'Joe Danger' crashing back into App Store after appeal from parent of autistic child
The creators of 'Joe Danger' have relaunched the game on the App Store, making it again playable on the latest iOS -- because an autistic boy's parent asked them to.
As of 2017, older 32-bit games ceased working in the then-current iOS 11. It was because of the move to 64-bit apps, and Apple had been warning developers since 2014.
One such app was "Joe Danger," a successful racing game that began life on the PlayStation. Now its developer has brought it back to the App Store. "remastered with improved visuals, high frame rate, ProMotion and Gamepad support."
The developer, Hello Games, revealed on Twitter that the company's "secret shame" was that it had let "Joe Danger" lapse while concentrating on its blockbuster "No Man's Sky." But then the company got a letter that "broke our hearts."
The full letter from a parent of 8-year-old Jack, who has autism, says that "Joe Danger" has allowed him "to interact and have fun with friends and family alike." It has "allowed Jack to experience 'normal kid stuff'."
Jack's parent says that losing it in an iOS update, and not having a new version, is a problem.
"As children with autism have difficulty with change, any other version just won't do," continues the letter. "The App Store, rather casually I must admit, suggests 'contacting the developer' to update the app to get it to work, as if that were something that was done every day."
"But Jack asked me to do it for him, so here I am."
Jack's parent, whose name has not been revealed, recognized in the letter that it may not be possible for the developer to bring it back. "But it would mean the world to at least one little boy," concludes the letter.
The newly revamped "Joe Danger" is $1.99 on the App Store.
Read on AppleInsider
As of 2017, older 32-bit games ceased working in the then-current iOS 11. It was because of the move to 64-bit apps, and Apple had been warning developers since 2014.
One such app was "Joe Danger," a successful racing game that began life on the PlayStation. Now its developer has brought it back to the App Store. "remastered with improved visuals, high frame rate, ProMotion and Gamepad support."
The developer, Hello Games, revealed on Twitter that the company's "secret shame" was that it had let "Joe Danger" lapse while concentrating on its blockbuster "No Man's Sky." But then the company got a letter that "broke our hearts."
A secret shame of ours is that the success of No Man's Sky left our first game Joe Danger unloved. Sadly since iOS culled older games it no longer worked on latest Apple devices
This mail broke our hearts and made us want to set things right pic.twitter.com/Oz2yTjMUK5-- Sean Murray (@NoMansSky)
The full letter from a parent of 8-year-old Jack, who has autism, says that "Joe Danger" has allowed him "to interact and have fun with friends and family alike." It has "allowed Jack to experience 'normal kid stuff'."
Jack's parent says that losing it in an iOS update, and not having a new version, is a problem.
"As children with autism have difficulty with change, any other version just won't do," continues the letter. "The App Store, rather casually I must admit, suggests 'contacting the developer' to update the app to get it to work, as if that were something that was done every day."
"But Jack asked me to do it for him, so here I am."
Jack's parent, whose name has not been revealed, recognized in the letter that it may not be possible for the developer to bring it back. "But it would mean the world to at least one little boy," concludes the letter.
The newly revamped "Joe Danger" is $1.99 on the App Store.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
I bought the app just to support this company. Seems they may have a heart.
I fully empathize with your statement but reality sometimes steps in.
I empathize with you and am really annoyed when an app I like no longer runs after an update. However, the App I paid for ran on the stated versions at the time I paid for it. There is no commitment or promise that the app will run on future versions. I got what I paid for. And for smaller devs it is not reasonable for you to expect them to have the resources to continually be updating older apps as iOS changes.
Some get obsessed (OCD even) on one specific thing - some don't, some can't empathize with other people, some can. Heck - you could look at Greta Thunberg and Elon Musk and see their obsessions and focus. Getting them to budge from that is near impossible.
Beats said: It's not always simply a matter of checking a compiler box and recompiling. Most applications have third party library dependencies. Updating from 32 to 64 bit could take a lot of testing and re-coding if those libraries have to change - and that's assuming the libraries were even updated.
"All black people...."
"All autistic people..."
That would be fine by me. If helping somebody who needs help increases sales that's great! It's what capitalism is all about: self interest, but not solely for the sake of the self, but for the sake of contributing to society.