beta testers’ get a full blown copy of iWork for free, and I paid for my version when I bought my Mac. So now they want me to pay again??

    NOT LIKELY.

  53. What about FCPX?

  54. Ryan Foley - 10 years ago

    Right now it does not work for FCPX, likely because that has yet to receive an update. When they do update, it though, it might work. Don’t get your hopes up, though, because they will likely use this time to prevent this from happening on with $300 software.

  55. Carinaa Sarah - 10 years ago

    anybody had any luck with an snow leopard ß i know, i know, “oldschool”. anyways: anybody?

    • Craig Patchett - 10 years ago

      The new versions of iWork only work on Mavericks…I have a purchased copy of iWork 09 and it would not upgrade until I installed Mavericks. When I tried to download Pages from the App Store I got a specific “Mavericks only” warning.

  56. Carinaa Sarah - 10 years ago

    Look at thatt its absolutely legal!!

    http://www.apple.com/creativity-apps/mac/up-to-date/

  57. pepechin (@pepechin_) - 10 years ago

    All of you using iWork 09, do yourself a favor: don’t erase old version until you had used new “downgraded” iwork 13.

    It’s very likely you will erase the new one and stay with the old, and way BEST, 09 version

  58. slimkhan - 10 years ago

    any confirmation if it work anymore ?

    yesterday the cracked version of keynote updated to the 6.0

    and now i just downloaded the pages 4.3 but didn’t (want to) update !

    • Barnaby Jay - 10 years ago

      iWork and Aperture trials available on my Tumblr here – iworktrials.tumblr.com

      • JuLi1 (@julien_wmr) - 10 years ago

        It doesn’t Work… During the install Aperture don’t ask me to put the serial. Then, version 3.0.3 you give isn’t available on Mavericks, it doesn’t launch…

  59. Downloading the trial now, you can find it on softonic. Will see if it still works for me.

  60. B (@bharp1981) - 10 years ago

    how do i get the aperture trial?

  61. Rye Domingo - 10 years ago

    you can search for a torrent instead.:D iwork ’13 torrent for mac tpb. then it will let you downlaod all the updated versions without even installing the lower versions…:D

  62. Oh well, this is the reason that during the update of my Aperture which is cracked, it went through, just last night I downloaded the iWork trial and made the update too, now they are all updated. Need to try other app also, downloading now Pixelmator… trial

  63. Priyatham Anisetty - 10 years ago

    Yes this is still working you can download the trails from here iworktrials.tumblr.com

  64. I’ve installed the trial version of apps, I in mac app store can i see the updates, but when i click “Install” Mac App Store said “The app was downloaded with a different apple id”.

  65. Queer1 - 10 years ago

    I randomly found this today while running routine updates after upgrading to Mavericks, which I LOVE since it made my slowing MBP early 2011 with 95%full 1TB HD run almost like brand new again. Yesterday I had updated Garageband, but i found it installed itself as a second and new copy, leaving my old copy intact. However, I dodnt have any updates for iWork of Aperture as of last night. This evening I saw the updates for my iWork’09 apps and the rest of my iLife apps as well as Aperture. Im in the middle of installing em now but so far Pages and Keynote have done the same as Garageband did. I will followup on my blog about the rest. Also since i removed Final Cut Pro a few months ago, I gonna reinstall it from the disc I have and check for the update. I have excellent working full version non-cracked app DMGs for iWork and Aperture for those who wanna give it a shot. I’ll upload them and post their links on my blog as well.

  66. Frederick Sarran - 10 years ago

    Will it work for Final Cut Pro X trial as well?

  67. locc eripey - 10 years ago

    Do you have to upgrade to maverick first or install the trial first and upgrade to maverick? for iwork and aperture?

    • Priyatham Anisetty - 10 years ago

      Yes.

    • Priyatham Anisetty - 10 years ago

      Anything will work. Installed iWork first then upgraded to mavericks and it showed me the updates. Then I installed aperture trail in Mavericks and it showed me update for this as well

      • Sumit Kumar - 10 years ago

        My App store shows every update for iLike and iWork but but it hasn’t update , When i m trying to update this massage shows all the ” this update is for an app downloaded different apple id sign it with that apple id ” after that i download latest iWork 2013.dmg which is all u want to download still my app store shows update in store ..

        if any one wants to download latest iWork from here …
        ttps://www.dropbox.com/s/4ff6026p6zprbj3/iWork%20-%202013.torrent.

  68. Sumit Kumar - 10 years ago

    My App store shows every update for iLike and iWork but but it hasn’t update , When i m trying to update this massage shows all the ” this update is for an app downloaded different apple id sign it with that apple id ” after that i download latest iWork 2013.dmg which is all u want to download still my app store shows update in store ..

    if any one wants to download latest iWork from here …
    ttps://www.dropbox.com/s/4ff6026p6zprbj3/iWork%20-%202013.torrent.

  69. Olaf Kroezen - 10 years ago

    Works with iLife as well!!!! I can proof with a screenshot! Updating iLife iWork and Aperture as we speak!

  70. msqueenn - 10 years ago

    Wondering if this glitch still works. I’m downloading a trial copy of Aperture at the moment. I want a trial version of iWork too, though I have an upgradable illegal copy. I’d rather have the suite legally on my account.

    • I do not manage to upgrade.
      It continue to say that original package was under a different apple id.
      I think they resolved.
      Anyother ?

      • Sumit Kumar - 10 years ago

        yeah same problem wid me thats why i downloaded form torrents ..

  71. No more possible …. at least for me :(

    any other ?

    Fabrizio

  72. John Dan - 10 years ago

    Does it work work Logic Pro?

  73. orphicpixel - 10 years ago

    To those who successfully went through this update, have you noticed the old iWorks 09 apps in your Application folder?

  74. Steve Swing (@sswing) - 10 years ago

    I used this information to update to the full versions (Keynote 6.2, Numbers 3.2, and Pages 5.2) from the ’09 trial. Recently the MAS listed available updates (Keynote 6.2.2, Numbers 3.2.2, and Pages 5.2.2). Attempts to update result in “An error has occurred.” Has anyone had the same issue? Does anyone know how to determine the details of such errors?

  75. N (@NayimNasran) - 9 years ago

    Just an update,It works on yosemite no problem.