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Appocalypse Now - How iOS11 Will Kill Some Of Your Favourite iPhone Apps (independent.ie)
Ronan Price, writing for Independent: The app-ocalypse is coming and almost no one knows it. Apologies for the dreadful pun but, in about six to eight weeks' time, hundreds of thousands of older apps for iPhone and iPad will cease to work when Apple updates its iOS software to version 11. Businesses and consumers who rely on these elderly apps and update to iOS11 without knowing the consequences face a rude awakening. Their difficulty ranges from mere inconvenience that a useful app no longer functions to the complete loss of valuable data buried in a piece of obsolete software. Apple began signalling two years ago that it was signing the death warrant for older apps when it moved iOS to 64-bit software - essentially a more secure, faster and technologically advanced version that replaced the previous 32-bit code. First, Apple encouraged developers to rewrite their apps to 64-bit status but continued to allow 32-bit apps to function. Then it began to warn developers and customers that future iOS updates would experience compatibility issues. You may have seen -- and ignored -- the messages when launching apps in the last year telling you "App X needs up to be updated, the developer needs to update it to improve its compatibility." Finally, just this June, Apple confirmed that iOS11 would put the kibosh on 32-bit forever when it's released into the wild in late September. The announcement came and went with little fanfare from the public's perspective.
Modern app appers only app 64-app apps and appy app apps, NOT LUDDITE software!
Apps!
You don't have to rewrite shit.
You just have to update the SDK and compile. Done. It's not even fucking hard to do. These old apps are not supported or developed by anyone, that is to say they're unsupported by their developers. Get over it.
iOS11 will certainly not "kill" any of my favorite applications.
People still use eye phones?
so what, iphone 5 and before (32 bit) is 5+ years old. past time the world moved away from 32 bit for general purpose OS powered devices, which includes smart phones
This sounds a lot like Firefox 57's WebExtensions transition, which will reportedly break compatibility with many older extensions. While Apple can probably get away with breaking compatibility, I don't know if Firefox will survive it.
DEATH TO APPS!
yeah what is wrong with people not replacing perfectly functional devices every couple of years for marginal improvements? they totally deserve to have their purchased apps bricked. this is what happens when you don't follow the Benevolent Corp upgrade cycle. serves them right, the damn fools!
Also, one would hope the upgrade process scans for 32-bit-only apps and informs the user "X App" will not function after this OS upgrade. Are you sure you want to proceed?
Undoubtedly, some idiots will still press "Yes" and proceed to bitch afterwards, but that's people for you.
Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
Enough of this 64 bit only BS. There is a lot of perfectly good hardware that is going to be hitting landfills with all this. There is plenty of perfectly serviceable 32bit only hardware out there. If your use case does not need more than 3GB RAM then there is no absolute need for it. And with Intel releasing lackluster improvements over the last decade milking the hell out of stagnated designs with no real competition there has not been a whole lot of a need for many to upgrade old machines. Maybe now that AMD has finally kicked things up there will be a reason to, but that will be a wait and see at this time.
As far as security features, I call BS once again. Are you trying to say every bit of 32bit code written is a gaping security hole? No, it's just inept lazy programmers that cant take their training wheels off these days.
The iOS 11 betas have been so absurdly buggy - and yes, that's compared to other betas - that, unless there's some absolutely horrible security risk found which only iOS 11 patches, I'm going to be sitting on 10.x for as long as I possibly can.
I fully expect iOS 11 (release) to be really, really bad for quite a while.
#DeleteChrome
I never saw any of these warnings. It sucks that Apple make the late minute decision to just screw us and their users over like this.
Apple users love this kind of thing. The next iphone release they'll be camping outside the night before. Losing data and favorite apps is Apple doing you a favor to help you justify buying their next luxury product. That's just the small price to pay to be a member of the Church of Apple.
Take the cheese to sickbay, the doctor should see it as soon as possible - B'Elanna Torres, "Learning Curve"
past time the world moved away from 32 bit for general purpose OS powered devices
[citation needed]
Seriously, though, your reply is a complete non-sequitur. Apps being old means that not controlling your property is okay? It doesn't follow.
A nice forced decluttering of my phone will be good. Get rid of all those apps that I never open but can't be bothered uninstalling.
