The incompatibility issue has now been solved. Visit the “Download” center to get the latest upgrade.
Please wait to upgrade to iTunes 10.5 to avoid a conflict with Covenant Eyes on Windows computers.
Covenant Eyes is working on an update to fix this issue.
For Covenant Eyes customers, if you have a Windows system (XP, Vista, 7) and you upgrade to iTunes 10.5, the iTunes store will no longer work. You will not be able to sync your iPod/iPad/iPhone either. We are working hard to develop a fix for this problem and hope to have it out in beta form within a couple of weeks. In the meantime there are no good alternatives other than waiting to upgrade to iTunes 10.5. If you have already upgraded, it is very difficult to go back to an earlier version.
Covenant Eyes has been ready for Apple to release the new iOS5 operating system which was released Wednesday October 12. All systems were go until Apple also released the new version of iTunes for Windows simultaneously with the release of iOS5.
We are on top of this and have a team working on the problem. We apologize for the inconvenience this causes our users, and will provide updates as our fix progresses towards a beta. We will also start testing pre-release versions of iTunes in the future to prevent this from happening again. Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience and frustration this is likely to cause.
To join our beta testing program, send an e-mail to support@covenanteyes.com. Please provide your Covenant Eyes username and your phone number.
As a paying customer of CE, it is a sad thing that I have to find out about a incompatibility between iTunes and CE buried in a Apple chat forum. You have my email address, please send me (and others) an email to this effect. Now I have iTunes 10.5, which is hanging up my machine when I open it. Not well distributed information.
You know that should have gone out in an email to all C.E. users. I have spent hours trying to fix this problem trying to sync my Iphone and finally came across this answer. I think you need to communiate this better to your subscribers.
There is a work-around that will enable you to use CE and iTunes 10.5. You need to set your iTunes to prevent it from syncing automatically, reset the sync history, and delete previous backups (all of which are done within iTunes under “Edit”, then “Preferences”). Then do the following:
1. Close iTunes.
2. From the Start menu, type “cmd” (no quotes ) in the “Run” field. (Note: if you are not an administrator on your machine, you will have to open the Start menu, click on “All Programs”, “Accessories”, right-click on “Command”, and then select “Run as Administrator”.)
3.Type the following exactly: netsh winsock reset
4. Hit “Enter”.
5. After the process is done, you will need to restart your computer.
NOW FOR THE CRUCIAL PART:
6. Open iTunes WITHOUT your iPhone/iPod connected.
7. Just to be safe, verify that iTunes is still set to not sync automatically.
8. Connect your device, then RIGHT-CLICK your device name when it appears in the side-bar.
8. Select “Backup”.
After these steps, you should be able to work as you did before. I know it’s troublesome, but at least it will help those who had already upgraded until a fix comes out. :)
Are you saying that once you get the first backup done manually, that you can re-enable automatic syncing, or should you never turn that back on until CE is updated?
>>In the meantime there are no good alternatives other than waiting to upgrade to iTunes 10.5. If you have already upgraded, it is very difficult to go back to an earlier version.<<
I have already upgraded to iTunes 10.5, and now my phone won't sync. I uninstalled all of Apple's software (iTunes, Bonjour, etc). Now I can't find a previous version from Apple.
To say I'm frustrated is beyond words.
MC, you can download any previous version of iTunes from http://filehipp.com
Just search for iTunes. I’ll post a tutorial for users on downgrading iTunes if they have already upgraded.
Wrong URL! Sorry about that…
The correct URL is: http://filehippo.com
I would have appreciated an email about the fact that covenant eyes was not compatible with iTunes 5.
After I could not sync my phone, I ended up reinstalling iTunes, which, because iTunes was organizing my library, ended up erasing over a hundred cd’s of music from my computer. Then I spent from 9am til around 2pm of my Saturday on the phone with AppleCare creating user accounts, editing my windows system files, reinstalling iTunes, etc to try to find the problem.
I don’t think that covenant eyes is responsible for me losing my music, but an email would have been nice. Thanks for working to find a solution to the problem with the syncing function and with the iTunes store.
