Wow, it’s December already? We have a trio of time-related stories for you today that all have to do with things that should happen by the end of the year:
- Apple let developers know that they need to submit only 64-bit Mac apps to the Mac App Store starting January 1st
- Remember the promise from Amazon that the Prime Video app would be available for tvOS by the end of the year? TidBITS blogger Josh Centers says they’re still promising the release by the end of December
- Expect iOS 11.2 and macOS High Sierra 10.13.2 to show up soon — like next week. The sixth beta shipped to developers today
The text version of the podcast can be read below. To listen to the podcast here, click the play button on the player below. Apple News readers need to visit Apple World Today in order to listen to the podcast.
Text Version
This is Steve Sande for Apple World Today, and you’re listening to the AWT News Update podcast for December 1, 2017.
Apple today sent out a reminder to developers that starting on January 1st, the company will no longer accept 32-bit Mac apps. iOS 11 killed 32-bit apps on iPhone and iPad; all new apps submitted to the Mac App Store must now support 64-bit architecture and existing apps will need to be updated to 64-bit by June 2018. macOS High Sierra will be the last macOS release to support 32-bit architecture, and as a result Apple is telling developers to make sure apps are 64-bit even if they aren’t distributed in the Mac App Store.
Those who have the fourth-generation Apple TV or Apple TV 4K will be glad to hear this news. Back in June at the Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple and Amazon made a joint announcement that the Amazon Prime Video app would be available for tvOS by the end of the year. Since it’s now December, blogger Josh Center at TidBITS decided he’d check with Amazon to see if Amazon still thought the app would be available by December 31. The Amazon PR folks responded to Josh by saying “Thanks for checking in. Yes, you can expect the launch this year.” It may not happen until the crowds start gathering at Times Square for the New Year’s Eve festivities, but they’re still promising the app this year.
Speaking of releases, I still think we’re going to see updates to iOS 11 and macOS 10.13 next week. The sixth beta releases of iOS 11.2 and macOS 10.13.2 arrived today for developers, and it’s expected that the updates may arrive on December 5. The biggest addition in iOS 11.2 will be Apple Pay Cash, the peer-to-peer payment system that works through the Messages app. Cash can be sent to any other person with the app from a linked debit or credit card. When received, cash is stored in an Apple Pay Cash card in Wallet that can either be used to make purchases via Apple Pay or sent to a bank account. One other big deal is support for faster 7.5W wireless charging for the iPhone X, iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus. Apple doesn’t make a wireless charger that supports 7.5 Watt or greater charging, but once 11.2 is available third-party chargers will work at the faster charging rates.
That’s all for today; I’ll be back Monday afternoon with another edition of the AWT News Update.
