187,000 32-bit Apple iPhone apps won't work with iOS 11

In a few weeks, iOS 11 will be released and when that happens, the latest build of Apple's mobile operating system will not support 32-bit apps. And that is bad news for developers and users of approximately 187,000 32-bit apps in the App Store that will stop working with iOS 11. These apps will most likely remain in the App Store so that iOS users who can't, or won't, download the latest iOS update can still use them. Eventually though, Apple will probably remove them from the App Store.

According to App-centric analysis firm Sensor Towers, most of the 32-bit apps affected by this are games. In fact, precisely 38,619 gaming apps will not be supported by iOS 11. After games, other app categories affected, in order, include education, entertainment, and lifestyle apps.

To check which of your currently installed apps is 32-bit and thus is in danger of not working once you update your iPhone, go to Settings > General > About > Applications. Any 32-bit apps on your phone will show up. If you don't have any, no names will appear.

187,000 apps doesn't seem like a lot these days. But there was a time, back in October 2009, when the App Store had a total of 100,000 apps on its shelves. Remember those days? The latest data disseminated by Sensor Tower counts 2.4 million apps now available from the App Store.

Back in January of this year, Apple pushed out warning messages in iOS 10.3 beta 1 when certain 32-bit apps were opened. The message read, "This app will not work with future versions of iOS. The developer of this app needs to update it to improve its compatibility." Apple's hope was that iOS users would put pressure on developers to update their apps so that it would work on iOS 11. There are no statistics that give us an idea of how many iOS users and developers followed through.

source: BusinessInsider