Skip to main content

Opinion: Square Enix’s flip-flop on iOS 8 support spotlights App Store ambiguities, risks

Square Enix’s The World Ends With You

 

Buying an app from the App Store is designed to be as easy as possible. A large button with a price tag sits as close to the app’s icon and name as possible, while additional details linger below. You’re not supposed to think or worry too much about each purchase — the transaction is impulse-driven when the price is low — and the implication is that the app will work when you get it, and keep working for a long time thereafter.

But what happens when an app — marketed as compatible with current iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches — is never updated for the latest version of iOS, and either stops working after an iOS upgrade, or never works at all on new devices? That’s the situation buyers of Square Enix’s $18 The World Ends with You: Solo Remix (and $20 iPad version) have found themselves in since iOS 8 was released. The game’s description claims that it “requires iOS 4.3 or later” and is compatible with devices that shipped with iOS 8, but it wasn’t actually iOS 8-compatible. Yesterday, Square Enix publicly flip-flopped on whether it would leave the game unplayable or fix it. Before changing its tune, the company told customers that they’d need to continue to keep using iOS 7 in order to play the game — an unrealistic alternative, though one that’s faced by users of numerous iOS apps that aren’t being updated by their developers.

By considering abandonment of the 69% of iOS users who are currently on iOS 8, Square Enix wasn’t just making a business choice; it was also spotlighting the risk App Store customers take every time they purchase an app. And it also revealed how long-unsolved App Store listing ambiguities are subjecting users, developers, and Apple itself to unnecessary problems.

The core issue here is simple: although they’re occasionally marketed as gaming devices, iOS devices are actually closer to computers. If you buy a game for a Microsoft, Nintendo, or Sony game console, you’re guaranteed that the game will work for the console’s lifespan. But with an iOS device, it’s a little different. A game probably will work on day one, but between game patches and iOS releases, there’s no certainty that it will work a year or three later. The same thing happens with some Windows and Mac apps every time a new major version of the OS is released.

This model list includes iPhones that only run iOS 8 or newer.

 

Developers are partially responsible for this problem. Square Enix’s listing of compatibility, like many other App Store titles, says “Requires iOS 4.3 or later,” implying that older devices and iOS releases won’t let the game play, but newer devices will. While the developer specifies the minimum iOS version supported, the Compatibility list doesn’t appear to include a way to specify the final supported iOS version. At best, this detail might be noted elsewhere — potentially in a contradictory fashion — such as within the App Store’s “Description” text.

Because their games may go stale every year due to iOS updates, developers are faced with an ongoing dilemma. They can choose to pull their no-longer-supported games from the App Store, making them harder to re-download for users still running old versions of iOS. Alternately, they can leave unsupported games up, making them easier for past (and, problematically, current) iOS users to accidentally re-download. And of course they can opt to update the app, incurring additional development costs in exchange for increasing their sales and/or customer satisfaction. Square Enix initially chose to leave the game up without fixing it — adding a disclaimer in the Description, contradicting the app’s Compatibility information — then abruptly changed directions.

Apple also has some responsibility for this problem. App Store listings contain ambiguities over both supported devices and iOS versions. By listing “compatibility” with the phrase “requires iOS 4.3 or later,” and allowing developers to include device compatibility as broad as “Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch” or as specific as including individual models that might not fully work, Apple is effectively letting people buy software that mightn’t work on day one, and — without a guarantee of additional development — includes an unspecified future expiration date.

Since most major developers actively patch their apps for full compatibility, this problem rarely becomes obvious. But if developers decide not to patch their apps, or keep apps in the store that don’t work with current devices, the inaccurate Compatibility listing hurts all of the consumers who bought the app. This is a problem even for $3 photo filter apps, and inexcusable for $18-$20 Square Enix games.

To Apple’s partial credit, the App Store now has a simple refund policy in the European Union to address this issue: if an app doesn’t work when it’s downloaded, it can be refunded within 14 days, no questions asked. (Refunds aren’t as easy in the United States.) That said, the App Store should stop marking apps as upwardly compatible with devices and major new iOS versions until they’re fully tested, as certified by the developer. One further step would be to increase the prominence of the iOS compatibility badge in some way. Developers wouldn’t love a pre-purchase dialog box confirming that an app about to be purchased hasn’t been certified as compatible with the current major version of iOS, but Apple uses similar warnings for uncertified accessories — apps could be next.

Would better, more honest disclosures like these slow down the pace of App Store sales? Yes, at least at first. But they would quickly push developers and Apple to do a better job of ensuring continued compatibility for their customers, and that’s what’s needed now: even Apple’s strongest defenders are clamoring for a more stable iOS with fewer bugs and user complaints. Since they’re constantly evolving, iOS devices aren’t likely to ever achieve the same guaranteed software compatibility as game consoles, but Apple can do better than it’s doing now. A couple of small changes to App Store marketing — and better version certification policies — would go a long way towards reducing customer complaints.

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Comments

  1. Tommy_Oliver - 9 years ago

    Apple should simply mask apps that are incompatible with your version of iOS, the same way iPad only apps can’t be seen/downloaded when browsing the App Store on the iPhone. Though, I think there should also be some incentive to keep apps up to date for the latest release and hardware, to keep the ecosystem at its strongest.

  2. I put most of this issue on Apple (though Square saying it works with iOS 8 is plan wrong when it doesn’t), they don’t let you tag specific versions other than the minimum OS version. If an app/game is not selling well what insensitive is there to update the app/game that was broken by changes to the OS? We also know Apple doesn’t allow you to charge for upgrades so keeping a single app updated with content isn’t a viable alternative.

