Apple has been working towards bringing forward a large number of changes in the way the world of smartphone technology functions. The company has been introducing a number of updates and upgrades over the years which have been instrumental in Apple’s positioning as an ‘innovator’ in the markets. With the iOS 11 coming out soon, 32 bit apps will no longer be supported.
The iOS 11 is heavily speculated to be announced at the Worldwide Developers Conference 2017 event that is all set to start off in a few hours. Before the event starts, Apple briefly pulled down all the 32 bit apps from the App Store’s search results. While it looks like a small test, it affects over 187,000 apps in the store. This is 8% of the total size of the app store. With iOS 11 expected to begin rolling out by September, Apple will end support for these apps.
Since the iPhone 5S, the company has shifted their focus on 64 bit apps. There have been a number of requests by the company asking the developers to update their apps from 32 bit to 64 bit versions. 64 bit applications have been around since the A7 Processor that was introduced with the iPhone 5S in September of 2013. Apple even pulled down over 47,000 apps from the app store last year.
What was interesting about this testing by Apple was that while the apps were not visible in search, those with direct links to 32 bit apps were still able to access them. However, with the iOS 11 expected to be announced later tonight, this may no longer be an option once it starts rolling out.
When the iOS 10.3 beta build came out, it gave a clear warning to the users when they launched a 32 bit app, stating that the developer must update the app to improve its compatibility because it “will not work with future versions of iOS.”
