itunes and pdf's

I use I tunes on my computer to put pdf's such as camera manuals on my iphone and ipad.  I then read them in ibooks.  I downloaded the latest version of itunes and it wants you to do apps and books from your ios device directly.  The apps store no longer shows up.  I rolled the thing back to an earlier version of itunes.  Is there a solution?  How to I get pdf's such as manuals on my ios devices now as well as keep them organized? 

Also to update apps I'm downloading a lot of gig a bytes a month on my land line fiber optics internet.  Is this all going to have to be done now on my cell service data plan?

I'll answer the cell service data plan part...

No, you can activate WiFi on your home network and use Wifi to update your devices. So it can still be done at home and without additional cost.
You can't, however, update the app once in iTunes and then download it to each device. If you use the newest version of iTunes, you must update each device individually which does mean downloading the app multiple times for multiple devices. When I discovered the change in iTunes, I immediately restored my system from a backup and I'm still using the previous version of iTunes instead of the updated one. I ran a test when ISO 11 was released and determined that that version of iTunes would backup and update devices on IOS 11. I plan to stay on this version of iTunes indefinitely.

I'm in the process of looking for an alternative way or updating devices. I have found one that can backup and restore devices but it will not update apps directly like the old version of iTunes.

I do the same as Tony using WiFi for updates but use PDF reader Pro app on my iPhone and iPad. It's a free download at the App store. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pdf-rea ... 2673?mt=12

Do we know what the last full function of itunes was?  I was able to do like you and restore an earlier version.12.4.3.1  I downloaded a new app from the store but can't seem to get it into itunes.  I tunes sees it on the device but does not appear to import it into itunes.

In iTunes, go to the app store and use the link purchased. It should give you a list of all the apps you haven't downloaded into iTunes and let you download them.

Why use iTunes at all? Downloading pdf files, or any other sort of file, is most easily done using wifi. Get your manuals straight to your iPad or iPhone etc and then open them in iBooks to read ... OR install the Documents 6 app from Readdle to manage your documents and to open them. Make sure your devices have been updated to the latest iOS 11 which includes a file manager. Absolutely zero need for iTunes for any of this. You noted that:" ... it wants you to do apps and books from iOS directly" and that's the whole point, direct, wireless delivery is how it works, much simpler. 

https://readdle.com/products/documents

Anthony Medici wrote:In iTunes, go to the app store and use the link purchased. It should give you a list of all the apps you haven't downloaded into iTunes and let you download them.

not finding it.  seems to limit you to movies etc.

I've got roughly 1000 pdf's and two IOS devices. I've got probably close to 75 apps. I get updates left and right. I'd rather do it all in one place and have it automatically distributed. Also I want it on the device and not in the cloud which when I'm traveling I rarely have access to.

Wildflower-nut wrote: Also I want it on the device and not in the cloud which when I'm traveling I rarely have access to.

Riddle Documents 6 is your friend ... it does exactly what you want

Wildflower-nut wrote:

Anthony Medici wrote:In iTunes, go to the app store and use the link purchased. It should give you a list of all the apps you haven't downloaded into iTunes and let you download them.

not finding it.  seems to limit you to movies etc.

Each store is separate. You choose the type of thing first to see your local list of items and when you click on store, you see what is available for that type of thing. So you were looking at movies and when you got to the store it only showed the movies purchased.

Wildflower-nut wrote:I've got roughly 1000 pdf's and two IOS devices.  I've got probably close to 75 apps.  I get updates left and right.  I'd rather do it all in one place and have it automatically distributed.  Also I want it on the device and not in the cloud which when I'm traveling I rarely have access to.

And this is why I didn't offer a suggestion for an alternative method. I'm running close to 900 pdfs and I use them on 5 iOS devices. Managing them in one place is a lot easier then in multiple locations. I have started to look for alternatives and everything else right now is more work.

That said, some apps, like documents or PDF Expert can manage files. You can even transfer them to the app from iTunes even without a books tab. However, again, you'd need to add the doc to each device while it is connected to iTunes. Once over there, it can be managed by the new Files App, Documents App or the PDF Expert App. Since it is more work to manage things this way, I continue to use the book tab in the iTunes app on my older machine to move these files over.

Anthony Medici wrote:

Wildflower-nut wrote:I've got roughly 1000 pdf's and two IOS devices.  I've got probably close to 75 apps.  I get updates left and right.  I'd rather do it all in one place and have it automatically distributed.  Also I want it on the device and not in the cloud which when I'm traveling I rarely have access to.

And this is why I didn't offer a suggestion for an alternative method. I'm running close to 900 pdfs and I use them on 5 iOS devices. Managing them in one place is a lot easier then in multiple locations. I have started to look for alternatives and everything else right now is more work.

That said, some apps, like documents or PDF Expert can manage files. You can even transfer them to the app from iTunes even without a books tab. However, again, you'd need to add the doc to each device while it is connected to iTunes. Once over there, it can be managed by the new Files App, Documents App or the PDF Expert App. Since it is more work to manage things this way, I continue to use the book tab in the iTunes app on my older machine to move these files over.

I transfer gear manuals, word/excel docs, pdfs and Sharpshooter screenshots via iTunes/Files Transfer to the GoodReader app.  The source folder that I copy from has 8,600 items, sub-folders to keep things organized, and every file has a date.  If I updated only a few files in the source folder, I Add the files with the new dates and then Delete the old files before syncing.  If I updated or renamed over a dozen files since the last synch, I delete everything from the iPhone/iPad GoodReader app (except the Gear Manual sub-folder since those docs don't change) > Select All from the source folder which I keep on the Desktop > Add them to GoodReader and then Synch.  Hope this helps, Chris

I was going to update with a new iphone and ipad. Is it time to move to an android?