If the devices are "perfectly functional" then those owners don't need to upgrade to ios11, and their apps will continue to function. Problem solved.
Last I checked, Apple doesn't upgrade iOS without your approval. It suggests the upgrade, and it leaves it up to you.
If you don't want the latest and greatest, you can keep your phones and apps.
iOS 11 wonâ(TM)t be coming to those devices anyway. Apple supports its phones for 5ish years, but that doesnâ(TM)t mean the devices stop working. However, as app developers start using more new features that arenâ(TM)t available in 10 and below, they just wonâ(TM)t be able to update to the latest version of certain apps.
I mean, I canâ(TM)t expect my old Droid 2 that was on Gingerbread to be able to run apps that target Marshmallow or Nougat.
Apple supports its devices far longer than anyone else does. It seems silly to complain about Appleâ(TM)s upgrade cycle when many Android devices donâ(TM)t get more than 1-2 major OS releases.
so what, iphone 5 and before (32 bit) is 5+ years old. past time the world moved away from 32 bit for general purpose OS powered devices, which includes smart phones
So what, the iPad Pro I just bought is less than 2 months old and is a 64 bit device. Yet it will suffer the exact same fate.
What is your point exactly? That the world should move beyond 64 bit hardware too? Beyond 128 bit hardware that doesn't exist yet?
What hardware would you suggest exactly that will not be older than 2 months, or 5 years, or whatever stupid unrelated date you pull out of your ass, that would still be capable of running 32 bit iOS apps yet meet whatever other unrelated criteria you lay out?
Are you going to stupidly suggest that Android is the best option for running 32 bit iOS apps? Or Windows 10? Such a suggestion sounds right up your ally, and would be equally wrong.
Standard "You should learn how to computer" before spilling your embarrassing level of stupidity about them in public.
You could do worse than to learn the difference between "hardware" and "software" and learn what those two words mean.
Seriously, given the summary clearly Apple did everything they would reasonably be expected to do to 'warn' developers & consumers. I'm no Apple fan but what would anyone suggest they do otherwise? And there's an option I presume to not accept the upgrade & not run in to the issue. Potentially the complete lack of 'public fanfare' actually means 'no one cares' & this isn't going to actually affect anyone whether its their 'favorite' LoL Cat video app or whatever.
Sensationalizing this via using terms like 'kill' is well 'over kill' :-)
Developers that are failing to keep up and develop their apps are the ones killing them off.
"Correct me if I'm wrong but..."
I'm correcting you. You're wrong.
So you are saying that even on Android, the 100% userspace apps you purchased 8 years ago no longer run on a tablet you bought yesterday?
Or did you just copy/paste your post from the wrong thread?
Precisely! I had an iPod Touch that wouldn't upgrade beyond iOS 4.3. Every app in it was fine. Only problem: if I went to the app store, there was no app there that would still run on this device.
I'm almost positive you're trolling... but I gotta know. Source? I'm also just going to point out that the "$99/year" service is for several Apple-only internet stations, and not accessible by any other means (legitimately). And furthermore, the service also affords you access to just about the entire iTunes library at no extra charge. (Granted, you're leasing the music, not buying it).
How do you not have control? Don't update to iOS 11. There's your control.
There is no good excuse for this sort of obsolescence. Apple has the ability to both one time and dynamically recompile as well as emulate. They and any OS manufacturer can fix this problem. It is time for regulations that enforce a rule that OS companies stop creating obsolescence but must instead maintain legacy support.
"32-bit apps don't surf!"
-Lt. Colonel Bill Kilgore
Ravensword: The Fallen King
You'll be among the last to play it.... so pour out a beer or something.
Shame on you Apple, you and your planned obsolescence.
So that's why the sleeves on my Apple costume are always too short?
I've got some older 32-bit apps. Not my problem, it's the developer's.
Well, to be completely accurate Apple bugs the hell out of you until you upgrade. I have an old iPhone that I use to run a small radio station, and thanks to wifi sync I go months without ever looking at it in the equipment closet. But once there's a new version of the OS, that alert will pop up every chance it gets, whether I want to upgrade right now or not. And the upgrade choices on the alert are usually "Upgrade Now" or "Upgrade Tonight"
-- I'm old enough to have lived through six different meanings of the word "hacker."
