iOS 9 App Slicing Feature Once Again Available for Developers

[MacRumors]

In late September, Apple announced that app slicing, an App Thinning feature of iOS 9, was unavailable to developers because of an iCloud backup issue. Apple today updated developers on the status of app slicing, noting that it's once again available for use following the iOS 9.0.2 update and the recent Xcode 7.0.1 update.

The issue affecting app slicing has been fixed, and device-specific versions of apps will be delivered when downloaded by users running iOS 9.0.2 or later.

App slicing is one facet of App Thinning, an iOS 9 feature designed to decrease the size of iOS apps to save valuable space on devices without a lot of storage space. With app slicing, users only download the app assets created for their particular device rather than a full set of assets for multiple devices. For example, on an iPhone 6s, a user will only need to download iPhone 6s specific files, ignoring both larger iPad artwork and lower quality resources for earlier iOS devices.

To take advantage of the space saving features in app slicing, all iOS 9 users should upgrade to iOS 9.0.2. App slicing is not available in earlier versions of iOS 9 or in iOS 8.

Article Link: iOS 9 App Slicing Feature Once Again Available for Developers

 

[jmh600cbr]

great, glad they ironed this one out. i think this will help a lot of 16gb users

 

[sasessiontc]

When I updated the Hangouts app this morning, I figured App Slicing was back as the update was almost half (or more) the size of their previous updates.

 

[gaximus]

is there an easy way to update already downloaded apps? without deleting and reinstalling?

 

[trombo22]

Do we have to wait for app updates for app thinning to apply to apps already installed?

 

[l00pback]

is there an easy way to update already downloaded apps? without deleting and reinstalling?

In the App Store, there is a section called Updates. Apps that have available updates will show there.

 

[utwarreng]

is there an easy way to update already downloaded apps? without deleting and reinstalling?

Developers have to add support for it to their apps, and their ability to add that support was just re-added. They'll support it in their upcoming updates. So deleting/re-installing the app today would simply overwrite today's app with another of the same. Once they release an update to support App Slicing, you'll be able to download it.

 

[Oblivious.Robot]

My beloved 16Gb iPad Air 2 would be so glad to hear this news!!

 

[DaveMcM76]

I'm assuming that iTunes still downloads the full app bundle as it doesn't know which devices you may then sync it to, so does adding an app via an iTunes sync also filter out the bits you don't need or do you get the full App bundle and thus use up more space on the device than if you downloaded the app straight from the App Store on the device?

 

[cheesyappleuser]

great, glad they ironed this one out. i think this will help a lot of 16gb users

Actually, it is going to help all users - mostly 16Gb ones anyway.
Even not knowing much about the architecture of an app I always thought ridiculous having to download everything. I'm so glad I can use my storage in a more reasonable way now.

 

[Ertavarez]

Word App from Microsoft Take 500+ i hope an update soon

 

[Antoni Nygaard]

I hope we will see apples own iWork apps gonna use app thinning soon, maybe that's why we haven't seen any updates on them recently after iOS 9 was released.

 

[gmcalpin]

Do we have to wait for app updates for app thinning to apply to apps already installed?

Yes.

 

[KALLT]

[So] does adding an app via an iTunes sync also filter out the bits you don't need or do you get the full App bundle and thus use up more space on the device than if you downloaded the app straight from the App Store on the device?

You get the full app. App slicing just means that Apple’s servers host multiple variants of the same app version for different devices instead of just one app like before. Your device isn’t going to ‘slice’ the apps itself, so when you transfer them from iTunes then you won’t get the smaller version. Apple retracted the feature because it interfered with iCloud backups. No word on iTunes backups though, sadly.

 

[macs4nw]

great, glad they ironed this one out. i think this will help a lot of 16gb users

It should. But personally, unless I got a new iPhone each and every year, even with App-thinning I wouldn't consider a 16GB iPhone a prudent choice. Perhaps not future-proofed enough.

 

[dumastudetto]

Photo slicing and music slicing will be interesting stripping away the unimportant content and further helping people live within the reasonable storage limits of their device.

 

[DualShock]

You get the full app. App slicing just means that Apple’s servers host multiple variants of the same app version for different devices instead of just one app like before. Your device isn’t going to ‘slice’ the apps itself, so when you transfer them from iTunes then you won’t get the smaller version. Apple retracted the feature because it interfered with iCloud backups. No word on iTunes backups though, sadly.

Actually, iTunes does support app slicing:

Note: For iOS apps, sliced apps are supported on the latest iTunes and on devices running iOS 9.0 and later; otherwise, the App Store delivers universal apps to customers.

source: https://developer.apple.com/library...istributionGuide/AppThinning/AppThinning.html

 

[BigMcGuire]

So realistically.... what I'm most interested in --- how long do you think it will take for apps to implement this? Is this something that will happen next year? In the next few months? Weeks? Possibly days?

I may be getting old but I remember the days when apps used to be in the lower MBs - now most apps I use see it as an achievement if they are able to keep it around 100MB.

Those of us who pay for Google Drive and (yes) Apple iCloud storage - would love to be able to utilize some of that storage for app data, apps, and other "storage" items that don't need to be on demand.

Thought it was pretty sweet back in the old days of Android when I could install apps (when I was rooted) to the 32GB SD card. That didn't last too long.

 

[Adithya007]

These days, 16 Gb iPads make a lot of sense too.

 

[Crazyj414]

I have plenty of space but am still glad to hear this since my no no junk cleaners will not work on this 6s!

 

[Kajje]

There should be a way to update parts of an app. Redownloading a complete +1GB app just for a couple simple bugfix in the program file is ridiculous.

On top of that many developers don't seem to care to clean up their distribution packages, leaving an awful lot of unused clutter and rubbish for us to fill our devices. Once the 100Mb over-air limit cannot be reached anymore, many developers seem to get lazy.

 

[gaximus]

Developers have to add support for it to their apps, and their ability to add that support was just re-added. They'll support it in their upcoming updates. So deleting/re-installing the app today would simply overwrite today's app with another of the same. Once they release an update to support App Slicing, you'll be able to download it.

In the App Store, there is a section called Updates. Apps that have available updates will show there.

Yes I understand how updates work. If the developer makes an update that supports the app slicing. When I update it, will it delete the extra files, or will I have to delete the app and reinstall it.

 

[charlituna]

is there an easy way to update already downloaded apps? without deleting and reinstalling?

i assume they will show up as point updates as developers update to use the feature. So you won't have to do anything other than update the apps as it hits

 

[charlituna]

I'm assuming that iTunes still downloads the full app bundle as it doesn't know which devices you may then sync it to, so does adding an app via an iTunes sync also filter out the bits you don't need or do you get the full App bundle and thus use up more space on the device than if you downloaded the app straight from the App Store on the device?

That's a very good question. Especially in light of the recent purge of apps. Many folks are now starting to backup all their apps and it would be nice to know if the sliced apps will probably sync over (assuming the developer actually adds the support)