The “app-ocalypse” is nigh, iPhone and iPad users.
When Apple rolls out the next version of iPhone software, iOS11, in September, the company will stop supporting its old platform for applications, purging thousands of old apps and leaving many customers left hanging in the digital wind.
Apps built on 32-bit architecture, which were mostly made before 2014, will be forced on to the more efficient 64-bit architecture—or simply cease to exist. Apple warned this moment would come, but the company finally confirmed in June the switchover would occur with iOS11. Since then, apps that won’t be supported by iOS11 will flash a warning message upon launch.
For many apps, the shift from 32- to 64-bit architecture is a few hours of coding. But for ones that haven’t been updated in years, it could take weeks or months, Independent reports. Given this, developers may not have the resources—or the motivation—for an update.
According to the Independent, games will likely be the most affected app category by the phaseout. Cult favorite Flappy Bird and nearly 200,000 others will go exist. Fans of those apps will be forced to choose between delaying their iOS update or losing the app and its data forever.
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