Re: ENABLE_BITCODE=NO and assistive applications
Re: ENABLE_BITCODE=NO and assistive applications
- Subject: Re: ENABLE_BITCODE=NO and assistive applications
- From: Bill Cheeseman <email@hidden>
- Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2015 13:34:09 -0400
On Sep 16, 2015, at 12:35 PM, Jens Alfke < email@hidden> wrote:
(It also makes sense if you think about it, because the purpose of submitting bitcode is to make it easy for the app to run on new CPU architectures without you having to rebuild it yourself; and new CPU architectures are very likely for iOS and watchOS because Apple designs and builds those CPUs, but not likely for Macs because they use totally standard Intel x86 silicon.)
Actually, my best guess is that Apple was intentionally ambiguous about bitcode on OS X in the Xcode 7 Release Notes because they wanted to hold their options open as long as possible -- in other words, because they didn't figure out until recently that they aren't yet ready to make bitcode work in OS X. There is lots of online speculation about how soon Apple might start using its own processors in at least some Macs. Because of that, I do expect bitcode to make it into OS X sooner rather than later.
It will have to be optional in OS X, however, because bitcode will only work on the Mac App Store, where Apple can rebuild our bitcode for us. But applications that use the Accessibility API to assist persons with disabilities are not eligible for the Mac App Store. The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits the federal government and most educational institutions from buying computer hardware and software that does not support persons with disbilities, and I am confident that Apple does not plan to give up those customers just so they can apply bitcode to OS X applications.
If I were to daydream some, I might even speculate that this internal conflict between Apple's desire to use its own processors and its desire to keep assistive applications out of the Mac App Store for security reasons will force Apple to start allowing assistive applications into the Mac App Store before too long....
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