Wouldn't the real answer be to allow developers to charge for updates? As I understand that is a big limitation, you can put out a game but all updates are free. I would have no problem paying for a game or an app v2. update to keep it working.
Well, there are workarounds. You need to release it as a new app instead of as a new revision. For example the Mac App store lists separate apps for Eazy Draw versions 3-9. The higher numbered versions cost more. So you can buy an old version for a very low price or buy the latest version for full price.
As I understand it, when they release new major versions, the new version is released as full price and all the older versions get discounted. And, of course, old versions only get updated with bug fixes - for new features you need to buy a newer version.
I'm actually surprised we don't see this model a lot more, especially for productivity apps.
I have a shelf full of old MacOS 9 and X games that I can’t run anymore, so I don’t see why iOS should be any different, especially since many of those games cost 50x more that any iOS game ever did.
The difference is you can run those old Mac apps by running old versions of Mac OS in emulators and/or virtual machines. There's no equivalent workaround for iOS software.
I understand the mentality that thinks, “I paid good money for this program so it should keep working forever, no matter what, and it’s Apple’s responsibility to keep it working through every macOS or iOS update” The Apple discussion forums are full of such complaints, especially with the 32/64 bit warning messages popping up now. Same goes for hardware peripherals, namely printers and scanners. Printer manufacturers typically abandon driver development for their printers after a few years. Along comes an operating system update and boom, no worky unless and until the manufacturer updates their drivers. Some do, some don’t, but its’ always Apple that takes the heat from users who simply don’t understand how things work.
Back to this article, we appreciate the effort here and hope it bears fruit.
I don't understand what's stopping developers from successful games to update the code themselves.
What REALLY pisses me off is when a game is removed even though it runs perfectly fine on current hardware. Us Apple TV gamers really got burned. Minecraft, DuckTales and others just got removed and I lost them when I reformatted my AppleTV. No warning or anything, my favorite games gone.
As a boardgamer, I’d love it if they could get Fantasy Flight to update the Arkham Horror app. It really saves a ton of table space by handling the encounter decks. Sadly, with the new edition that just came out, it’s unlikely that they care enough to do so.
If Apple relaxed their app rules, we would have Steam on iOS. That would not only bring back old iOS games, it would vastly increase the number of games available to the platform. Think thousands of classic PC, arcade and console games. Of course that would require Apple to make some concessions to app developers such as lowering the commission rate for in-app purchases and allowing them to execute third party code and that is never going to happen.
You mean their game streaming thing? Because just because you add Steam doesn't mean the entire library of games is compatible with iOS.
I lost probably 30 PAID ios games to ios 11 with no support whatsoever to our precious old gems. So i deeply want apple to support 32bit games or this new gameclub to really kick life into my old bois.
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I don't understand what's stopping developers from successful games to update the code themselves.
What REALLY pisses me off is when a game is removed even though it runs perfectly fine on current hardware. Us Apple TV gamers really got burned. Minecraft, DuckTales and others just got removed and I lost them when I reformatted my AppleTV. No warning or anything, my favorite games gone.