iOS 11 Could Kill Your Mobile App

The app-pocalypse is coming and iOS 11 could see the death of your mobile app. According to new research from app analytics company Sensor Tower, a staggering 187,000 apps could be killed with Apple’s next update.

The tech giant has been encouraging developers to update older apps in order to make them compatible with the 64-bit processors for a few years now. And it appears Apple’s support for these outdated apps is about to come to an abrupt end.

Apple's Latest Warning

The latest version of the iOS 10 beta fuelled speculation last month when developers were alerted by the following message: "this app will not work with future versions of iOS".

As a result, 8 per cent of all apps in the App Store could be rendered obsolete overnight if Apple ends its support for 32-bit apps.

And whilst the majority of these endangered apps won’t be missed, there are a few classics from the early days of the App Store that could be threatened by the change.

But the fate of these 32-bit apps still remains unclear, with Apple yet to comment on iOS 11. We may have to wait patiently until WWDC comes around once again.

Ditching Outdated Apps

There’s a good chance that any app that hasn’t been updated in two or more years is still running on 32-bit code. And despite sounding like a long time to go without an update, there are a huge amount of apps that fall victim to this.

28 per cent of apps in the App Store haven’t been updated in at least two years, according to Sensor Tower. This led to Apple removing more than 47,000 apps last year as it began clamping down on languishing apps.

Save Your App 

There’s still time for the creators of the early beloved apps to save them. If your app hasn’t been updated for a while, it’s imperative to check whether Apple’s next update will claim yet another victim of the app-pocalypse.

Andy Floyd

Marketing Manager | B60