{"id":1429,"date":"2017-09-19T13:51:02","date_gmt":"2017-09-19T12:51:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kevinbillington.com\/site\/?p=1429"},"modified":"2017-09-19T14:50:42","modified_gmt":"2017-09-19T13:50:42","slug":"apples-ios-11-kills-old-32-bit-iphone-and-ipad-apps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kevinbillington.com\/site\/?p=1429","title":{"rendered":"Apple’s iOS 11 kills old 32-bit iPhone and iPad apps"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Leo Kelion www.bbc.co.uk\/news on 19th September 2017<\/p>\n


\nMany of the affected apps are games and educational titles
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Owners of iPhones and iPads who install the latest version of Apple’s mobile operating system will find that some older apps will stop working.<\/p>\n

The move will generally affect apps that have not been updated in the past two years.<\/p>\n

Although many will have been abandoned by their developers, owners will still use some of them frequently.<\/p>\n

It is a consequence of iOS 11 being restricted to running apps written in what is known as 64-bit code.<\/p>\n

The number signifies how much data a processor can handle at once – the larger the figure, the faster a computer can potentially operate.<\/p>\n

Dropping support for 32-bit software lets Apple streamline its operating system and helps it run more quickly since it no longer needs to load software libraries to make sense of the older programs.<\/p>\n

Apple has explained in the past that it is relatively easy for app-makers to reversion their products, and its App Store has rejected updates that lack 64-bit support since June 2015.<\/p>\n

Even so, the move bucks a general trend for operating systems to support legacy software for longer periods of time.<\/p>\n

“Two years is a very short period for something to become obsolete, even in the technology world where things move very fast,” said Prof Alan Woodward, from the University of Surrey’s computing department.<\/p>\n

“What most vendors have done so far – and Microsoft is the biggest example of this – is to keep as many things as compatible as possible for as long as possible.<\/p>\n

“It wouldn’t have taken a huge amount of work for iOS 11 to have continued supporting 32-bit, so it’s difficult not to conclude that Apple is really trying to force the pace and make people move on.”<\/p>\n

The iOS 11 update is due to be released shortly.<\/p>\n

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\nApple has made it possible to check which apps will stop working before iOS 11 is installed
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Many of the affected apps are by independent developers who have shifted focus to other projects. However, the list also contains software from more established publishers, including:<\/p>\n