As iOS 11 is all geared up to go live next month, the new all-new update will bring a long list of welcome improvements, but also a controversial change which would impact a substantial number of iPhone and iPad apps.
The next iOS update is not going to support 32-bit apps, and according to statistics, this is slated to impact no less than 187,000 apps in the App Store at some point unless updated to 64-bit.
This information does not seem surprising considering developers were provided with ample time to update their apps to 64-bit and avoid being pulled from the App Store. The iPhone 5s, which got to see the daylight in 2013, debuted with a 64-bit chip, and all its successors adopted the same approach, with Apple’s direction pretty obvious from then on.
Furthermore, with the release of the first iOS 11 betas earlier this year, more and more users started getting notifications of 32-bit apps not working on the new OS versions, with developers prompted to update to 64-bit as soon as possible.
According to estimates from intelligence firm Sensor Tower, there are nearly 200,000 32-bit apps in the App Store at this point, which means if nothing changes then around 8 per cent of the apps will disappear from the app store when the iOS 11 will debut next month.
Most of the 32-bit titles in danger of getting the ax are games, namely 38,619, followed by education, entertainment, and lifestyle apps.
Even though the release of iOS 11 takes place next month, the apps that aren’t updated to 64-bit just yet won’t disappear overnight. Sensor Tower says Apple will still allow them to be downloaded on devices that do not run iOS 11, but sooner or later, those whose developers do not release an update would go dark without a doubt.
