Among the many new features and updates iOS 11 will bring to your iPhone and iPad, there’s one that some users might not actually want. Apple is finally neutering older 32-bit apps, which means that some of your favourite games or productivity tools simply won’t load with iOS 11 installed.
The iPhone 5S, released back in September of 2013 with iOS 7, brought a big change to iOS: Support for 64-bit apps. Developers were encouraged to update their apps to take advantage of the new 64-bit Apple A7 processor, but it wasn’t a requirement. When iOS 9 was released a few years later, the update started to warn users that using older 32-bit apps could slow down their devices. But with iOS 11, Apple is finally putting its foot down. It won’t delete older apps that haven’t been updated with 64-bit support, but when tapped they simply won’t load.
Check this list to determine which of your apps won’t load under iOS 11.
So how do you know which of your apps aren’t going to load if you update to iOS 11 today? That’s easy. Simply open the Settings app and go to General > About > Applications. You’ll be shown a list of which apps on your iPhone or iPad aren’t compatible with the update. As of this morning, I was presented with a list of about 30 apps, mostly forgotten games and random utilities that iOS has yet to replace. The official Tetris app, the original Reckless Racing, and even Flappy Bird are all apps I can certainly live without, but unfortunately there’s not much you can do if an app or game you regularly play, or rely on, isn’t iOS 11-compatible.
You can reach out to the developer and implore them to update it, but that probably isn’t going to happen — they have had over three years to do it already. You can try to find an alternative to your beloved app, and given how large the App Store is, you’re bound to find at least one suitable replacement. Or, you can simply refrain from updating to iOS 11, and avoid replacing your device, as new iPhones and iPads ship with the latest version of iOS. Despite what Apple wants you to believe, there’s no law that says you have to own the latest and greatest.