Apple ignores its own rule and continues to approve apps without iPhone X / XS screen support

O iPhone X was released by Apple in September 2017; his presale started in late October and the device finally hit the market shortly after, in early November last year.

The handset marked the arrival of a new phase in Apple's smartphone lineup, with a 5.8-inch OLED screen, no Home button, and thus with edges / edges never seen before on an iPhone.

Of course, such a change requires that an entire ecosystem (not just Apple, but third party developers) be redone to adapt to the new screen size and new gestures that were implemented in order to replace all the interaction we had. with the physical button. This, of course, does not happen overnight. In the specific case of the new 5.8 ″ screen, Apple has given a fairly long deadline for all companies and developers to adapt.

Apple stipulated that as of April this year, all new apps designed for the iPhone (even those that are universal) should have support for the iPhone X Super Retina HD screen. That is, it would need to support the resolution of 11252436 pixels to The vertical orientation is 24361125 pixels to the horizontal, and you need to respect safe areas and adaptive layouts.

In the middle of the year, in July, the rule was also valid for updates of existing apps. That is, in theory, today we should no longer have apps in the App Store being updated without iPhone X screen support (which, by the way, the same as iPhone XS). But the very different theory of practice

There are still many applications that do not support the 5.8 ″ screen of the X and XS iPhones, which, then, of the XS Max and XR iPhones, which feature 6.5 ″ and 6.1 ″ screens, respectively. It doesn't take much effort to find them. Here on my device, for example, I have some look:

App Store Available Apps That Don't Support 5.8 ScreenSome apps available on the App Store that do not support the 5.8 ″ screen of iPhones X / XS

Of course, many are abandoned and have never received updates. In this case, Apple is not to blame since it has not yet decided to promote a clean in the store; she just stated that she would no longer accept updates or approve new apps that weren't ready for 5.8 ″ screens. But what about apps like OLX (last updated December 6), Minha Claro (November 12), Oktoplus (November 28), The Globe News (November 5) and many others that were updated after July and July. still not supporting iPhone X?

Many of these apps are even promoted by Apple on the App Store, which makes no sense at all. Example: In a “Last Minute Gifts” list, Apple highlights the OLX; Already in the editorial “Read is well”, she indicates the SEE app that has been without update for over two years and that of course does not have support for the latest devices the experience of using such an app is simply horrible and goes against everything. that Apple preaches.

We questioned Phil Schiller, Apple's global marketing chief and App Store manager on Twitter, but got no answer.

Hello @pschiller, did Apple forget this July requirement (https://developer.apple/news/?id=05072018a)? I am still seeing some apps that are being updated without support for iPhone X Super Retina screen.

Of course, we are not talking about a serious problem that puts the user at risk or something. No, we are far from this scenario. But curious to see how Apple “turns a blind eye” to a lot that would ultimately hurt developers and make their store poorer. On the other hand, it is undeniable that if Apple followed the stipulated rule, today we will have a store offering a much cooler experience for new iPhone owners.

It is our tug on both Apple, for ignoring its own rule, and developers who have not updated their apps to the new screens to this day.