Note that the latest version of safari also does not cooperate with CE very well either. XP users may need to use safari as http://www.icloud.com is not compatible with IE 8, which is the newest ie version supported by XP. Safari does work with http://www.cloud.com, but has the same CPU overload issue as iTunes 10.5.
Friends of CE:
There may have been a lack of communication from CE to you and I the paying customers but let us not allow the evil one to extinguish our accountability passion. Let us voice our concerns to CE but please do not allow this to be a time of faltering. We are in the midst of a battle and CE is one our most choicest of weapons! Let us fight this good fight for our God and the future generations. Please my family stay on task!
From a Brother Who Loves,
Nathan
Bravo Nathan! Agreed 100% Thank you for reminding us we have bigger things to (try not to) get frustrated about and solve through prayer than this.
Praise God!
I also agree – as a paying customer – why was there no e-mail about this?
I’ve had frustrations about the itunes store, but I found this out – not on covenant eyes website searching for itunes but through google!
I do appreciate Nathans comment though, as a good reminder that there are, ultimately, far more important things to be worrying about.
Additionally, despite following the instructions exactly, the itunes store/ping still have no connection.
I also have just updated our iTunes to 10.5 to find that it doesn’t work because of Covenant Eyes. I am very disappointed that an email alert was not sent out, as how else would we know not to upgrade this particular software (upgrades, especially to iTunes, are a frequent occurrence). Please let us know straight away how long this is likely to take.
For those looking to downgrade iTunes after installing 10.5:
Use the Control Panel to uninstall iTunes and related software components in the following order. Then, restart your computer.
1. iTunes
2. QuickTime
3. Apple Software Update
4. Apple Mobile Device Support
5. Bonjour
6. Apple Application Support (iTunes 9 or later)
Important: Uninstalling these components in a different order, or only uninstalling some of these components may have unintended effects.
7. Download an earlier version of iTunes (10.4.1 or earlier — 10.4.1 did not work for me either, so just be aware you may have to go down to the latest 10.3.x version) from http://filehippo.com (Search for iTunes.)
8. Install iTunes and reboot your computer.
Hope this helps!
I have uninstalled CE because i use my iphone for work and need to be able to syn it. Is there going to be a communication sent out once this issue has been fixed so that I can reinstall CE at that point? Thanks!
The problem with downgrading is that if you have upgraded your phone to iOS 5, then it requires iTunes 10.5. I too found that CE was the culprit buried in an obscure Apple user forum post.
I decided to try uninstalling CE because I had tried everything else and all worked. I assumed that after I upgraded my phone, then I could re-install CE and all would be OK. Not the case and now I’m waiting on the CE upgrade.
I hope this issue will help CE develop new communication policies to it’s customers when these type of issues come to their attention. I would have waited had I known this was the problem and CE was working on a solution.
i had to uninstall covenant eyes in order to correct the problem with itunes. i agree with the importance of accountability. and with the need for CE to communicate with customers (“don’t surprise us”).
Please let us know when a fix is in place.
Hi everyone. This is Luke Gilkerson from Covenant Eyes.
First things first: We’ve just released a beta version of our Window’s program that fixes the iTunes/Safari issue. It is ready for testing and you are welcome to use it. To upgrade, simply run the installer. You can use these links to get the beta for 64-bit and 32-bit. (You do not need to uninstall Covenant Eyes unless you have a beta version of Covenant Eyes installed on your computer that begins with version number 4.4.9.) You can also read the release notes if you wish.
Second, on behalf of the company I want to personally apologize about the lateness of our communication with you and the inconvenience this has caused you. Companies like Apple push out updates to their services all the time, and we have a choice to make when we notice potential incompatibilities. Not knowing how many of our members the change will impact, do we fill the inboxes of every person in our database about changes that may or may not impact them, or do we publish more passive communication on our website that will help people looking for answers. In this case, we made a mistake. In hindsight we should have sent a targeted e-mail to our Windows users to prepare them.
As a result of this we’ve had many healthy conversations about this issue and how we should communicate in the future, especially when iTunes is involved. Thank you so much for all your comments. It is exciting to see how many care about the value of Covenant Eyes and their willingness to hold us to the highest standards.
Thank you!!!
