[ios] Application Loader stuck at "Authenticating with the iTunes store" when uploading an iOS app

We have been trying to submit an app to the iTunes store using Application Loader for three days and keep getting stuck at the "Authenticating with the iTunes store" step.
We have read many forums (including stackoverflow) and tried what was suggested:

• making a new provisioning profile
• using different or multiple versions of Application Loader
• changing proxy settings
• rebooting the Mac
• uploading at a different time of the day, etc.

We have even left it running overnight and have not had success with getting past this step. Unfortunately, no feedback is given about what the issue may be, and we have not gotten any error messages. We have submitted multiple apps without any difficulty in the past but are completely stuck this time!
How were you able to solve it?

Another reason could be that you have changed the machine from which you're submitting the app. Or the user account on the machine. The new machine may lack the private key and/or certificate for the App Store. Although a certificate with the correct name is displayed in Xcode.

In this case, go to https://developer.apple.com -> certificates, use the plus sign (+) to add a new certificate (distribution), and follow the steps to request a certificate for the private key on your current machine. After installing the certificate, authentication may work.

For those using beta versions of Xcode, just change the application name in the command to Xcode-beta.app:

cd ~
mv .itmstransporter/ .old_itmstransporter/
"/Applications/Xcode-beta.app/Contents/Applications/Application Loader.app/Contents/itms/bin/iTMSTransporter"

Depending on your internet connection, the update may take some time. For me it was around 15 minutes.

Just wait. In a few minutes all will be ok.

For me I was using Xcode 8.2's application loader and fortunately I've Xcode 7.2 as well so I used Xcode 7.2's application loader and it's working.

Using Xcode 12.3 Distribute App and xcodebuild both got stuck today at this point.

I finally was able to solve this. Peeking around my system I found 3 versions of iTMSTransporter. Printing the version of each using ./iTMSTransporter -version gives the following results:

• /Applications/Transporter.app/Contents/itms/bin/ has version 2.0.0

• /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/SharedFrameworks/ContentDeliveryServices.framework/Versions/A/itms/bin/ has version 2.1.0

• /usr/local/itms/bin/ has version version 1.9.3

So it looks that old version in /usr/local/itms was used by Xcode. After deleting /usr/local/itms I was able to upload my binary within Xcode 12.2 and using the xcodebuild command line tool.

I tried everything above but nothing worked for me. I am using macOS Catalina: 10.15.6 and it doesn't have .itmstransporter/

Until I...

• I was uploading in US peak time-zone. So, I waited and tried again in the morning here (India) GMT +5:30.
• I cleared the cache of my laptop and re-added the account.
• Made another Archive.

It took me 5 minutes total to upload the archive.

In 2020 Dec, the fix did finally worked for me was restarting my mac.

I solved the problem by removing ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.amp.itmstransporter. For safety, renaming will be better,

cd ~/Library/Caches
mv com.apple.amp.itmstransporter com.apple.amp.itmstransporter.old

Then, xcrun altool uploaded my ipa successfully.
By the way, I'm using Xcode 11.x & 12.2, macOS Catalina.

Following worked for me.

1. Open another instance of Application Loader. ( Select "Application Loader" under the "Xcode -> Open Developer Tool" menu)

2. "Agree" to the terms.

3. After completing Step 2. First instance of Application Loader proceeded to the next step and build got submitted.

I think I followed all the approaches given, but none worked for me. My own approach that seems to work for me is to go thru the initial steps to upload a binary, then, after selecting the binary, do NOT click Send; instead close the window, and in the new window that will appear, start anew: hopefully it will go thru.

Not a proper answer but in my case

something completely strange. I was trying from last six hours using Transporter app, Application Loader and via Xcode but none of them was working.
And suddenly I got an error message on the Transporter app that App with same version number is already available on Apple store. So App was uploaded but the progress status of the app (Transporter, Xcode, Application Loader) did not notify me. Try to change your network, if possible try with other system.

