App-Thinning: Why lack of app management in iTunes 12.7 is not all bad news

by: Rysz

Last modified: Oct 31, 2017 3:56 PM

1 4931 Last modified Oct 31, 2017 3:56 PM

When Apple removed iOS app management from iTunes 12.7 it affected a great many users. This genuinely inconvenienced some, like those with limited internet access, strict cellular data limits, or having difficulties with small screens. Since then, Apple released iTunes 12.6.3, which brought back app support and enabled Content Cashing in High Sierra to ease support of multiple devices.

In fairness to Apple, removing app support in iTunes was long in the making and is of benefit to most users. The reason is... App Thinning.

What is App Thinning

When introduced with iOS 9.2, App Thinning allowed developers to compartmentalize app resources so only those needed for a specific iDevice were downloaded to that device. In the case of a small screen iPhone, for example, that version did not include artwork for all other screen sizes, like the giant 12.7” iPad Pro, nor resources for functionalities not available on that phone, such as support for Apple Pencil.

If you kept using iTunes...

...to buy, download or update iOS apps, App Thinning did not benefit you. That’s because the apps downloaded to iTunes, then synced to your devices, were “universal” versions - they contained resources and graphics for ALL iDevices.

That was not good for your device

Universal apps synced from iTunes were often substantially larger than they needed to be. That meant they used more of your limited on-device storage space and had the potential of slowing down your device performance.

And not good for your computer

At the same time iOS 9.2 came out, apps from your devices stopped copying back to iTunes, since they were no longer usable for syncing to any other device. This also meant there was little reason to keep them on your computer and waste gigabytes of storage.* App Store is now the storage location.**

Then came iTunes 12.7

For those users who stopped using iTunes for app management in order to take advantage of App Thinning, eliminating app support hardly mattered - just a less cluttered app.

For those who were not happy about the change, hopefully the explanations above at least point out some of the benefits resulting from that change.

Notes:

* The exception is apps no longer available in App Store (or expected to be removed), but still useful AND compatible with your device; They can be saved and manually added to devices;

** To re-download your past purchases for free, make sure you’re logged in using the Apple ID originally used to buy or download the apps.

- Changes in the new iTunes 12.7: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208075

- iTunes 12.6.3 brings back App, Ringtone support: https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-12172

- Content Caching vs. Lack of app management in iTunes 12.7: https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-12301

- Manually manage content on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch using iTunes - Apple Support