Or dont buy apple.
Fuck'em all.
I say, disable anything 65-bit.
And, with iOS 4.3, you only have about 50 known remotely exploitable vulnerabilities, so it's probably completely safe to use, as long as the WiFi is disabled.
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
It's not obvious, but you can skip the major update by deleting the downloaded update from storage. It won't bug you until the next update.
Apple supports its devices far longer than anyone else does. It seems silly to complain about Appleâ(TM)s upgrade cycle when many Android devices donâ(TM)t get more than 1-2 major OS releases.
Apple has better first-party support, but once they stop shipping security updates then the device is a brick. Actually, it's worse: it's a network-enabled device with known remotely exploitable vulnerabilities that can be used as an entry point for attacking the rest of your network.
My mobile phone is a Moto G. It's a cheap piece of crap that I bought 3 years ago when Motorola was owned by Google and was expecting to get long-term support. Google sold Motorola shortly after. It got major updates for about a year and then security patches (often months after the vulnerability was publicly disclosed) for about another year. That sounds a lot worse than the Apple option, but there's a big difference: I can go over to LineageOS and get a version of Android that's based on the latest version.
The same is true with an old Mac: once it stops getting macOS updates, I can always install FreeBSD or something else on it. With an iOS device, the bootloader is locked and remains locked even when all it's doing is locking you to a known-insecure OS.
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
And, with iOS 4.3, you only have about 50 known remotely exploitable vulnerabilities, so it's probably completely safe to use, as long as the WiFi is disabled.
...Making this another excellent example of why essential updates for security should be provided separately from updates that change (or break or remove) functionality.
This is not the first time Apple has played this game: iOS7 had a similar kind of effect on users and the app ecosystem about four years ago, for example. Dumping responsibility for "keeping up" on developers who wrote working apps and users who already paid for them is hardly reasonable. Nor is artificially limiting the life of expensive devices through software hacks.
I suspect the time is fast approaching when we will need laws to protect the buyers of "platform" software that is essential to the functioning of a device. Too many vendors are now abusing their control over the related software and/or copyright and related laws to force in changes that are not in their customers' interests after the sale.
In many contexts we mandate certain minimum standards for purchased products and require by law that the vendor makes good any defects for a reasonable period afterwards. Despite frequent and sometimes serious bugs in software, developers have mostly had an easy ride on that one in the past, partly because a culture evolved that you released security updates free of charge to customers later. If the developers in the age of always-online, "evergreen" software are no longer going to do that without attaching strings, perhaps they no longer deserve so much special treatment under the law when their products don't work properly either.
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
Nope. I've got several devices on iOS7 that could upgrade to iOS8/9/10 just fine. I get no alert to upgrade at all. iTunes does prompt if you want to upgrade, but you can click "Never for this version" and it stays quiet.
It doesn't bug me to upgrade at all. Unless it's a recent change, I never get bugged to upgrade at all.
Undoubtedly, some idiots will still press "Yes" and proceed to bitch afterwards, but that's people for you.
Or maybe Apple could let people downgrade iOS if a newer version doesn't work? It's not as if that would be difficult for them, and it's not as if the upgrade ratchet hasn't caught out significant numbers of people and made their experience worse over the years.
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
perfectly functional devices
I've been told in no uncertain terms that the lack of replaceable batteries means that iPhones cease being perfectly functional after even 2 years. I wish Slashdot would make up it's mind.
...somebody will either update the app or somebody else will duplicate its functions in a new app.
No need to get suicidal.
It must be something new then. My phone is on ios9 and it pops up multiple times each day asking me to upgrade. There is no "go away, leave me alone" option, just "do it now" or "ask me later".
Some apps are supported but have gotten worse, sometimes because the business model (or owner) changes, e.g., AppBox Pro 1.8.4, Facebook 6.9.1, Foursquare 7.0.7, GoodReader 3.21.7, iStanford 5.9.1, Pulse News 2.9.4.
EU citizens, get ready to ask refunds from Apple for ALL the paid apps and in app purchases related. According to the rules they cannot do this and refuse refunds.
Meanwhile Microsoft keeps chugging along still shipping the occasional security update fo versions as old as XP.
yeah what is wrong with people not replacing perfectly functional devices every couple of years for marginal improvements?
