Have all 32bit apps been removed from the App Store?

[Rod]

Have all 32bit apps been removed from the App Store?
I ask because there appears to be no way to tell if an app is 32 or 64bit by looking at the description in the App Store display. I am running macOS Catalina now and a game I looked at on the App Store says, "Works on this MBP" under the Compatibility heading. but the most recent version was 2 years ago so how can I know if, "Works on this MBP" means it is 64bit?
I can't find any online info about this question but from what I can see a number of older 32bit apps I used to have turn up "No Results" now in a search.

 

[chscag]

I'm sure Apple has informed all developers that their apps have to comply with the latest version of macOS which means they should be 64bit. In any event, why not go to the game developers web site and find out?

 

[Rod]

Tried that on the game in question, the developers web site does not say. I would need to contact them via their support service and ask.

 

[chscag]

The latest information I was able to find is that Apple set the requirement for all apps in the Mac App store to be 64 bit. They actually began to inform developers of that back in 2015. I would go ahead and download the game. If by some odd chance it doesn't work because it's 32 bit, Apple will refund your money. However, I highly doubt that any app currently being carried in the Mac App store is not 64 bit.

 

[Rod]

Thanks Chas, I was surprised at how little information on this there is online.

 

[ferrarr]

In my opinion, if the app in an App Store, says "works on this Device", then it will work. Part of the information the "Devices" App Store gets is about the device using the App Store, which would give anonymous specifics about the device being used.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

The 32-bit to 64-bit transition has been happening for many many years and most developers either already build (and in most cases it is really is that simple) for both versions or have switched over to 64-bit a long time ago.

Honestly if a developer complains about having to do a lot of work when switching from 32-bit to 64-bit, they aren't really complaining about that but rather the fact that their code is likely using a ton of deprecated functionality that needs updating as well. Most smart developers actually heed the warnings of deprecation and maintain their code actively. With that in place, switching from a 32-bit build to a 64-bit build is just a compiler flag.

 

[Rod]

Thanks Ferrari, that's what I was hoping. The reason I asked was because the one of the games I was looking at was released 2012.


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[Lifeisabeach]

Have all 32bit apps been removed from the App Store?
I ask because there appears to be no way to tell if an app is 32 or 64bit by looking at the description in the App Store display. I am running macOS Catalina now and a game I looked at on the App Store says, "Works on this MBP" under the Compatibility heading. but the most recent version was 2 years ago so how can I know if, "Works on this MBP" means it is 64bit?
I can't find any online info about this question but from what I can see a number of older 32bit apps I used to have turn up "No Results" now in a search.

Nope, they most certainly have not removed the 32-bit apps. I have a small handful of apps sitting in a 32-bits folder on my iMac that I made to keep an eye on. A few are from and still on the App Store. Just to make sure I wasn't seeing them due to having purchased them, I double-checked on another Mac that didn't have them and used my wife's user account to check the App Store. They are definitely still listed with no indication that they won't run on Catalina (installed across the board here).

 

[pigoo3]

Here's an older article (mid-2017) regarding the App Store and 32-bit apps:

Why is Apple Dropping 32-bit App Support and How Will it Impact Your App?

And here's a more recent Apple Support link (October, 2019) regarding 32-bit apps:

32-bit app compatibility with macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 and later - Apple Support

- Nick