Apple requiring apps be developed on Xcode 13 starting April 25

Apple will soon require that all apps developed for its platforms be built with Xcode 13, the latest version of the company's development kit.

The Cupertino tech giant notified developers in an update on Tuesday that Xcode 13 will be required for App Store submissions starting on Monday, April 25.

"Make the most of the exciting features in iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and watchOS 8 to offer even more intuitive and valuable user experiences," Apple wrote in the update. "Improve your app's performance by refactoring your code to take advantage of asynchronous functions in Swift. And with the latest updates to SwiftUI, you can enhance your apps with new features, such as improved list views, better search experiences, and support for control focus areas."

While apps built with Xcode 13 will be required, the newest version of the SDK will still support older Apple software, including iOS 14, iPadOS 14 and macOS Big Sur.

Apple is currently on Xcode version 13.3, which was released on March 14 alongside iOS 15.4, iPadOS 15.5, and other updates on Monday. The previous version of Xcode, version 13.2, was released in December and caused some issues for developers before being resolved.

9 Comments

22july2013 11 Years · 3736 comments

About 2 years ago

When will Apple start booting apps from the App Store that haven't been updated for two years, since Privacy Labels were established?

JinTech 9 Years · 1061 comments

22july2013 said:

When will Apple start booting apps from the App Store that haven't been updated for two years, since Privacy Labels were established?

Likely on April 25th.

shareef777 16 Years · 136 comments

JinTech said:

22july2013 said:

When will Apple start booting apps from the App Store that haven't been updated for two years, since Privacy Labels were established?

Likely on April 25th.

Unlikely. That date is for NEW app submissions. Generally speaking the only time an app is booted from the store is if it A.) violates Apple's rules or B.) becomes a competitor to a feature Apple is releasing. Other then that, Apple couldn't care less how old and outdated an app is. Every version sold is $$$ for them, screw the end user experience.

shareef777 said:

JinTech said:

22july2013 said:

When will Apple start booting apps from the App Store that haven't been updated for two years, since Privacy Labels were established?

Likely on April 25th.

Unlikely. That date is for NEW app submissions. Generally speaking the only time an app is booted from the store is if it A.) violates Apple's rules or B.) becomes a competitor to a feature Apple is releasing. Other then that, Apple couldn't care less how old and outdated an app is. Every version sold is $$$ for them, screw the end user experience.

According to the article, it says "Apple will soon require that all apps developed for its platforms be built with Xcode 13, the latest version of the company's development kit." which implies this will apply to old apps as well.

Stabitha_Christie 3 Years · 582 comments

JinTech said:

shareef777 said:

JinTech said:

22july2013 said:

When will Apple start booting apps from the App Store that haven't been updated for two years, since Privacy Labels were established?

Likely on April 25th.

Unlikely. That date is for NEW app submissions. Generally speaking the only time an app is booted from the store is if it A.) violates Apple's rules or B.) becomes a competitor to a feature Apple is releasing. Other then that, Apple couldn't care less how old and outdated an app is. Every version sold is $$$ for them, screw the end user experience.

According to the article, it says "Apple will soon require that all apps developed for its platforms be built with Xcode 13, the latest version of the company's development kit." which implies this will apply to old apps as well.

The sentence right after the one you quoted says the new rule will apply to submissions. That makes it sound like only new apps and updates.