How Many Times Can I Download A Paid App From The App Store

I have an M4 iMac and M3 iPad Air. I purchased the iMac and then purchased a few paid games from the Mac App Store (no in app purchases). I then later went to the app store on my iPad and found one of the games I had purchased. Instead of a “get” button or “open” there was a little cloud with an arrow going down. From what I read this is the redownload button and I can download the same game for free on my iPad. The question is how many times can I redownload an app? I read in the apple support articles you can redownload FREE apps as many times as you want. And in-app purchases don’t redownload. My question is how many times can I redownload a prepaid (no in app purchases) app?


if there is a limit I won’t redownload it as my iPad is sitting here on my desk right next to the iMac and I really don’t need it on both devices. If the redownloads are unlimited then I might as well put a copy on both devices. Thanks.

iMac (M4)

Posted on Jul 25, 2025 3:08 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jul 25, 2025 5:10 PM

Yes you should put a copy on both devices as there is no limit on redownloading apps. Even if it was a purchased app on one device, you can redownload it on another device using the same Apple Account without any charge.


In some cases, the in-app purchases can be redownloaded, although this depends on the type of in-app purchase. For example, a consumable such as game tokens used in the game obviously cannot be redownloaded, but an in-app purchase that unlocks a feature such as removing ads can be redownloaded if it does not show up on your device after redownloading the game.

If you can't find or use your in-app purchases - Apple Support

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jul 25, 2025 5:10 PM in response to Emmett_1944

Yes you should put a copy on both devices as there is no limit on redownloading apps. Even if it was a purchased app on one device, you can redownload it on another device using the same Apple Account without any charge.


In some cases, the in-app purchases can be redownloaded, although this depends on the type of in-app purchase. For example, a consumable such as game tokens used in the game obviously cannot be redownloaded, but an in-app purchase that unlocks a feature such as removing ads can be redownloaded if it does not show up on your device after redownloading the game.

If you can't find or use your in-app purchases - Apple Support

Jul 25, 2025 6:31 PM in response to Emmett_1944

Emmett_1944 wrote:

That sounds great. It seems like there are a lot more IpadOS apps than apps for the Mac. But that big screen on the iMac is hard to beat when you can open two full size windows side by side. Thanks.

That is correct. Developers choose which device they want to offer native support and by far the most common is the iPhone, followed by the iPad, then the Mac. Luckily your Silicon Mac is capable of running many of these apps as well, it is just a little different experience than one designed to take advantage of the Mac screen size natively.

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How Many Times Can I Download A Paid App From The App Store

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