Thank you for posting this beta version. It has solved my problems. Now I can: use the iCloud control panel for Windows, view the iTunes store, iTunes 10.5 can find my iPad wirelessly, iTunes will actually backup my iPad. I appreciate your quick work on this.
Hey everyone. Just wanted to let you know the beta version is no longer a beta. It is now the newest version of Covenant Eyes for Windows. If you clicked the links above to get the beta version, you now have the most updated version of Covenant Eyes on your machine. Thanks again for all the comments!
Thank you so much for the beta fix! I am running Windows 7 64bit on my desktop and I haven’t been able to access the iTunes store for about 2 months… very frustrating! Thanks to all who worked hard on getting this issue resolved!
Luke,
Thank you for supplying us with the betas. I have downloaded & installed the 64-bit beta & everything now seems to be working properly. My CPU usage is no longer maxed out & my iPhone just synced successfully. I have to run back to work, but this evening, I will be trying to sync my iPad & then hopefully update both to iOS 5. Thanks!
Sign me up for the beta please.
@Nathan – Just follow the links to get it. As long as you have a Covenant Eyes account, you should be able to use it.
Beta seems to work. Thsi has been an issue for over a month since teh 10.4.1.
Now can you get the covenant eyes browser fpor iphone and ipad to work with wi-fi hot spots? I travel extensively internationally and data roaming is cost prohibitive. When i am on the road away from family is when I want to provide my accoutnability partners (Wife and Sons) the assurance of my safe browsing. It seems cpunterproductive to need to have Safari enabled to use apps, email , and web when traveling.
I upgraded to the latest beta and it appears to fix all my problems. Just to be safe, I uninstalled iTunes 10.4 according to Apple’s instructions, then ran the “netsh winsock reset” command, then upgraded CE, deleted my iTunes backup folder, then installed iTunes 10.5. The first time I tried to sync, it locked up and I had to kill iTunes. I restarted iTunes and it worked OK from that point forward. I now have iOS 5 on my phone!
Thanks CE team!! The beta is working!
Hours wasted! When were you planning to tell us? Like others I found out on an Apple forum. And you say ‘We are on top of this’, I’d hate to see you behind the curve. Hugely disappointing.
@Chris – I’m terribly sorry you had to go digging for answers the way you did. We have a help forum on GetSatisfaction with a number of threads about this topic, but there isn’t a large percentage of our customers who use it yet. If you notice conflicts in the future, this is a great place to interact with us about problems and concerns, as well as your own ideas about work-arounds.
While you have fixed this itunes 10.5 issue you have not incorporated the upgrade into the drop bar feature of CE for upgrade now. It still states that I have latest version even though 4.9 is the latest version. Please fix this because that is probably why you have half your continued problems.
Please post an update to this article. I need to synch!
Hello,
I am very excited to found out why my problems with itunes, iphone, and icloud have one common source.
My new question is, if I upgrade to the supposed solution of covenant eyes, will I lose the ability to have a 3rd party filter guardian?
@Christian – I’ll get back to you later today.
@Christian – Upgrading your version of Covenant Eyes will not change any of your account settings. Your Accountability Partners will continue to receive uninterrupted Accountability Reports and your Filtering Settings, including your Filter Guardian will all remain the same as they were before you performed the upgrade.
itunes store, icloud, ping, safari. none of them work and i just got the new update.
windows 7 64 bit. please help.
-Ross
Hi Ross. Thanks for letting us know. I just reviewed your account, and it looks like you are currently running version 4.4.8 which is incompatible with iTunes 10.5. You need to upgrade to version 4.4.9 which you can do by visiting the downloads page. Just go there and install the version of appropriate for your operating system. If you need any help or have questions, please just contact our Customer Service Team at 877.479.1119.
I agree with Tim. I right clicked on the CE icon in the taskbar and said “Check for Updates” It said my version was up to date, but I was still having the problem. Finally figured out that I had to download the new version from the website to fix the problem.
In other words, something isn’t working on the “Check for Updates” functionality.
