About the survival of our Data ( when Apps die )

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Posted by Lucine
Jun 10, 2025 at 04:55 PM

Wait what, so mac apps don’t work on older versions of macOS or iOS? This is total news to me, so what do devs have to do to keep the business running for a longer period then? Make significant changes for each new mac version? Approximately how much time can an average purchased software be expected to work in the iOS and macOS enviornment then? Apparently there has been a differently named OS every year in the recent years.
I was actually considering buying a macOS device just to use some of the most fascinating apps that get mentioned here but I pirate (unpopular opinion here, and understandably so) and a lot of those that can be found can be quite old. So they probably wouldn’t even work on the new mac minis. That’s really interesting, and something people seldomly mention for some reason.

A question for heavy mac users, to what extent has this been a problem and what do you usually do about this? Do you just buy the classic one-time purchase software, and the optional upgrades purchases cover the OS changes and make sure the application keeps working? What if you don’t want to or can’t purchase an upgrade and you need new hardware but then all your data is in the old OS that you can’t use in the hypothetical situation. Do you then just export content and find another app that can import satisfactory?
And maybe this can partially explain why the subscription model took over?

Andy Brice wrote:
>So what to do ? Use only apps from big companies like Apple or
>Microsoft , that are unlikely to disappear in the short/medium term ?
> >In my experience big companies kill off products as often as small
>companies, if not more so. Google is famous for killing products.
> >For longevity:
> >* Downloadable software beats web software. Web software dies the second
>the vendor turns off their server. Downloadable software might keep
>going for decades.
> >* Windows applications beat Mac applications. Microsoft puts a lot of
>effort into backward compatibility. Apple nukes their entire ecosystem
>from orbit every few years.
> >* Choose software that uses (or can export to) an text based standard
>format, such as CSV.
> >As a vendor I hope to keep my applications available to customers for
>some years after I stop selling them, if I possibly can.
> >And, if you are having to reshape/reformat data to move it from
>application to another, maybe consider my Easy Data Transform software.
>;0)
>https://www.easydatatransform.com
> >
> >

Posted by Andy Brice
Jun 10, 2025 at 08:09 PM

>but I pirate (unpopular opinion here, and understandably so)

Sufficiently unpopular that I won’t be taking the time to make a substantive reply.

Posted by Skywatcher
Jun 11, 2025 at 08:31 AM

Andy Brice wrote:
Speaking of Apple nuking everything from orbit, I give you macOS 26:
> >https://www.apple.com/os/
> >Its not clear to me yet what effect this is going to have on existing
>macOS apps.
>

I’m not sure what you mean by “Apple nuking everything from orbit”. If you’re referring to the 26 denomination, they simply changed the way they named the OS ,now by their year of release instead of the usual incremental numbers from their first release.

The rest is just cosmetic change to the look ( more transparency ) .

Posted by Skywatcher
Jun 11, 2025 at 08:32 AM

Lucine wrote:
Wait what, so mac apps don’t work on older versions of macOS or iOS?
>This is total news to me, so
>>

No, they just changed the way they named their releases ( now by Year of release )

Posted by Andy Brice
Jun 11, 2025 at 09:28 AM

>I’m not sure what you mean by Apple nuking everything from
>orbit

I am referring to the fact that Mac apps have to be continually updated to work with the latest macOS OS/processor.

I develop apps for Windows and Mac.

If you take a Windows release of my software from 20 years ago, there is a good chance it will run on the latest Windows OS.

If you take a Mac release of my software from 20 years ago, there is no chance it will run on the latest Mac OS. In fact a release from 5 years ago might not run on the latest Mac OS.

I understand macOS 26 is not going to support Intel chips. So you won’t be able to update that expensive Intel Mac you bought in 2020. It looks like Intel apps will continue to run under Rosetta translation, for now:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/apple-to-phase-out-rosetta-2-starting-with-macos-28-as-intel-era-ends.2458631/

As a vendor:

On the plus side:

-Mac users are pretty much forced to upgrade their apps regularly if they want to stay on the latest version of macOS.

-apps that aren’t being actively maintained disappear as competitors quite quickly.

On the minus side:

-It is a grind to keep on jumping through the hoops created by Apple’s changes.

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