Apple Releases Xcode Update With Fixes for App Thinning Bugs

[MacRumors]

Apple today released a 7.0.1 update for Xcode, and according to the release notes, the new version of the software include fixes for bugs related to App Thinning.

Last week, Apple notified developers that App Slicing, an App Thinning feature, was unavailable for iOS 9 apps because of an issue with iCloud backups. It appears the update for Xcode may fix some of the issues that prevented App Slicing from being made available to developers.

App slicing is currently unavailable for iOS 9 apps due to an issue affecting iCloud backups created from iOS 9 where some apps from the App Store would only restore to the same model of iOS device.

When a customer downloads your iOS 9 app, they will get the Universal version of your app, rather than the variant specific for their device type. TestFlight will continue to deliver variants for your internal testers. App slicing will be reenabled with a future software update. No action is needed by you at this time.

App Thinning is designed to decrease the size of iOS apps, saving valuable space on iPhones and iPads. With App Slicing, users only need to download the app assets that are designed for their particular device, rather than a full set of assets for a wide range of devices. For example, on an iPhone 6s, a user will only need to download iPhone 6s specific files, ignoring larger iPad artwork and lower quality resources for earlier iOS devices.

App Thinning also incorporates on-demand resources, allowing iOS apps to download content from iCloud only when necessary. A game with 100 levels, for example, might not download levels 30-40 until a user reaches level 20, with content for levels 1-10 removed at the same time. On-demand resources cut down on initial app install sizes and keep apps from eating up too much storage space on devices where space is at a premium.

Xcode can be downloaded from the Mac App Store for free. [Direct Link]

Article Link: Apple Releases Xcode Update With Fixes for App Thinning Bugs

 

[jmh600cbr]

great! bring on the app updates

 

[Saturnine]

I assume this is the issue that caused a restore of an iPhone 6 backup on a 6S to leave recently downloaded or updated apps in a "Waiting" state.

 

[CFreymarc]

I assume this is the issue that caused a restore of an iPhone 6 backup on a 6S to leave recently downloaded or updated apps in a "Waiting" state.

Good guess. Many have seen this issue.

 

[kometen]

I can't seem to download it from the app store. Stuck at 20 MB at the second attempt, it gave up on the first. That one resized the download from 3.59 GB to 1-200 something MB. Calculating. Good night.

 

[mariusignorello]

Fluctuating between 3 and 6 hours to download. Yawn.

 

[Traverse]

I still don't like the "on demand resources" aspect of app thinning. I want the entire app on my device, not only a part that could render it non functional.

 

[SeanMcg]

I thought this had actually started working. I got back about a GB on my iPhone 5 (32GB) following a bunch of iOS 9-compatible updates. And that was after buying a couple of new songs and apps, and taking a couple of pictures.

 

[bstpierre]

I still don't like the "on demand resources" aspect of app thinning. I want the entire app on my device, not only a part that could render it non functional.

I think of "on demand resources" as resources your phone doesn't download until it needs them. This system seems to have your phone not download resources it is never ever going to use.

 

[0007776]

I think of "on demand resources" as resources your phone doesn't download until it needs them. This system seems to have your phone not download resources it is never ever going to use.

It says that it may not download all the resources for each level of a game. That could be a problem if you're planning on playing that game on a long flight for example and you catch up to where the levels that are downloaded run out.

 

[Fzang]

It says that it may not download all the resources for each level of a game. That could be a problem if you're planning on playing that game on a long flight for example and you catch up to where the levels that are downloaded run out.

Perhaps developers can opt to implement it as a user-controlled feature, if they feel that you might run out of levels after a few hours of non-stop playing? In theory you could do it with a simple auto/manual switch, no?

It's up to the developer to implement the logic of level length and future requirements. I don't see how a server could decide that.

 

[0007776]

Perhaps developers can opt to implement it as a user-controlled feature, if they feel that you might run out of levels after a few hours of non-stop playing? In theory you could do it with a simple auto/manual switch, no?

It's up to the developer to implement the logic of level length and future requirements. I don't see how a server could decide that.

I would think that would work in theory, as far as I know Apple hasn't implemented a way for developers to do that though.

 

[eagandale4114]

I would think that would work in theory, as far as I know Apple hasn't implemented a way for developers to do that though.

A game could simply add a button that causes it to request all items. The items are then cached locally till something else needs the space. If you go of a flight and press said button right before you should be able to cache all your levels.

Also app thinning is separate from this. App thinning is the removal of assets your device will never use. For instance if you have a iPhone 5 you won't need any of the iPad specific assets or even the iPhone 6/6+ specific assets. App thinning prevents those files from being downloaded.

 

[MarkCollette]

If XCode is downloading slowly for you, I found a couple faster sites mirroring it.