With the clock ticking for developers to update their applications with 64-bit code, Google has announced they shall soon be releasing a “brand new experience” for Google Earth at an event at New York City’s Whitney Museum of American Art next Tuesday (18th April 2017) which is when the app is expected to receive a much needed design refresh alongside updated 64-bit code to meet Apple’s requirements.
Why is this such a big deal? Well, without a 64-bit upgrade the Google Earth app for iOS would likely become obsolete by the end of the year. Apple has been phasing out support for 32-bit titles, preventing new ones from appearing at the App Store, and popping up iOS warnings that they can slow down 64-bit devices. More recent messages say simply that 32-bit apps —including Earth —”will not work with future versions of iOS.”
Google has practically neglected Google Earth for iOS, it last received a small bug-fixing update nearly a year ago and has not been touched since.