@Joel – Good observation. The issue is actually not with the functionality of the “Check for Updates” feature on your system. We have to “flip the switch” on our end that allows the program to recognize an upgrade exists, which is something we didn’t do for 4.4.9. Normally, when we release an upgrade, we turn on the auto-upgrade feature. In this case the iTunes/iOS issue involved a fairly significant change in our software and we wanted to do a “soft release” of the new version before we pushed it out to every person who uses Covenant Eyes. This enabled us to fix some immediate problems for people while we continued to tweak our program. In the near future, 4.4.9 or an even newer version will pushed out to all our users. Hope that makes sense.
I am using Lion for Mac 10.7.2 and amno longer able to utilize the itunes etc. etc ad naseum Store. So I guess I am uninstalling until you fix this issue. Please send your users an E-mail when this situation is resolved so your Mac users can reinstall. Thank you.
@jf – There is no longer any known conflict between Covenant Eyes installed on a Mac and iTunes. Because iTunes 10.5 is conflicting with many programs, perhaps there is something else you can do to solve the issue. Let us know if we can help. Call us at 877.479.1119.
wow!! end of NOV and we also found this problem buried in a forum after days…. spent trying to fix problem! so i read the apology for lack of communication from CE but why hasn’t there STILL been any communication sent out re this????
I downloaded the latest Covenant Eyes and the apple store worked in iTunes v 10.5, but for some weird reason I cannot log into the store for the love of me. Can anyone else help? I have all the latest updates for my Windows 7 64-bit OS. Nothing seems to work. Help!
I’m having the same problem as Theball77: iTunes won’t give me access to the store. I’m running Windows 7 64-bit, with iTunes 10.5.3.3 and CE 4.5.1.2095.
Hi Simo, I apologize that you are still having an issue with the iTunes store even after upgrading to a version of Covenant Eyes that is compatible with it.
The good news is that we know what needs to be done to resolve the problem for you. There are pieces of the old version of Covenant Eyes still present on your computer and we just need to remove them manually.
It is best if you actually speak to a member of our Customer Service Team to do this though. You can reach us toll-free at 877-479-1119, or if you prefer please send an email to info@covenanteyes.com with “attention Chad” in the subject line and let me know a good phone number and time that we can call you.
Chad Hadfield
Customer Service Manager @ Covenant Eyes
I have been trying to find a solution for months and became very frustrated. If it wasn’t for a post on the iTunes support site that I recently found, I never would have known about the incompatibility issue. I agree that a notice should have been sent to all paying customers. I may just need to re-think this.
The workaround is to uninstall this craptastic piece of porn filtering software. I have never seen a single piece of software screw up a single PC as much as CovenantEyes. And that includes every virus, worm, and other piece of malware I’ve witness in my last 21 years of professional software development.
Thanks for making me spend hours and hours of my valuable time debugging my father’s otherwise perfectly good PC.
Additionally, y’all suck.
I agree so much! I hate this software.
I’m hoping to do a re-install of my OS because of this dumb stuff.
I’m running iTunes 10.6 and the latest version of Covenant Eyes that’s available…but I can’t access the iTunes store! Please help. I only downloaded CE last weekend, so I doubt it’s because I have bits of the old software…
Have you called our customer support line yet? 877.479.1119. We should be able to help you out.
Hello there, I do think your blog could possibly be having internet browser compatibility issues.
Whenever I look at your blog in Safari, it looks fine however when opening in I.E., it’s got some overlapping issues.
I just wanted to provide you with a quick heads up!
Besides that, excellent blog!
Thanks. We are aware of the issues. IE is quite possibly one of the worst browsers to design a website for. We’ve been trying to work out the bugs.
I create a comment whenever I appreciate a post on a site or I have something to contribute to
the discussion. Usually it’s triggered by the fire communicated
in the article I looked at. And after this post Incompatibility Between Covenant Eyes for Windows and iTunes 10.5 – Covenant Eyes.
I was moved enough to drop a commenta response ;-) I do have 2 questions for you if it’s okay.
Is it only me or does it give the impression like a few of
the comments come across like coming from brain dead visitors?
:-P And, if you are posting at other places, I’d like
to follow anything fresh you have to post. Could you list all of your community pages like your twitter feed, Facebook page or linkedin profile?
I recommend you join our online forum where the conversations are fresher and based on things happening right now in our product development, not based on comments on an outdated post.