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sjleworthy

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Dec 5, 2008
1,505
826
Penarth, Wales, UK
https://www.macrumors.com/2017/01/31/32-bit-apps-wont-work-on-future-ios-versions/

I'm all up to date with ios and ipad pro, but after reading this latest article, and not being too technically minded, i have a question.........

i use 2 or 3 apps on a daily bases that are several years old. i'd love to continue using them even if the dev never updates them.
They work 95% good, but there are a couple of minor glitches in them due to non-compatibility of the latest ios's. But these are minor and can easily be lived with.
So, in accordance to the app store's latest message claiming my apps wont work in the future, what exactly does this mean? will this mean my apps wont work full stop all of a sudden after the next ios update? or will they just progressively get worse over time/ios updates until it eventually dies of lack of compatibility and functionality.
ie, will these older apps suddenly not work or will they just slowly not work?
 
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Shirasaki

macrumors P6
May 16, 2015
16,263
11,764
Depends on the app. Some will not work immediately while others may gradually run worse than before.
One thing unsure of iOS 11 is if it includes 32-bit app support, similar to WOW32 on Windows 64-bit version. iPhone 6s can still run 32-bit apps despite the processor is 64-bit.
 

Yun0

macrumors 68000
Jun 12, 2013
1,561
828
Winnipeg, Canada
good, sick of all those what could be or were good apps, abandoned & left on the app store, many being paid apps too, that either hardly work or dont work at all.
 

sjleworthy

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Dec 5, 2008
1,505
826
Penarth, Wales, UK
Depends on the app. Some will not work immediately while others may gradually run worse than before.
One thing unsure of iOS 11 is if it includes 32-bit app support, similar to WOW32 on Windows 64-bit version. iPhone 6s can still run 32-bit apps despite the processor is 64-bit.

thanks mate, the only clear answer. didnt think it would be that hard ;)
 

KALLT

macrumors 603
Sep 23, 2008
5,380
3,415
Depends on the app. Some will not work immediately while others may gradually run worse than before.
One thing unsure of iOS 11 is if it includes 32-bit app support, similar to WOW32 on Windows 64-bit version. iPhone 6s can still run 32-bit apps despite the processor is 64-bit.

How can they run gradually worse? The rumours are exactly about Apple removing the 32-bit libraries from its 64-bit versions of iOS proper. The discontinuation of 32-bit devices has no direct consequence for 64-bit devices, since these phones technically never needed the 32-bit libraries in the first place.

good, sick of all those what could be or were good apps, abandoned & left on the app store, many being paid apps too, that either hardly work or dont work at all.

Apple ought to provide some basic filtering options in the App Store. One positive side effect of the removal of 32-bit libraries is the fact that a device should gain about 350 MB in space, if the size complete system installer images is an indicator.
 

sjleworthy

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Dec 5, 2008
1,505
826
Penarth, Wales, UK
but my question wasn't about existing 32-bit apps in the public librarys, but about your own already installed 32-bit apps on your device and how they would fair on the new ios's.

how can they run worse? easily. they're showing symptoms of it now. still running, but not 100% on all cylinders. some options missing and some navigation crashing. but still running non the less.

would these old installed apps gradually operate worse with new os's or all of a sudden completely fail in one go one day with a new ios.
 

KALLT

macrumors 603
Sep 23, 2008
5,380
3,415
There is no difference between apps you have and haven’t installed. If iOS has 32-bit libraries, then they run. If not, then they cannot. The latter is what the article in your first post is about.

That 32-bit apps run worse is not inherent to 32-bitness. Most 32-bit-only apps are simply old; they were compiled years ago against older SDKs. That generally means that they lack the compiler and code optimisations and sometimes they just don’t work at all, because Apple made breaking changes to the APIs. You’ll see the best results for apps that were compiled with the SDK that your current version of iOS uses.
 

GreyOS

macrumors 68040
Apr 12, 2012
3,358
1,694
The truth is no-one knows for sure. For a few reasons:

1) The popup has only been visible for 1 beta. Apple could change their minds about future plans regarding 32 bit apps, legacy support, major breaking changes, etc. They have removed features from betas and changed their mind before.
2) It only says it will not work in future versions of iOS. Is this 10.4? 11.0? 11.1? 12.0? No one knows for sure.
3) The message is slightly ambiguous. To describe something as "not working" doesn't necessary mean flat out won't load. It's also compatible with saying some features and functionality lost, etc.

Now, we can all speculate, and some speculation is more reasonable than others. The most common speculation seems to be that iOS 11 will completely remove 32-bit support for apps. Seems about right to me.

But like I say, we can't really be sure yet!
 

Math889

macrumors 65816
Jan 7, 2016
1,052
422
The truth is no-one knows for sure. For a few reasons:

1) The popup has only been visible for 1 beta. Apple could change their minds about future plans regarding 32 bit apps, legacy support, major breaking changes, etc. They have removed features from betas and changed their mind before.
2) It only says it will not work in future versions of iOS. Is this 10.4? 11.0? 11.1? 12.0? No one knows for sure.
3) The message is slightly ambiguous. To describe something as "not working" doesn't necessary mean flat out won't load. It's also compatible with saying some features and functionality lost, etc.

Now, we can all speculate, and some speculation is more reasonable than others. The most common speculation seems to be that iOS 11 will completely remove 32-bit support for apps. Seems about right to me.

But like I say, we can't really be sure yet!
Hey Grey OS
1- Apple won't change their mind about 32 bit apps, legacy support.. Apple made an indirect statement that IOS will be 64 bit only . And this future iOS version that Apple is referring is iOS 11 . They won't remove all 32 Bits apps on an 10.X update. If they remove 32 bit appsupport,consequently they will remove support for 32 bit devices . So iOS 10.3 or i10.4 will be the last to support 32 bit apps
Apple is indirectly saying that IPhone 5,5C and 4 gen iPad won't be compatible with iOS 11. The writing is on the wall ...
 

GreyOS

macrumors 68040
Apr 12, 2012
3,358
1,694
Hey Grey OS
1- Apple won't change their mind about 32 bit apps, legacy support.. Apple made an indirect statement that IOS will be 64 bit only . And this future iOS version that Apple is referring is iOS 11 . They won't remove all 32 Bits apps on an 10.X update. If they remove 32 bit appsupport,consequently they will remove support for 32 bit devices . So iOS 10.3 or i10.4 will be the last to support 32 bit apps
Apple is indirectly saying that IPhone 5,5C and 4 gen iPad won't be compatible with iOS 11. The writing is on the wall ...
All speculation my friend. Not sure what the point of your post is, tbh. I state I pretty much agree with that, just saying nothing has been officially stated in clear and certain terms.
 
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