It’s official, Flappy Bird will disappear from your mobile screen forever when you upgrade to iOS 11.
Dong Nguyen, who created the cult game for mobile and tablet devices in 2013, confirmed in a Facebook post he wouldn’t be updating the software to make it compatible with Apple’s newest operating system update.
The original Flappy Bird app is no longer playable on newer iOS from today with the release of iOS 11 :)Thank you very much for your playing and supports in the last 4 years.
Posted by Dong Nguyen on Tuesday, September 19, 2017
The reason you won’t be able to get this retro-styled mobile game is because iOS 11 doesn’t support 32-bit apps, as it has switched over to 64-bit.
In his farewell note, Nguyen wrote: “The original Flappy Bird app is no longer playable on newer iOS from today with the release of iOS 11 🙂
“Thank you very much for your playing and supports in the last 4 years.”
Here’s the message you get when you try to access the game after the upgrade:
RIP Flappy Bird, the real end has finally come #iOS11 pic.twitter.com/8g0cYGaEyc
— Travis (@tgullotta) September 20, 2017
The news has hit some pretty hard:
I still have flappy bird on my phone and now I find out iOS 11 won't support it…. pic.twitter.com/7InACzDe22
— superbling cowboy (@heystony) September 19, 2017
Guys I know this is so 2013 but I randomly get the urge to play Flappy Bird sometimes but I won't be able to with iOS 11. #RIPFlappyBird
— Junior Tobias (@juniortobias525) September 19, 2017
While others are keen to make the most of this game before they switch over to the new OS:
So if I upgrade to iOS 11 my device will be greatly improved but I'll lose Flappy Bird forever. Decisions….🤔
— Mike (@mjm52372) September 20, 2017
I'm going to play my last game of Flappy Bird before updating to iOS 11 where it won't work anymore. Requiescat in pace my old friend. pic.twitter.com/uVM3x4NS8V
— Patrick McCauley (@pmccauley95) September 19, 2017
Playing a few final rounds of Pitfall, Civ Revolution, 30 Second Life and Flappy Bird before the iOS 11 #appocalypse.
— Seamus Byrne (@seamus) September 19, 2017
Flappy Bird was remarkably successful, and a year after its launch the game was downloaded more than 50 million times on App Store alone.
In an interview with The Verge, Nguyen said Flappy Bird was making 50,000 US dollars (£30,000) a day in advertising revenue, but later announced he was taking Flappy Bird off the App Store, saying he couldn’t take the controversy surrounding the success of his game.
I am sorry 'Flappy Bird' users, 22 hours from now, I will take 'Flappy Bird' down. I cannot take this anymore.
— Dong Nguyen (@dongatory) February 8, 2014
But the game was still available to iPhone users who downloaded the app before it was removed from the store.
RIP Flappy Bird. We will miss trying to save you from those green pipes.
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