Apple Reminds Developers About February 64-Bit Support Deadline for Newly Submitted iOS Apps

[MacRumors]

Apple today began sending out emails to developers, reminding them that as of February 1, 2015, all apps submitted to the App Store need to be built with the iOS 8 software development kit and include 64-bit support. Developers were first informed of the upcoming rules back in October, after the release of iOS 8 and the iPhone 6/6 Plus.

The email also states that as of June 1, 2015, all app updates submitted to the App Store will need to adhere to the same requirements, giving the company a way to make sure all current apps take advantage of 64-bit support and are iOS 8 compliant. The shift to across-the-board 64-bit support will offer improved app performance on 64-bit devices.

Dear Developer,
As we announced in October, beginning February 1, 2015 new iOS apps submitted to the App Store must include 64-bit support and be built with the iOS 8 SDK. Beginning June 1, 2015 app updates will also need to follow the same requirements. To enable 64-bit in your project, we recommend using the default Xcode build setting of "Standard architectures" to build a single binary with both 32-bit and 64-bit code.

Apple first began asking developers to submit 64-bit apps following the September 2013 release of the iPhone 5s, which introduced the 64-bit A7 processor. All of Apple's newest devices, including the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air 2, and iPad mini 3 offer 64-bit processors, as does the iPad mini 2 and the original iPad Air.

At the current time, developers are still permitted to submit 32-bit apps along with universal binaries, but that option will expire when February rolls around.

Article Link: Apple Reminds Developers About February 64-Bit Support Deadline for Newly Submitted iOS Apps

 

[Eminemdrdre00]

They should be required to support the iPhone 6/6 Plus screen size too!

 

[Bahroo]

Oh yeah...a 30-40% performance increase for the 5S/6/6 Plus (any A7/A8 device) ....all apps gonna need to have 64 bit support now, this is honestly a great move by Apple forcing this earlier then expected

 

[FlamingFoxx]

Could someone please clarify for me, does that mean that newer apps aren't going to work on the iPhone 4S and 5?

If the 64-bit architecture is only on the iPhone 5S and later and all apps submitted after February need to be 64-bit, then surely they're no longer going to work on the 4S and 5?

I'm hoping that I'm wrong because it would seem weird to render both of those devices near-obsolete when they both have iOS8 and the 5 still has another year or two of being supported?

 

[HiVolt]

They should be required to support the iPhone 6/6 Plus screen size too!

Absolutely agree.. It drives me up the wall to still see scaled apps, especially that many have been updates many times since iOS8 came out.

 

[guzhogi]

Who wants to bet that iOS 9 will be for 64-bit iDevices only?

 

[thuchu1]

Could someone please clarify for me, does that mean that newer apps aren't going to work on the iPhone 4S and 5?

If the 64-bit architecture is only on the iPhone 5S and later and all apps submitted after February need to be 64-bit, then surely they're no longer going to work on the 4S and 5?

I'm hoping that I'm wrong because it would seem weird to render both of those devices near-obsolete when they both have iOS8 and the 5 still has another year or two of being supported?

"we recommend using the default Xcode build setting of "Standard architectures" to build a single binary with both 32-bit and 64-bit code."

The support will be there as I understand, this just forces them to add 64-bit where they previously could submit a 32-bit only binary

 

[Jamieserg]

Out of curiosity and in the simplest way possible for somewho has no knowledge of coding, what do you have to do and how much work does it take to make a 32 bit app into a 64 bit app?

 

[Traverse]

You can still find apps that haven't been updated since 2010 or 2011. Apple needs to do a better job at pruning the App Store. That 1.3 million app figure is pretty pointless when 500,000 of them are crap anyway.

 

[robertpatryk]

Who wants to bet that iOS 9 will be for 64-bit iDevices only?

I want.
They won't abandon support for 2012's phone which is iPhone 5.

 

[Rafagon]

"we recommend using the default Xcode build setting of "Standard architectures" to build a single binary with both 32-bit and 64-bit code."

The support will be there as I understand, this just forces them to add 64-bit where they previously could submit a 32-bit only binary

So this means that unless an app is developed ONLY for a 64-bit chipset, that apps will take up twice as much space? A developer wishing that his apps can be used by people with 32-bit iDevices and also 64-bit iDevices can submit both binaries in one package, therefore an app that is ½ a gigabyte in size will become 1 gigabyte in size... wasting all that extra space on users' iPhones -

32-bit users automatically get a 64-bit copy of the code that is of no use to them

64-bit users automatically get a 32-bit copy of the code that is of no use to them

Apple needs to find a better solution. Force developers to submit two separate copies of apps.

Then again, they probably won't. It's better for Apple if apps become unnecessarily bloated. They'll sell more 64 GB and 128 GB versions of their iDevices.

 

[Hurda]

Who wants to bet that iOS 9 will be for 64-bit iDevices only?

How much are you willing to bet? I hope it's not a lot, considering Apple is still selling a 32bit-iPhone.

 

[Nicksd84]

Good thing there's that additional RAM for 64 bit apps to take advantage of... just kidding.

 

[guzhogi]

32-bit users automatically get a 64-bit copy of the code that is of no use to them

64-bit users automatically get a 32-bit copy of the code that is of no use to them

Apple needs to find a better solution. Force developers to submit two separate copies of apps.

