General Are 32-bit apps returning?

[Gjwilly]

9to5Mac had an unrelated article about OLED burn-in mitigation in iOS 11 but they included this screenshot that references 32-bit apps.

Could support for 32-bit apps be returning?

 

[Chazzle]

Very interesting question. Curious if anyone has some insight on this.

 

[MrChurchyard]

Pretty sure that’s just a flag and that it is set to false.

 

[fisherking]

absurd that apple would move away from 32bit apps... then return to that. next up: the return of the scsi cable...

 

[Gjwilly]

Pretty sure that’s just a flag and that it is set to false.

If no device running iOS 11 supports 32-bit why would they need the flag?
Why have a flag that will never be switched?

 

[fisherking]

If no device running iOS 11 supports 32-bit why would they need the flag?
Why have a flag that will never be switched?

that's like assuming that every single line of code in an os is essential, & functional. for whatever reason that's there, what are the odds apple would 'move backwards'? i mean, how often do they do this? (rosetta, remember, was a bridge in a transition, not a move back)...

 

[nerdriot]

If no device running iOS 11 supports 32-bit why would they need the flag?
Why have a flag that will never be switched?

Because it’s more for the apps, not the OS itself.

I assume the flag checks for 32-bit apps in the App Store that have yet to be purged.

 

[Dave-Z]

If no device running iOS 11 supports 32-bit why would they need the flag?
Why have a flag that will never be switched?

Legacy code. If you've ever done programming you'll recognize that you don't just pull a bunch of lines out because "we don't need them anymore." An operating system has millions of lines of code and removing one variable could cause it to crash even if that variable should be false from here on out. The code stays in and then slowly (hopefully) legacy code gets removed when proper auditing and testing can't be done.

 

[nerdriot]

Legacy code. If you've ever done programming you'll recognize that you don't just pull a bunch of lines out because "we don't need them anymore." An operating system has millions of lines of code and removing one variable could cause it to crash even if that variable should be false from here on out. The code stays in and then slowly (hopefully) legacy code gets removed when proper auditing and testing can't be done.

Thank you for explaining that. I couldn’t get my brain to do that.

I need more coffee.

 

[mikecwest]

absurd that apple would move away from 32bit apps... then return to that. next up: the return of the scsi cable...

Gotta love that small computer system interface with a fat ass cable!

 

[fisherking]

Gotta love that small computer system interface with a fat ass cable!

my friend matthew is ready for the return of scsci; he has several umax scanners in his garage, just waiting for that moment...

 

[MrGimper]

Gotta love that small computer system interface with a fat ass cable!

Wide, or Ultra Wide. With a terminator

 

[MrChurchyard]

If no device running iOS 11 supports 32-bit why would they need the flag?
Why have a flag that will never be switched?

Mainly because it probably had checks for that flag since 10.x in various parts of the OS, ie to throw the alert that it won’t run, and it will take time to remove that. My guess is that it’s likely not a flag that was added now to retroactively allow 32bit, it’s probably an older flag that was introduced in the transition to 64bit.

It could also be used to make explicit that the device is even entirely unable to run 32bit apps—the wording was a bit vague but it sounded like the A11 chip is a 64bit-only architecture and is physically incapable of running code compiled for 32bit.