Apple fixes iOS 9 app slicing bug, releases full text transcripts of WWDC 2015

Posted:
in General Discussion edited October 2015
Apple on Monday announced it has fixed an iCloud bug that prevented the release of iOS 9 App Thinning features, and released searchable text transcripts of WWDC 2015's keynote and developer sessions.




The App Thinning fix comes less than two weeks after Apple initially announced it was delaying rollout of the space-saving feature due to an issue related to iCloud backups.

Touted as a key iOS 9 feature, App Thinning is a blanket term for a trio of technologies -- app slicing, On Demand Resources and Bitcode -- designed to cut down on app install size. By implementing these features, Apple is able to keep software bloat down for users with lower capacity devices.

The recent iCloud bug was affecting app slicing, which pares down universal app downloads to only those assets necessary for running on a particular device. For example, an iPhone 5s does not require the same graphical assets as an iPad Air. As detailed by Apple, an iCloud issue was prohibiting app backups from restoring to other device types, for example from an iPhone 5s to iPhone 6s.

With the fix in place, device-specific app versions will be delivered to customers when downloaded on devices running iOS 9.0.2 or later.

In a separate announcement, Apple revealed full text transcripts of this year's WWDC session videos, including the keynote at which iOS 9 and OS X 10.11 El Capitan were unveiled. Developers can search for keywords, session topics and more on Apple's WWDC videos webpage.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 9
    mac_128mac_128 Posts: 3,454member

    Does this mean iOS needs to be reinstalled? Or did this just affect third party apps?

  • Reply 2 of 9
    solipsismysolipsismy Posts: 5,099member
    mac_128 wrote: »
    Does this mean iOS needs to be reinstalled? Or did this just affect third party apps?

    No, because the version of iOS that works for your iPhone model is already built for it. This is for App Store apps—not necessarily 3rd-party apps as Apple also has apps on the App Store.

    That said, Apple could technically release one version of iOS for all devices that use iOS within a product type (or across multiple product types) that will these technologies. I don't think that will happen for a variety of reasons but this does open the door for that possibility.


    PS: A bit of a segue, but I love how the newer universal basebands have cut down on the number of different iOS builds we need for these devices.

    700700
  • Reply 3 of 9
    haggarhaggar Posts: 1,568member

    How will this affect local iTunes backups being restored to a different device?  Will it know to redownload the correct version of the apps?

  • Reply 4 of 9
    solipsismysolipsismy Posts: 5,099member
    haggar wrote: »
    How will this affect local iTunes backups being restored to a different device?  Will it know to redownload the correct version of the apps?

    I believe that was the bug they're needed to work out. Your personal saved data for the app should be device agnostic and saved to iCloud, and any "slices" that it needed for a different device, like replacing 2x graphics with 3x because you upgraded from an iPhone 6 to a 6S Plus, will be downloaded from the App Store.
  • Reply 5 of 9
    I suppose apps need to support this feature and put an updated version on the store, so as an end user I will benefit from this through authorities magic updates?
  • Reply 6 of 9
    ksecksec Posts: 1,569member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by WonkoTheSane View Post



    I suppose apps need to support this feature and put an updated version on the store, so as an end user I will benefit from this through authorities magic updates?

     

    Exactly what i wanted to know too.

     

    Quote:


     PS: A bit of a segue, but I love how the newer universal basebands have cut down on the number of different iOS builds we need for these devices.


     I dont understand what you mean

  • Reply 7 of 9
    solipsismysolipsismy Posts: 5,099member
    ksec wrote: »
     I dont understand what you mean

    Take a look at the screenshots I included. You'll see there is only one iOS download for the iPhone 6S and only one for the iPhone 6S Plus. Now look increasingly older iPhones where they have model numbers denoted as "Axxxx" to indicate that that specific device for a region or carrier, depending on the cellular baseboards it needed to support. Even earlier ones were more simply referred to by the carrier or '3G' designation when the iPhone.

    If that isn't enough here is a link that should elucidate even more of what the newer Qualcomm chips are allowing.
  • Reply 8 of 9
    aricbaricb Posts: 27member

    As an end-user, what specifically, if anything, do i need to do to take advantage of any of this app-thinning?

     

    If thinning is automatically done by apple now on ALL apps downloaded and NOT needing intervention on the app makers part, do i need to delete the current app installed in my phone, then re-download it to get a thinned version of it?

     

    If thinning is setup by each individual app maker before it is put on the app store, do i have to wait for each app maker to update their app with integrated thinning? If an app gets updated in the app store with thinning, does updating the app on my phone remove the old unused assets for devices other than the one it's being used it on? Or do i have to uninstall the old version to ensure the unused assets are removed, then reinstall the app, thus only installing it with usable assets applicable for my device?

  • Reply 9 of 9
    ksecksec Posts: 1,569member

    I have yet to see ANY of my app size reduced. So i would love if someone continue to post some news on this.

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