If they are perfectly functional devices - why would they need the new OS to stay that way? Why not just keep them like they are - first-world problem solved.
But that would get in the way of your little Anti-Apple rant.
Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
That actually depends entirely on what you are doing. Unless you're doing things that benefit from having a 64 bit word size, it won't accomplish anything. Most of the computers in the world are 8 and 16 bit embedded devices. So no, it's not "time" to move away from 32 bit devices any more than it's "time" we move away from hammers and nails. Sure, we've got glue and screws, but nails still have a purpose.
For that matter, this nonsense in the article about moving to exclusively 64 bit binaries as "essentially a more secure, faster and technologically advanced version that replaced the previous 32-bit code" is vomit-inducingly incorrect. The word size is bigger, it means that you can do certain things faster, that's it. Any added security has nothing to do with word size and has to do with the OS and other elements of the CPU design, but you can write fast, secure, technologically advanced software for any word size.
The real reason Apple is doing it is because it means they don't have to expend time and money maintaining 32-bit compatibility at the OS level. As usual, a thing that exists only to save Apple money is being spun as a "feature" or "upgrade."
No point in using ASLR when your flagship phone doesn't even come with half the RAM necessary to necessitate its use (2GB RAM on the iPhone 7.)
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
OMG No. Security security security is apple current mantra. The government will be watching you the minute your OS is old. Security is why everyone should buy apple crap and not Android. Why arn't you spewing that garbage instead of telling apple worshipper to keep old outdated hardware. Your a bad sheep.
we're talking of a 5+ year timespan, not a couple years, on a device that commands a premium price.
People who want to have robust 10+ year old phone can buy something else for a LOT less money.
so yes, they are damn fools for buying Apple.
iTunes will be killed in a few weeks.
Really? You sure?
This is the best news I've heard in months. I feel better already.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
HAAAAHAAAAAAHAAAAA!!! The vast majority of iPhone owners are going to see an OS update notification and conditioned as they are by Apple they will assume that it is in their interest to upgrade, if not mandatory. Then, surprise, jokes on you when your apps don't work. Frantic calls to "genius" who advises a new phone of course, because "security". Sounds like a dick move designed to take advantage of people that don't know better.
> Apple could let people downgrade iOS if a newer version doesn't work?
That would make too much sense -- thus Apple will NEVER do it.
Forced Upgrades keeps the market less fragmented is their excuse.
HAAAAHAAAAAAHAAAAA!!! The vast majority of iPhone owners are going to see an OS update notification and conditioned as they are by Apple they will ssume that it is in their interest to upgrade, if not mandatory. .
Yeah, one less problem Android users will never have!!! Hahahah. When is your next stand-up gig?
Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
Unless you're doing things that benefit from having a 64 bit word size
One benefit is immunity to return-oriented programming (ROP) and other exploits of vulnerabilities caused by inadvertent programming defects. Address space layout randomization (ASLR), a common mitigation against ROP, is more effective with 64-bit pointers than with 32-bit pointers.
Sure, if you subscribe to the school of thought which recommends cutting one's foot to deal with a small cut.
HAAAAHAAAAAAHAAAAA!!! The vast majority of people making posts about the vast majority of iPhone owners are idiots
> perfectly functional devices
Due to their fixed batteries, Apple phones have a life expectancy of 3 years.
Given that Apple is bringing iTunes to the Windows Store I seriously doubt they are about to kill it.
Well, my UK iPhone 5s is about three years old, and I am pissed with Apple, it's the last IPhone I shall buy. My iPad isn't much younger, and when that refuses to update, I look for an alternative elsewhere. I have used Macs and other Apple products for decades, but the current money grabbing bunch can whistle for my custom in future. No wonder iPhone sales are dropping.
32-bit apps SHOULD WORK! WTF.
A 64-bit processor is more than capable setting up an environment to run a 32-bit app.
They are intentionally crippling their POS to sell more POS.
"I can go over to LineageOS [lineageos.org] and get a version of Android that's based on the latest version. "
That's great for you and the 0.1% off Android users who'll install a custom version of Android.
In the real world, I dumped Android for iOS because the Android phone I had got one update after I got it, then became a cancerous mass of remote vulnerabilities to the point where I only ever even turned on wi-fi when I absolutely had to.
