32 Bit Apps Phase Out

[DaveM]

I know that from what's being said Apple intends to stop allowing 32 bit apps in the App Store. This will likely happen with the release of iOS 11 later this year. My question is, will unsupported 32 bit apps that I've already downloaded to my phone continue to work?

EDIT: Never mind. Apparently the notice that comes up in the latest iOS update says that 32 bit apps will stop working "in a future version." Kind of a disappointment, but technology marches on.

 

[scifan57]

I wonder if the 32 bit apps in the App Store will be still available to older devices? someone using an older device would be royally pissed is he could no longer download any apps, especially if he does not have an extensive app library stored in iTunes on his computer.

 

[DaveM]

Last September, Apple announced that it was going to remove any apps from the App Store that did not “function as intended, don’t follow current review guidelines, or are outdated.” Presumably, this would include apps that did not meet the 64-bit requirement.

If you use older 32-bit apps on newer devices, you’ll need to upgrade your apps to make sure you can still use them. During the switch to 64-bit development, some developers released new versions of their apps that you have to buy instead of updating the old ones, so it’s possible that you may have missed the new version. You’ll need to check the App Store to find the new version and possibly buy a new version of that app.

The future of iOS is 64-bit only: Apple to stop support of 32-bit apps

If my understanding of this is correct, 32 bit apps are no longer going to be available.

 

[DaveM]

As a personal note, I know that 64 bit Windows operating systems have always been backwards compatible with 32 bit programs. If Apple wants to make a requirement for all future apps to be 64 bit I certainly understand that. That would help a gradual phase-out as 32 bit apps would eventually become obsolete and people would naturally find 64 bit replacements for them. If iOS remained backwards compatible for the foreseeable future this transition would happen on its own. After a number of years people would make the transition in their own time. But to just drop backwards compatibility in one major iOS upgrade when many are still using older 32 bit apps is not considerate of users of older devices. There's already a kind of forced upgrade that happens due to the incredibly fast pace of changing technology. The inability of older devices to run newer apps efficiently makes them obsolete. This is different than even 10 years ago when technology progressed at a much lesser pace. We can't do anything about that, but Apple could ease the pain by allowing backwards compatibility in iOS.

I recently posted a thread asking about apps to keep track of medications. The reason was that I have a 32 bit app that I've used for years that does exactly what I need. I'm happy with it. But apparently that app will stop working with the release of iOS 11. The publisher hasn't released any upgrades in years and when I checked I found that it's no longer available in the App Store. After downloading and trying a number of the new ones I find that they don't have the customization features that I want, and also are geared toward being medication reminders, which I don't need. I'll most likely end up just going to a typed list of meds, but will miss the organization features of my old app. So I'm certainly understanding of those who will feel like they've been abandoned in some way by these upcoming changes. In my own case it wasn't outdated hardware that caused me a problem, but rather a policy change by Apple regarding backwards compatibility of their operating system.

 

[Ledsteplin]

I have a handful of 32 bit apps I really like and use. And can't find suitable replacements. I'll stick on iOS 10.1.1 a while longer and skip the upgrade this year. I have another reason to stay put. I'm curious to see if when Apple removes all the 32 bit from the App Store, if they'll also be removed from the purchased list. I have some that have already been removed in the App Store, but remain in my purchased list. Some not.

 

[DaveM]

I have a handful of 32 bit apps I really like and use. And can't find suitable replacements. I'll stick on iOS 10.1.1 a while longer and skip the upgrade this year. I have another reason to stay put. I'm curious to see if when Apple removes all the 32 bit from the App Store, if they'll also be removed from the purchased list. I have some that have already been removed in the App Store, but remain in my purchased list. Some not.

I understand why this would be a reason to not upgrade, but I worry that new versions include security updates that really ought to be installed. I always try to stay up to date on updates in either iOS or Windows, unless one comes along that's known to cause problems. It's a tough call.

 

[scifan57]

I have a handful of 32 bit apps I really like and use. And can't find suitable replacements. I'll stick on iOS 10.1.1 a while longer and skip the upgrade this year. I have another reason to stay put. I'm curious to see if when Apple removes all the 32 bit from the App Store, if they'll also be removed from the purchased list. I have some that have already been removed in the App Store, but remain in my purchased list. Some not.

Some of my older apps that are no longer in the App Store have also been removed from my purchase history. Fortunately they're in my iTunes library on my computer and can be synced to my devices.

 

[zstairlessone]

This will kill my 4S, I still love watching Netflix and movies on it and it is the perfect GPS and iPod for my pocket or in the car [emoji25][emoji25]

 

[scifan57]

This will kill my 4S, I still love watching Netflix and movies on it and it is the perfect GPS and iPod for my pocket or in the car [emoji25][emoji25]

We'll have to see how this policy affects installed 32 bit apps on devices running iOS 9 and earlier.

 

[DaveM]

Post deleted. Posted to wrong topic. Sorry.

 

[Russtopher]

I had no intention of replacing my I Phone 5. However, because of this 32 bit app phase-out and the good deal that I received, I'm now rocking the I Phone SE. Will most or all of my existing apps be updated as time goes on?

I'm liking the SE phone.

Thanks

 

[scifan57]

I had no intention of replacing my I Phone 5. However, because of this 32 bit app phase-out and the good deal that I received, I'm now rocking the I Phone SE. Will most or all of my existing apps be updated as time goes on?

I'm liking the SE phone.

Thanks

There's no way to tell. A lot of apps are abandoned by their developers and some apps are updated infrequently. Check the date of the last update. If it's more than a year or two ago, the developer has probably abandoned the app.

 

[Russtopher]

Oh well I suppose my I Phones 4s and 5 will make nice I Pods?

 

[scifan57]

Oh well I suppose my I Phones 4s and 5 will make nice I Pods?

If you have any 32 bit apps on your iPhone, they'll still work if your iPhone can't update to iOS 11, you just won't be able to buy any more 32 bit apps.

 

[Russtopher]

If you have any 32 bit apps on your iPhone, they'll still work if your iPhone can't update to iOS 11, you just won't be able to buy any more 32 bit apps.

Cool. Thanks. The new SE is my first 32 gig phone. That's enough space to last awhile? My older 5 Phone was a 16 gig model and I still had about 5 gig's of available space on it.

Thanks