Go to Preferences -> Accounts, remove your account and add it again. Then try uploading again and wait a few minutes.

There is no magic fix. Itunes is just working bad. Lately is having more and more issues and it takes more and more to update and send an ipa to the store. I had this issue with AppLoader and Xcode organiser too and after trying multiple times it just went through.

In my case, I hadn't agreed to the newest Developer Agreement. Just run Application Loader once, click on [Accept] to agree, then quit the Application Loader and the Upload to App Store should work fine.

For me I tried almost all the suggestions given above but the problem still reoccurred after the first success in uploading to App store. Until I found this website. In summary, do the following

1. Open terminal

2. Run this command:

     rm -rf ~/.itmstransporter/
     “/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Applications/Application 
     Loader.app/Contents/itms/bin/iTMSTransporter”
   

Note: this command(which is different from others above) will delete your ITMSTansporter folder and create a new one and ensure that xcode is quitted before running this command. 3. Start Xcode and all should be well.

Changing network connection helped.

1. Turned off wifi on my phone
2. Enabled 3G
3. Created HotSpot
4. Connected my mac to the hotspot and got through the authetication issue

I'm running MacOS Mojave 10.14.6, Xcode 11.3.1 and Transporter 1.1.1, and always got stuck at the Authentication with App Store stage, no matter how long I wait, I tried uploading using Xcode, using xcrun altool, Transporter, nada.

Finally I got it working by exporting the ipa file to a new Macbook (10.15.3, Xcode 11.3.1, Transporter 1.1.1), and used the Transporter app to upload it there.

The key difference is the Transporter tool on my new Macbook asked for a 6-digit code as authentication while the old Macbook did not, I suspect the authentication token on my old device expired but the system didn't ask for a new one when trying to upload the app. I had 2-FA enabled.

So I think forcing a manual re-authentication when you upload the app is the answer, the only other difference is the MacOS version, but I didn't test if it'll make a difference.

I had the same issue for months, I just removed hotspot shield and private tunnel applications from my computer and tried to upload my app and everything worked just fine. so I suggest if you have installed any VPN application on your computer, remove the application and then try uploading your app from either application loader or xcode's organizer.

All i did was duplicate my Application Loader.app in /Applications and ran both Application loaders at the same time.

this solution is out there, it used to work for me, but today not even that! what I did and worked is that (2 instances) + uploading with XCode (organizer). Had to try a couple of times and it worked.

hope this helps someone, this bug has been there for quite a lot of time now() an apple doesn't seem to care too much

I have also encounter the same issue. One possible solution is to go to Xcode -> Preferences -> Accounts and from the left menu select on App ID then click on the View Details and tap on the refresh button. while reloading you will get following error

The selected team's agent, 'ADMIN NAME' must agree to the latest Program License Agreement.

If you will not get above error, Following solution will not work.

It means that you need to login into the developer account using Admin login and accept that latest agreement. Then you will be able to upload binary on the app store.

Check your Firewall, If it is "On" then just Off it, then try

Try answer mentioned in this Reference Link, it really worked for me and for others as well.

Mentioning answer here as well. Open Terminal and run:

cd ~
mv .itmstransporter/ .old_itmstransporter/
"/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Applications/Application Loader.app/Contents/itms/bin/iTMSTransporter"

iTMSTransporter will then update itself, then you can try uploading in XCode again or via application loader.

Found the solution:

I was uploading the build, Every activity went well except “Authenticating with the iTunes store”.

I disconnected my LAN cable and Connected my MAC with my mobile hotspot. and authentication problem was solved. If you have a limited internet plan then as soon as you pass authentication stage, again connect your LAN so that it will upload the app from you LAN cable's internet connection.

Dec 10th 2019, Xcode Version 11.2.1, MacOS X 10.15.1

I was facing exactly same issue yesterday and I thought it might be network issues, at least it looks like so. But this morning I had tried couple different networks and several VPN connections, none of them is working!

