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Older apps no longer appear in the App Store as Apple starts phasing out 32-bit software

We learned back in February that some older apps will no longer work when iOS 11 is released later this year, but we didn’t expect to see the effects until September. Well, it turns out the app-pocalypse has started early. As of now, apps that will be incompatible with iOS 11 no longer appear App Store searches, regardless of which device or version of iOS you have.

Specifically, 32-bit apps are being killed off as they don’t run effectively on the iPhone’s 64-bit systems. This mostly covers apps that have not been updated in several years – if you have any of these apps already installed, they will continue to work until you update to iOS 11. But it’s no longer possible to find them in the App Store if they aren’t already on your device.

Lots of games released several years ago have been affected, including classics like Puzzlejuice and Thomas Was Alone. We’ve also found a fair few utilities, education apps and audio editors that have been culled. Our only hope for these 32-bit apps is that the original developers release updated versions over the summer.

For more details on why this is happening, and to find out if any of your apps will be affected, check out our guide to iOS app compatibility.