iPhone Cannot Connect To App Store? Try These Simple Fixes

The “cannot connect to App Store” message on your screen when you want to update an app or install a new one can be quite annoying. You’re left wondering “why can’t I connect to App Store?”. It’s irritating, especially considering that the App Store is the only way to get and update iPhone apps.

So, what can you do when in such a situation? Well, there’s plenty you can do. There are multiple solutions to fix the problem and we’re going to highlight them herein. First, though, let’s understand some of the main sources of this issue.

Why Is My iPhone Saying Cannot Connect to App Store?

The cause of the “cannot connect to App store” error on your iPhone could be a software or hardware related problem like:

• Your iPhone is not connected to any internet connection (Wi-Fi or cellular network). This is the most common reason. Internet connection is a must in order to connect to App Store. If it’s poor or unavailable, the iPhone cannot connect to the App Store.
• Issues with the App store itself. If the App Store servers experience downtime, you cannot connect to it.
• Software or firmware issue. A bug or software glitch can Restrict App Store from loading.

Now that you know the causes, here are the fixes you can try:

1. Ensure iPhone is Connected to the Internet

To load the App Store on your iPhone, you need a strong and stable internet connection. Without it or if it’s sluggish, you cannot connect to the App store. So, ensure first that your iPhone is connected to the internet.

If you are using a Wi-Fi network:

• Head to Settings, then Wi-Fi. Confirm that the Wi-Fi is toggled on (the small switch next to Wi-Fi should be green ).
• Check below the switch too. There should be a small check mark just next to your Wi-Fi network name. If it’s available, then your iPhone is connected to Wi-Fi.
• In case Wi-Fi is switched on yet there’s no check mark beside any of the networks, then under Choose A Network, tap your Wi-Fi network and put the password if prompted.

If you are using a cellular data network:

• Head to Settings, then Cellular. Confirm that the Cellular Data is on (the switch next to it is toggled right).
• If it’s already on, turn it off, wait for about 30 seconds, then toggle it on. This should help fix any minor connectivity glitches.

Reopen the App Store to see if the issue is solved. If not, try the next method.

2. Check Apple System Status Page

If the internet connection is okay, then check if the problem is on Apple’s end. You can do this by visiting Apple’s System Status page. Check if the App Store service (should be first on the list) is available – a green circle next to it means it’s working as normal. Check the other services too, mainly iTunes Store, Apple ID, and iCloud Account & Sign In.

Sometimes, if these services are also not working then iPhone will not connect to App Store. If any of them isn’t available or if there’s a red/orange triangle next to the App Store service, then there’s an issue with the Apple servers. You can’t do much here but wait for Apple to address the problem.

3. Force Close the App Store

As much as it may seem simple, closing and relaunching the App Store can actually fix the issues causing it not to load, like minor app crashes.

For iPhone models with Home button, you can do this by first opening the app switcher by double tapping the Home button. For iPhones with no Home button, the app switcher can be opened by swiping up right from the bottom of your phone screen all the way to the middle.

When the app switcher is opened, force close the App Store app by swiping it up and then off the top of your screen. You may also want to close out the other apps if by any chance one of them crashed too. Relaunch the App Store app and see if the error has disappeared.

4. Check Your Date and Time

With an incorrect date and time, you cannot connect to app store on iPhone. They must be correct. To fix this, you need to allow the iPhone set the right date and time accordingly.

• Launch Settings and head to General.
• Open Date & Time by tapping on it.
• Go to Set Automatically and enable its toggle if it’s not on.

Give the iPhone minutes, then try to load App Store again.

5. Turn Off Your VPN

Still getting nowhere? Try turning off VPN (virtual private network) if you’re using it on your iPhone. App Stores tend to vary from country to country, so if the App Store account country of your iPhone differs from the country that the VPN is connecting through, then it’s likely you will fail to connect.

In that case, open Settings and head to General, VPN & Device Management, then VPN. To turn it off, just tap the switch next to it.

6. Restart Your iPhone

Another simple solution is restarting your iPhone or rather turning it off and then back on again. It’s one perennially effective method for solving a lot of regular iPhone problems.