The highest voted answer here asks me to reset a cache folder named .itmstransporter under my home dir, the run a program iTMSTransporter under a specific folder, but I can't find both of them.

But soon I figured that it is the cache folder for the people who uses the legacy uploader program: Application Loader, which is deprecated by Apple and can be no longer found in Xcode 11. Then I found that the latest Xcode has located iTMSTransporter here:

/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/SharedFrameworks/ContentDeliveryServices.framework/itms/bin/iTMSTransporter

And its cache folder is here:

/Users/your_user_name/Library/Caches/com.apple.amp.itmstransporter/

I removed my existed cache folder, and run iTMSTransporter without any parameter, it soon started to output logs and download a bunch of files, and finished in 2 or 3 minutes. Then I tried again to upload my ipa file, it works!!!

CONCLUTION:

1. Either the old Application Loader, or the latest Xcode, uses a Java program iTMSTransporter to process the ipa file uploading.
2. To function correctly, iTMSTransporter requires a set of jar files downloaded from Internet and cached in your local folder.
3. If your cache is somehow broken, or doesn't exist at all, directly invoking iTMSTransporter with functional parameters such as --upload-app in our case, iTMSTransporter DOES NOT WARN YOU, NOR FIX CACHE BY ITSELF, it just gets stuck there, SAYS NOTHING AT ALL! (Whoever wrote this iTMSTransporter, you seriously need to improve your programming sense).
4. Invoking iTMSTransporter without any parameter fixes the cache.
5. A functional cache is about 65MB, at Dec 10th 2019 with Xcode Version 11.2.1 (11B500)

Today I ran into this issue, on Xcode 11.2.1 I solved it by going to Xcode -> Preferences -> Accounts -> Tapped on the '-' next to my Apple ID, then signed in again. This fixed it for me!

my upload failed each time when I uncheck the "include bitcode" option when uploading. So I checked the "include bitcode" option and upload went well.

The updated answer for Xcode 11.x.x and Transporter application, open terminal:

1. rm -rf ~/.itmstransporter/
2. "/Applications/Transporter.app/Contents/itms/bin/iTMSTransporter"

Wait a while Problem solved!

Just try a different Internet connection. I tried all the solutions above but none worked. However, when I tried using my cellular connection (instead of my DSL connection that stands behind a firewall), it worked immediately.

It might be a network issue. If you are running inside a virtual machine (e.g. VMWare or VirtualBox), try setting the network adapter mode from the default NAT to Bridged.

You have to agree to a new sign up in Application Loader. Select "Application Loader" under the "Xcode -> Open Developer Tool" menu (the first menu to the right of the Apple in the menu bar). Once you open Application Loader there will be a prompt to agree to new terms and then to login again into your iTunes account. After this any upload method will work.

Just wait longer. Do not cancel. As long as 30 minutes or more. Then you see "success" message.

I got same problem more than a week, with exact same problem, and finally found the solution with hands-on experience of my own.

This only started happening to me today (May 2017) and no answers in this thread solved my issue. The resolution for me was from here;

https://forums.developer.apple.com/thread/76803

Open Terminal. Change to home directory,

cd ~  

Move the current transporter directory,

mv .itmstransporter/ .old_itmstransporter/ 

Invoke the following file to let Transporter update itself.

"/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Applications/Application Loader.app/Contents/itms/bin/iTMSTransporter"

Wait till it updates, then open Xcode and attempt upload.

I was stuck at "Authenticating with the iTunes Store" today. I had used the same version and build number as a previous submission. After I updated the build number, the upload went fine. I don't know if it's related, or if it was a coincidence.

1. Check your firewall
2. Network settings - (Check with network admin, usually they have blocked apple services unknowingly)
3. Check your system data/time.

I had same sort of issue, I resolved it by getting direct access to internet. Also check Application Loader logs to see at which point it gets stuck.

You may try to relogin your ITC account via Application Loader.

I've tried all provided solutions with no luck and finally machine restart resolved the problem (as it pretty often happens with XCode issues..)

It started to work after I closed Docker app