It has been reported that the release of Apple‘s next version of its mobile operating system, called iOS 11 could render around 200,000 32-bit apps obsolete. That’s around 8% of the 2.4-million apps on the App Store, most of which work perfectly on today’s devices. However, Apple has been working towards making its 64-bit devices dominant, which in turn means, improved performance and stability for future devices.
iOS 11 Apps – What’s The Problem?
Whatever your opinion on this future move by Apple, it has been coming for some time. That much has been seen in the recent updates to iOS 10. As for the detail, this is what you should know:
Any application who’s developer, after and exhaustive campaign to get them to do so, has not been updated to be 64-bit compatible will become obsolete. This means that developers have 6-months to make their apps run natively on 64-bit devices. But, in fact, they have had much longer to get ready, the first 64-bit iPhone, the 5S launched in 2013. So, this coming September will mark the 4th year of such a device.
No Removal From the App Store
On a positive note, while the thousands of remaining 32-bit apps won’t be compatible with newer iOS 11 running devices. They will remain on the App Store, presumably to allow those who wish to stick with older devices to have functionality. Although, these apps will be those that have not been updated by their developers for some time.
How To Find Out Which Apps Will Become Obsolete
Fortunately, if you want to find out what apps are going to be affected by the release of iOS 11, you can. Apple recently included a tool embedded into its iOS 10.3 update. This tool shows you which apps installed on your device are not 64-bit compatible/native. It’s available for both iPhone and iPad users, update now to get it.
To update go to Settings >> General >> Software Update and allow an available update to take place.
Once you have the iOS 10.3 update installed, go to Settings >> General >> About >> Applications. Once there you will see the list of non-64-bit compatible apps. Apple states along with the results of this tool:
“The apps may slow down your iPhone and won’t work with future version of iOS if they are not updated. If no update is available, contact the app developer for more information.”
Final Thoughts
So, now that you have the means to find out which apps will be affected, what will you do? Will you uninstall the app, or take Apple’s advice and contact the developer? Of the near 200,000 apps affected, it’s thought that 187,000 will certainly become obsolete. Most of that number arrived on the App Store before September 2013, so 32-bit, with others arriving later. Although, before the mandatory 64-bit compatibility came into force.
