PSA: Apple is Updating Old Apps With Latest Signing Certificate Ahead of iOS 14.5

[MacRumors]

Users may notice that a number of very old apps are receiving new App Store updates. Instead of fixing bugs or adding new features, the updates are occurring because Apple is updating developers' apps that use a legacy App Store code signing certificate with the latest version so that they can launch correctly in the upcoming releases of iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5.

Developers of affected apps do not need to re-sign their apps themselves, since Apple will issue the update and new signing certificate itself. Apple is issuing the updates with the What's New text "This app has been updated by Apple to use the latest Apple signing certificate."

Apple alerted developers of affected apps about the required update and its purpose, and the updates have now started rolling out to users.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1381771866080219139

The change only affects apps that have not been updated at all for several years, and therefore have an outdated code signing certificate. Apple conducted a similar wave of signing certificate updates in July last year.

The updated signing certificates will allow apps to launch as expected in iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5, which are due to be released very soon.

Article Link: PSA: Apple is Updating Old Apps With Latest Signing Certificate Ahead of iOS 14.5

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

I wonder if Apple is going to update Facebook lol

 

[NMBob]

I wonder if Apple is going to update ALL of them that need updating, or is installing 14.5 going to lead to some nasty surprises?

 

[alexandr]

yea, i'm seeing some apps pop up in the update field that i haven't seen in a while))

 

[Drogba11]

I wonder if Apple is going to update ALL of them that need updating, or is installing 14.5 going to lead to some nasty surprises?

Forbes writers rubbing their hands

 

[scuac]

Only a couple of old games I see updated this way.
I think it is nice that Apple took it upon itself to do this, rather than simply sending notifications to developers and let the apps fail.

 

[tranceking26]

This better not mean I have to update Imgur, I have a version without the crappy adverts that I wanna keep.

 

[Gator5000e]

I had a fairly old one updated today, my Pioneer receiver app from 2018, but it also said Bug Fixes, so I am hoping the updated added more then just the certificate update.

 

[B4U]

I was honestly surprised to see the red notification dot on the App Store of my iOS 6 device the other day!

 

[jz0309]

Gotten a few of those, probably time to weed those apps from my iPhone... if the developer doesn’t update themselves, probably a bad sign...

 

[innovationwho]

I feel like 14.5 won’t be released until after the event on the 20th.

 

[zorinlynx]

I wonder when the previous signing certificate expires, and if that will break basically all apps on older devices no longer supported/updated by Apple?

 

[JosephAW]

I thought it was from the developer. I’ve received a flurry of updates for old apps.

 

[now i see it]

With 3.4 million apps currently in the App Store - they've got a bit of work to do

 

[BigMcGuire]

I thought it was from the developer. I’ve received a flurry of updates for old apps.

Same here, was wondering what was going on lol.

 

[cmaier]

I wonder if Apple is going to update Facebook lol

I don’t get this joke. Why is updating the signing certificate of facebook funny?

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

Seems like Apple is flipping a kill switch on several apps to me.

Any app which has since been removed from the store, either because the developer didn’t renew with Apple or because Apple has removed the app from the store, will suddenly not work in the next iOS version if it’s last update was over 3 years ago.

So, IE, if people have Fortnite on their iPhone, that’ll be blocked as soon as Apple updates iOS to require that the certificate be updated since whenever Fortnite was removed from the store.

I have an NES simulator on my phone (it disguised itself as just a cloud storage management app) - Apple pulled that off the store after I downloaded it. That’ll probably get blocked now, assuming it didn’t get blocked last year (I haven’t used it in several years... probably over 4. Playing old NES games on the go is very much in the Switch’s wheelhouse now. Way better than having a virtual D-pad and other clumsy touchscreen controls.)

 

[SantaFeNM]

I had a fairly old one updated today, my Pioneer receiver app from 2018, but it also said Bug Fixes, so I am hoping the updated added more then just the certificate update.

From what I've seen, these update notes are from the last time the developer updated the app, with Apple's signing certificate notification above it. I don't think anything new is actually happening with the apps from their prior update, other than Apple's modification.

 

[JosephAW]

I was trying to warn iOS users that 14.5 will break older apps. Hopefully the outcry won’t be so massive that Apple will have to release a dot 1 update to restore functionality and stop filed law suites.

 

[JosephAW]

Too bad Apple didn’t update older versions of apps not just the current release and allow us to download the older versions. Hoping that some of my apps that are no longer in the store but in my purchase list will be updated as well and I can install them with configurator 2. Right now they fail to install even if you have them on your computer.

 

[EmotionalSnow]

Seems like Apple is flipping a kill switch on several apps to me.

Any app which has since been removed from the store, either because the developer didn’t renew with Apple or because Apple has removed the app from the store, will suddenly not work in the next iOS version if it’s last update was over 3 years ago.

So, IE, if people have Fortnite on their iPhone, that’ll be blocked as soon as Apple updates iOS to require that the certificate be updated since whenever Fortnite was removed from the store.

I have an NES simulator on my phone (it disguised itself as just a cloud storage management app) - Apple pulled that off the store after I downloaded it. That’ll probably get blocked now, assuming it didn’t get blocked last year (I haven’t used it in several years... probably over 4. Playing old NES games on the go is very much in the Switch’s wheelhouse now. Way better than having a virtual D-pad and other clumsy touchscreen controls.)

That could be true but I wouldn’t jump to conclusions. We don’t work at Apple and have no clue as to why they are doing this.

 

[AppleTO]

Apple updated an app I have that has been broken for a couple years. Too bad it still crashes at launch. Lol

 

[rforno]

Forbes writers rubbing their hands

LOL, true. "Users report IOS 14.5 breaking apps. Find out which ones!"

Le sigh, Forbes = clickbait heaven.

 

[Corsig]

I don’t get this joke. Why is updating the signing certificate of facebook funny?

Thank you for asking this

 

[esposimi]

From what I've seen, these update notes are from the last time the developer updated the app, with Apple's signing certificate notification above it. I don't think anything new is actually happening with the apps from their prior update, other than Apple's modification.

This is correct. Here’s what the Crestron app looks like.