Apple Requires New iOS Apps To Support iPhone X Display

Apple has always been strict when it comes to app requirements for App Store developers. Now the tech giant has informed developers that all new apps must natively support the Super Retina display of the iPhone X starting this April.

“iOS 11 has brought innovative features and the redesigned App Store to hundreds of millions of customers around the world. Your apps can deliver more intelligent, unified, and immersive experiences with Core ML, ARKit, new camera APIs, new SiriKit domains, Apple Music integration, drag and drop for iPad and more,” Apple told developers in an email obtained by 9To5Mac.

“Starting April 2018, all new iOS apps submitted to the App Store must be built with iOS 11 SDK, included in Xcode 9 or later. All new apps for iPhone, including universal apps, must support the Super Retina display of the iPhone X.”

To put it in simpler terms, developers must make sure that their apps will be able to accommodate the display notch on the iPhone X’s 5.8-inch OLED display. Although the iPhone X has been available since November 2017, there are still plenty of apps that haven’t been optimized to embrace the display notch of the latest iPhone model.

With Apple now requiring developers to accommodate the notch of the iPhone X, it’s clear that the tech giant is sticking with its design choice and is making sure that all of its users have properly optimized apps. Apple hasn’t set a deadline for developers that already have existing apps in the App Store, but it wouldn’t be surprising if the company decides to set one soon.

The notch on the iPhone X Super Retina display is probably one of the biggest design changes in the history of Apple’s iOS devices. To a lot of users, they see the notch as an annoying design choice. Despite complaints, Apple sees the notch as a one of the defining features of the iPhone X. As The Verge points out, it makes the iPhone X standout from other “bezel-less” smartphones that are available in the market today.

Apple is also expected to bring back the notch for all of its 2018 iPhones. The most popular rumor right now is that the company will release two models with an OLED display and one model with a TFT-LCD display. With the notch expected to be part of all three of these phones, it’s no wonder Apple wants upcoming brand-new apps in the App Store to support the iPhone X display.