While it would suck for people who only have one kind of device, some people I know have a 64-bit iPhone & 32-bit iPads. So why would they want to pay twice for the same app? Neither situation is very good.

I want.
They won't abandon support for 2012's phone which is iPhone 5.

In my experience, never say never.

 

[0098386]

You can still find apps that haven't been updated since 2010 or 2011. Apple needs to do a better job at pruning the App Store. That 1.3 million app figure is pretty pointless when 500,000 of them are crap anyway.

I wouldn't want them to remove them. I've got an old iOS device that still plays old games that crash/don't work right on iOS8. What I would like is some kind of process for developers to update their apps without requiring the developer fee, or whatever walls are currently in place (I don't know what these would be - I don't make iOS software!).

 

[waterskier2007]

32-bit users automatically get a 64-bit copy of the code that is of no use to them

64-bit users automatically get a 32-bit copy of the code that is of no use to them

Apple needs to find a better solution. Force developers to submit two separate copies of apps.

From what I know, this is not really true at all.

Much of the space that apps take up is images, icons, and resources. Those are universal and the app bundle only contains one copy of those files regardless of 32/64 bit.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

I wouldn't want them to remove them. I've got an old iOS device that still plays old games that crash/don't work right on iOS8. What I would like is some kind of process for developers to update their apps without requiring the developer fee, or whatever walls are currently in place (I don't know what these would be - I don't make iOS software!).

The issue is that you can only charge customers once. I stopped supporting Battery Status when it stopped having 5 downloads a day because it was no longer worth my time to do so (you're asking me to keep working for $7/day? Not happening.) I pulled it off the store.

If we were allowed to charge for updates, or if customers would accept reasonable prices ($1? Ad supported? What a freaking joke.) then we could offer more support. As is, it's not worth it at all.

 

[2457282]

I upgraded my iphones (6, 5s, and 5c) and ipads (2 ipad air 2) this year. So I am 100% 64-bit. I know I am probably not the majority, so leaving 32-bit support for a while is probably smart. But in about 2 years (iOS 10) there should be no reason for 32-bit apps.

The next question is, when will 128-bit arrive?

 

[jdiamond]

This is a misguided point of view...

You can still find apps that haven't been updated since 2010 or 2011. Apple needs to do a better job at pruning the App Store. That 1.3 million app figure is pretty pointless when 500,000 of them are crap anyway.

Many of my favorite apps aren't being actively updated any more, because small developers tend to move on with their lives. These apps are often higher quality than 80% of the new apps. But all those crap apps you mentioned? They'll be replaced by 500,000 NEW crap apps, written and submitted even faster than before.

I do agree that "flushing" the App store is a good thing. I just don't think the best way to judge the merit of an App is how actively it's still being developed.

 

[l00pback]

I want.
They won't abandon support for 2012's phone which is iPhone 5.

In my experience, never say never.

This would also include the 2013 iPhone 5c. No, one should "never say never", but this move would be very surprising.

 

[JosephAW]

And exactly how am I supposed to continue developing apps for the millions of devices that only support 32bit? They are taking away my ad revenue from this installed base.

 

[GenesisST]

I can proudly say that the app I work on is ready. I had been pushing for this to the powers that be for a time when it was announced. Still not released, but no surprises come February.

And yes, I added support for iPhone 6/6+, although we don't have much @3x images at the moment. I'm no graphic artist...

 

[bbeagle]

Out of curiosity and in the simplest way possible for somewho has no knowledge of coding, what do you have to do and how much work does it take to make a 32 bit app into a 64 bit app?

For 99% of apps, it's no extra work - you just set the compiler to be 32 bit and 64 bit, and it will work.

The only gotchas are if your code looks at 32 bit boundaries, or shifts bits, expecting certain answers. For example, if you're right-shifting 32 bits by one, expecting the '1' to hyperwarp over to the left, like this.... expecting 1 to turn into 4,294,967,296

00000000000000000000000000000001 = 1
10000000000000000000000000000000 = 4,294,967,296

but doing this on a 64 bit system does this:

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001 = 1
1000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 = 18,446,744,073,709,551,616

Most apps don't care, and would never do any of this, but certain complex mathematical equations used in, for example, graphical processing applications might not work the same in 64 bit vs 32 bit

 

[JosephAW]

This is also a ploy by Apple to purge out all the old apps from their store AND from the user's installed apps in their itunes.
Example: I have a paid app that downloads DMG and ZIP files into the app and then I copy the file to my desktop using iTunes.
This app has not been updated since ios5 but works perfectly fine in ios8. If ios9 only will run 64 bit apps then this app will no longer work and I lost my money to boot.

Your probably right about ios9 requiring 64 bit only. It will probably require iPhone 5c or greater. That's probably why my cell phone carrier wants to sell me a iphone 5 64 gb but not a iphone 5s 64 gb. That way next year I have to buy another phone when ios 9 is released.

 

[bushido]

Absolutely agree.. It drives me up the wall to still see scaled apps, especially that many have been updates many times since iOS8 came out.

tell me about it. viber has had a billion updates. even sort of extention support yet no iPhone 6 optimization. smfh