    I keep hoping the Apple app store will evolve to handle some of these issues (maybe Get is the first hit of this) but right now Apple has some gaps that I wish they would address.

  3. Wow, that’s a pretty lon winded article dancing around the whole issue. The fact of the matter is that responsibility lies solely with Apple for the issue of app listings. Apple controls the system by which apps can be listed and compatibility denoted. Period.

    It’s a developer’s responsibility to update their app when necessary, but not all apps have (or should have) an unlimited lifetime. It’s just not realistic to expect a developer to make yearly (or more often) updates to what they may have released as a complete and otherwise fixed-function app, with little chance of increasing revenues to pay for those updates.

    Apple needs to have a mechanism to specify precisely which OS versions are supported and make sure that warnings or other measures are in place when one’s device falls outside that range. Disallowing purchase/download when using the devices themselves and stiff warning with confirmation requirement when using iTunes on a Mac.

    This is but one of the many things wrong with the app store and I won’t hold my breath for it to be addressed any time soon. Most issues have been present since day one in 2008 and here we are in 2015…

    • mpias3785 - 9 years ago

      Do you really think Apple has the resources to test over 1 million pieces of software prior to every iOS release? If a developer is charging for an app then it behooves them to release bug fixes or else risk losing future business.

      • Yes, actually I do. They already scan our applications for private API usage, it would be trivial for them to write up a script to scan our applications to see which APIs they have breaking changes in and then notify the developers.

        This obviously isn’t 100% fool prof but Apple knows what they have changed and have a fair idea what changes will break certain API calls. If they want developers to update their apps before the OS drops it would nice to get a heads up that your app is going to break.

      • mpias3785 - 9 years ago

        How often does Apple do something to break its own API calls? Not being sarcastic, I had loads of weird problems with iOS 7, but I’ve only seen one occurrence of a iOS update break a piece of 3rd party software since the first iPhone.

      • Personally breakage in the API calls is what bites us almost every major OS release when it comes to games, especially when using OpenGL ES. Apps is a little less common but we have had it happen (6 to 7 broke a few).

        So far the games we have done in spritekit haven’t suffer any major hiccups but we only do SK when it’s not a cross platform game which is pretty rare.

      • mpias3785 - 9 years ago

        I’ve been against Apple’s yearly OS update schedule, both OS X and iOS, but expecting Apple to test every piece of software in the App store prior to a major release is unrealistic. That’s why developers get the beta software anyone else. Aside from the logistics, who knows their own software better? Who better to decide to pull a piece of software rather than fix it?

        The piece of software addressed in this article isn’t cheap and not updating it will only hurt the people who paid for it and they’ll probably give buying anything else from this developer a second thought.

        No offense, but you do get paid for the software and keeping it running is just part of being in business. It sucks that Apple causes you the extra work but either you do it or pull the app. The customer shouldn’t be caught inn the middle.

  4. mpias3785 - 9 years ago

    Before laying blame on either Apple or the developer we need to find out why the application doesn’t work. If it’s call to an API that is no longer exists then it’s an Apple problem, if it’s a programming error then it’s the developers problem. At this point we just don’t have enough information.

  5. Lou Miranda - 9 years ago

    I’m not sure what the article means when it talks about apps being certified by the developer.

    Apps are never certified by a developer, other than simply being submitted. Apple does all the certification testing–and it does it only once, when submitted. Even then, Apple will let an app get by that has bugs. Apple doesn’t certify that an app works–just that it meets Apple’s rules. Caveat emptor.

    Maybe you just mean developers should have to resubmit after each new OS release? Would Apple have to re-test the app? Is it just for major releases (7, 8, 9) or for minor releases (8.1, 8.2) or point releases (8.1.2, 8.1.3)?

    • Lou Miranda - 9 years ago

      I think a simpler solution is for companies to take down their app once they give up updating it. It’s effectively dead at that point.

  6. James Sun - 9 years ago

    So does Namco’s RidgeRacer HD.. Not working for iOS8

  7. Your reasoning is fine but this is not at all a new phenomenon. There are PC games you cannot play, or desktop software you cannot user as well, when you always stick to the newest OS version and which is never updated.

  8. Same applies to Traktor DJ for iPad.

    Hasn’t been updated since October 2014 and at the very least there is an incompatibility issue with a sound card they sell, Traktor Audio 2 MkII.

    Those who bought it in order to use it with an iOS device, since the introduction of iOS8 have a very nice little brick in their hands.

    I have contacted Native Instruments repeatedly regarding an ETA for the fix or to potentially trade it for a higher model that works, and haven’t gotten a reply from them in about two months now.

    Nice support, NI…

  9. Eugene Kim - 9 years ago

    Correct me if I’m wrong but it seems that most .X minor revisions won’t break apps, it’s the major versions that do. It would be nice if Apple allow the developer to set a max supported major version (max value not greater than current major version), and then require the developer to submit a new version of the app to update the supported major version number when a new iOS version comes out. People on the new major version of iOS will see a notice saying the app hasn’t been updated to support your version so they can make an educated decision on purchasing or not.

    Right now, whenever purchasing an app, I always check for the Last Updated field and Version History to see if the app is being actively developed or not. Square-Enix has been notorious for not updating apps.

  10. Rather than ask developers for the minimum required iOS, they should require developers to list all compatible iOS versions and devices. Therefore, if a developer wants to market the app to those who’ve upgraded they would be required to update the metadata on their apps.

    The App store should then warn users about to download an app that doesn’t work with their current device or iOS – allow users to download anyways if they so choose.