You can do it in two ways. One by using the button(s) on your iPhone to switch it off, then wait for a minute and switch it back on. The other way is just to head to Settings, General, and then tap on Shut Down.

7. Reset Network Settings

You may as well reset the network settings if still the iPhone cannot connect to App Store. This will return the network settings to factory default and help to fix the issue, so there’s no harm in trying it.

Launch Settings, head to General, then Reset. Now, tap the Reset Network Settings option. Enter the iPhone passcode when prompted. When done, just tap Reset Network Settings to complete. Your network settings are now reset. Try connecting to the internet and then load App Store.

8. Sign Out of Apple ID and Sign Back In

Try signing out of Apple ID, then signing back in. I’ve been able to fix the App Store problem on my iPhone using this method. It’s a sure solution even if it may seem unrelated. Head to Settings, tap your profile (Apple ID name at the top), tap Sign Out, then simply follow the instructions displayed so that you can sign out. Finally, open Settings again and sign back in.

9. Reset All Settings

If still nothing has worked, then consider resetting all your iPhone settings, or rather, doing a factory reset. You might be dealing with a deeper software problem like corrupted software files. It’s very unlikely but this might be what’s causing the App Store issue. Resetting all settings will restore everything to factory default, including apps, and fix the internal issues.

To do it, launch Settings, go to General, then Transfer Or Reset iPhone. Tap Reset and then from the menu tap Reset All Setting. Once the confirmation alert appears, tap Reset All Settings.

10. Update Your iPhone

You can eliminate random iOS issues and other software errors by simply updating your iOS, especially if it’s an outdated version. It works 100% in most cases because Apple regularly rolls out software updates to enhance iOS performance and to get rid of miscellaneous bugs. Try it out and see if it fixes the issue.

Open Settings, head to General, then tap Software Update. Allow your device to check for updates. If found, tap Download and Install. When the update completes, launch App Store and see if you’ll still get the error message.

11. Repair iPhone with Fucosoft iOS System Recovery

When you’ve exhausted all the above solutions and none has worked, it’s time now you employ an iOS System Repair tool. We recommend Fucosoft iOS System Recovery . It’s simply the best in the market, which is able to resolve the cannot connect to App store issue and much more, including over 150 other iOS, iPadOS, and tvOS system problems and all iPhone/iTunes errors. It works with any iPhone model and iOS version, even the latest iOS 16 and all iPhone 14/13 models.

Steps to Resolve Cannot Connect To App Store Problem with Fucosoft iOS System Recovery:

Step 1: Download Fucosoft iOS System Recovery software, then install and launch it on your computer. Take the iPhone and connect it to the computer (use original Apple USB cable).

Step 2: The device should be detected by the program after which you click the Start button. You’ll see several options in the resulting interface, so click Standard Repair.

Step 3: Your iPhone model as well as the latest firmware package for it will appear on the screen. Now, click Download button so that you can download the firmware package.

Step 4: Once it’s ready, click Start Standard Repair option to begin the process of fixing your iPhone. This may take several minutes, so wait patiently.

Immediately after the repair is done, the iPhone should restart automatically and then you can try loading the App Store. The data on your iPhone won’t be erased.

Different Connection Alert Messages

There are several error messages that you might see when you basically cannot connect to App Store on iPhone or to other services such as iTunes Store, Apple TV app, Music app, etc. They include:

• “Could not connect to the iTunes Store. Make sure your network connection is active and try again.”
• “Cannot connect to the iTunes Store. An unknown error has occurred.”
• “We could not complete your iTunes Store request. The network connection could not be established. There was an error in the iTunes Store. Please try again later.”
• “We could not complete your iTunes Store request. The iTunes Store is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later.”

The Bottom Line

If you’ve constantly been asking “why can’t I connect to App Store?”, I guess you’ve now got your answer and solution too. At least one of the 11 basic troubleshooting suggestions shared above should help if you’ve tried them. However, for an effective and quick fix, I recommend you use the Fucosoft iOS System Recovery software. You won’t have to go through much hustle.

If all the solutions don’t work, I suggest you contact Apple Support as it could potentially be a hardware-related problem. They will be able to provide a viable solution to it.