Zarf Updates

I mentioned a couple of years ago that I was no longer supporting the IosGlk framework or the iOS IF apps that depend on them. Thus, Hadean Lands, Heliopause, Shade, and Dreamhold have gone three years without an iOS update.

I expected them to last about five years before Apple yanked compatibility out from under them. (Recall that My Secret Hideout lasted six years without an update.) But apparently Apple has gotten more proactive. A month ago I got notices on Heliopause and Shade saying, in short, "update them or it's yank city."

Well, fine. I already decided I wasn't doing that. So this weekend, down they came.

This also takes down an app bundle I had featured -- "all four apps for the price of HL alone!" This was a promotional gimmick, of course, but a pretty effective one. At least I think it was. Ah well.

Apple has some interestingly undocumented policies on what they yank. All four apps have exactly the same update history and software framework, but only two of them have been removed. Maybe they're going after cheap (one-dollar) apps first? (Dreamhold is free, and HL is "premium".) Or maybe it has to do with popularity -- Shade and Heliopause sell two or three copies a month each, where HL is more like ten or fifteen a month.

Anyhow, the important summary is that Hadean Lands is still available on both iOS and Steam, and all the other games can be played for free on my web site, just like they always have. I'm really just posting this as an information point. Three years from last update. When the other apps get their takedown notices, we'll know one tidbit more.