Not for me it doesn't. I skipped right past 10.3.2 with barely a nag...
Why can't I run all my favorite 16 bit MSDOS programs on Windows 10.
How dare Microsoft's planned obsolescence of my favorite games and programs prevent ME from still using the TSR Noron Utilities or playing my favorite CGA and EGA games? /S
It would be nice if iOS v11 can tell users which 32-bit apps will be unsupported and removed.
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
Have you considered the disastrous economic consequences of not constantly updating everything? The software business would end up like the unix GNU utilities -- stable, functional, boring, and -- above all -- unprofitable.
Rule of thumb: Moving from 32 bits to 64 bits will double the bandwidth, quadruple the bugs, and increase complexity by a factor of eight.
The Red Queen races on. You all better get cracking if you hope to keep up.
Me? I'm retired and I'm still trying to figure out stuff that was released 30 years ago.
You can't see ANYTHING from a car, You've got to get out of the goddamned contraption and walk...Edward Abbey
They would will fine if you spend two days penetrating the packaging and can manage to glue everything back together afterwards. So they are perfectly functional.
Does anyone ever stop to think how loud and long our descendants (if any) a century from now are going to laugh at how we did things in the early 21st century?. Not that they won't have their own set of completely demented approaches to managing things.
You can't see ANYTHING from a car, You've got to get out of the goddamned contraption and walk...Edward Abbey
My mobile phone is a Moto G. It's a cheap piece of crap that I bought 3 years ago when Motorola was owned by Google and was expecting to get long-term support. Google sold Motorola shortly after. It got major updates for about a year and then security patches (often months after the vulnerability was publicly disclosed) for about another year. That sounds a lot worse than the Apple option, but there's a big difference: I can go over to LineageOS and get a version of Android that's based on the latest version.
Lucky you don't have a Moto Maxx (only unofficial support for over 6 months now) or even a Moto M ("Boot it at your own risk as flashing Lineage OS for Motorola Moto M is not safe" . "we strongly recommend not to install Lineage OS for Motorola Moto M")
Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
You did good. IPhone is a "phone apliance" and thats what you need. Leave real computers (Android phones) to people that know how to use computers.
VMs are irrelevant to the discussion. The fact of the matter is if upgrading Windows breaks your app, you can't do anything about it except wait for an update.
I disagree with you that "VMs are irrelevant to the discussion" because they are they means by which you can do something about it in the case of an application for (desktop) Windows. What do you think "XP Mode" in Windows 7 Professional was?
You can tell in iOS 10 - go to System Settings, General, About. Under Applications, it will say how many are installed. If any have not been updated to 64 bit, there will be a > reveal.
Tap that if it appears and it'll tell you which apps will be disabled under iOS 11.
eh? the 5s is a 64 bit phone and can run ios 11
came out in Sept 2013 too
The XP patches were totally out of band and delivered only as a result of a very specific and distinct threat. MS have gone on record to warn users not to expect any other XP patches ever again.
Why when iOS 10 already does exactly just that?..
There is an official apple costume? Must be a clown costume.
Installing LineageOS requires a certain level of technical competence, but that's true for pretty much any OS. That's a one-off thing though, and once it's installed the updates come over the air and just require you to tap on the notification and agree to install them. I wouldn't recommend a nontechnical user installs it, but I've had no problem installing it for nontechnical users and then letting them use the device without any additional support.
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
Well, I'll have to rethink then. I thought I had read that the 5 was not suitable for iOS 11. It did make me very disappointed in Apple, but if you are right then I went off half-cocked.
iOS has been warning you about this for years. iOS 10 literally tells you when you run a 32bit app that it will not work in the next version. This article is nonsense.
5s really is a different phone than the 5 or 5c, both of those CAN'T run it.
Thanks for reminding me of that.
Or maybe Apple could let people downgrade iOS if a newer version doesn't work?
Apple has always done this, albeit with limitations: the installation keys for the previous version of iOS are active for 2 weeks after the next release, so people upgrading their iDevices through iTunes have the ability to try the new iOS and click "Restore" within 2 weeks if they don't like it. If you do OTA upgrades, though, you're shit outta luck.