iTunes - Sign In Required to check for downloads at startup?

Every time I start iTunes (maybe every time I start iTunes after restarting my Mac) I get this dialog:

iTunes - Sign In Required

Is this supposed to happen? I never got this before the recent iCloud announcement and it seems to relate to automatic downloads. Additionally, I happened to change my Apple ID password at the same time, so I can't narrow it down to automatic downloads by default.

I realize that checking the "Remember password" may keep this dialog box from appearing, but I'm asking this question to find out why it's suddenly appearing.

Additional related questions:

If I check "Remember password" then will it also remember my password for iTunes Store purchases? (I don't want that.)
I assume "Remember password" will add this to my keychain. If my Apple ID (and new password) is already stored in my keychain (from Setup Assistant), will this grant access to iTunes to it for only this specific purpose or for any purpose?

jsejcksn

Posted 2011-06-23T17:00:18.150

Reputation: 2 854

Answers

Additionally, I happened to change my Apple ID password at the same time

And iTunes doesn't know the new one. So this popup is very likely to be caused by the automatic download check failing due to password change. See iTunes → Preferences → Store.

If I check "Remember password" then will it also remember my password for iTunes Store purchases? (I don't want that.)

I'm not sure, but I think it will.

I assume "Remember password" will add this to my keychain. If my Apple ID (and new password) is already stored in my keychain (from Setup Assistant), will this grant access to iTunes to it for only this specific purpose or for any purpose?

Keychain grants access to iTunes, and it's up to the program how the password will be used. (Remember that it's still the same program, so it doesn't make sense to grant access conditionally. It could always lie about the purpose.)

user1686

Posted 2011-06-23T17:00:18.150

Reputation: 283 655

@grawaity #3--makes sense. I didn't mention in the question that I had already logged out, deauthorized, etc. from anything related to the iTunes Store in iTunes. Then I went to keychain and updated all password entries related to my Apple ID. Then I went back to iTunes and signed in again/authorized, etc. with my Apple ID and new password. That's why I'm wondering what this new dialog is about. I don't want to have to type it every time I launch it to automatically check for (free) downloads, but I do want to have to type it to purchase new content. – jsejcksn – 2011-06-23T19:00:02.243

Thanks again. Tested it all out. The new dialog is all iCloud / Automatic Download-related and not password change-related. Also, looks like you have to let iTunes remember your password for everything or nothing. Sucks. – jsejcksn – 2011-06-30T19:32:54.100

I have auto downloads set to 'off' in "iTunes/Preferences/Store", but it still tries to ask me to sign in to check for downloads on startup. It then also started downloading stuff i didn't want to download too if i logged in.

I tried the following solution, and it seems to have worked to prevent the dialogue from appearing; iTunes requires Safari cookies to be enabled for all.

Safari → Preferences → Privacy → Block Cookies: ✓ Never [enabled]

And after confirming my password once, it now doesn't continue to ask

Ajarn Spencer Littlewood

Posted 2011-06-23T17:00:18.150

Reputation: 1