All App Updates Must Be Built With iOS 11 SDK and Include iPhone X Display Support Starting in July

Monday May 7, 2018 11:32 AM PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today informed developers that starting in July of 2018, all app updates submitted to the iOS App Store must be built with the iOS 11 SDK and must offer support for the iPhone X's taller display.

Introduced in back in September, the iOS 11 SDK includes new technologies for app developers like Core ML, ARKit, revamped camera APIs, additional SiriKit domains, drag and drop features for the iPad, and more.

Going forward, iOS apps will need to adopt these technologies, and more importantly, Apple will be forcing developers who have not yet implemented support for the new display of the iPhone X to do so. While most major apps have added support for the iPhone X, there are still many apps that have not been updated and continue to have ugly black bars when used on the iPhone X.

This includes some Apple apps, such as iTunes Connect, iTunes Remote, Beats Pill+, Music Memos, and AirPort Utility, so presumably Apple will be updating its own apps with full iPhone X support in the near future given the new guidelines.
iOS 11 delivers innovative features and the redesigned App Store to hundreds of millions of customers around the world. Your apps can deliver more intelligent, unified, and immersive experiences with Core ML, ARKit, new camera APIs, new SiriKit domains, Apple Music integration, drag and drop for iPad, and more. Starting July 2018, all iOS app updates submitted to the App Store must be built with the iOS 11 SDK and must support the Super Retina display of iPhone X.
Apple's requirement for app updates to introduce iPhone X support will be implemented just a few months ahead of the launch of new 2018 iPhones that will be similar in design to the existing iPhone X. Apple is rumored to be working on three phones: a 5.8-inch OLED device that's a successor to the iPhone X, a 6.5-inch OLED device that can be thought of as a sort of "iPhone X Plus," and a 6.1-inch LCD iPhone that will have a lower price tag.

Apple in April began requiring all new apps to be built with the iOS 11 SDK and with support for the iPhone X's display.

Tag: App Store
55 comments


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BB8
23 weeks ago

Wow. Harsh for developers, great for us users!


They'll have had 9 months to update, what's harsh about that?
Rating: 17 Votes
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chrono1081
23 weeks ago

Wow. Harsh for developers, great for us users!


Harsh for ****** developers. The rest of us have had it supported since release.
Rating: 14 Votes
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jonblatho
23 weeks ago
Good. If you follow best practices in developing your iOS app, it takes on the order of seconds.
Rating: 11 Votes
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bwillwall
23 weeks ago
Makes sense to me, nobody should be actively developing for a platform when they don't support their newest devices this long after launch.
Rating: 10 Votes
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twinlight
23 weeks ago
Wow. Harsh for developers, great for us users!
Rating: 8 Votes
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dwaltwhit
23 weeks ago
Many will complain, and some perhaps rightfully so, but this is what keeps Apple in the position it is in in the mobile phone market.
Rating: 5 Votes
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jonnysods
23 weeks ago
Hey, good news. Some of the older apps are making me crazy. Such a waste of a pretty screen!
Rating: 4 Votes
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twinlight
23 weeks ago

They'll have had 9 months to update, what's harsh about that?

Probably a lot of apps out there developed and mostly never updated or rarely updated. Now they will never be updated.
Rating: 4 Votes
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NoBoMac
23 weeks ago
Isn't this a bit old news? I thought Apple already put out this warning some months back?

But, yes, good for X owners: finally get the slow adopter developers to get off their butts.
Rating: 3 Votes
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ThunderSkunk
23 weeks ago
iOS 11 turned three of our ipads (a mini4 & 2 pros) into slow, unresponsive, crashy paperweights. And it ruined multitasking. I was lucky enough to downgrade the mini back to 10 while I still could. Ultimately sold the Pro's off. I suppose I'll continue to use the mini on 10 until the battery kills it like the 3 mini4s that preceded it. ...given the direction of things, I think that may wrap it up for iOS & mobile devices for me in general.

It'll be funny, to look back on having blown tens of thousands of dollars on these products, and be left with absolutely nothing of any value to show for it. Other things of quality have an inherent value in them. Old bikes, old machinery, broken down cars, even my 70 year old Atomic coffee maker, all retain some value because they can always be of some use to someone. Comparatively, computer stuff has a million times the technology in it of any of that stuff, and yet 3 software updates later, it's a lifeless brick of no use or value to anyone and goes in the scrap heap. The hardware would still work, but we let software wreck it, and let it stay wrecked. And a billion of us just go along with this.

I think I'm getting off this crazytrain.
Rating: 3 Votes
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