Preparing 32-bit Apps for macOS Catalina

Lindaro2020 wrote:

Hi leroydouglas,

Thanks for your reply. Sorry, did you mean to say 32-bit apps will not run on Catalina? Unfortunately, I don’t think I am able to update Pages, Numbers & Keynote before updating to Catalina, since the App Store states they require Catalina 10.15?!

(I have a Bootable Clone and two TM backups in place).

Correct I missed typed : should read 32 bit apps will not run on Catalina.

If you your apps are updated as for as you can go— that's all that is necessary.

I would not delete these 32 apps before you upgrade to Catalina— all associated uses files/folders/user data etc will upgrade and get passes to Catalina as part of the upgrade; either the upgrade happens on the fly or they will become available as a software update.

Only after you successfully have the updated versions, you can verify if the old 32 apps got removed. If not you can delete as general housekeeping .

This typically is not an issue.

Lindaro2020 wrote:

I have recently migrated from an old iMac (2011) to a newer iMac (2017) with macOS Mojave 10.14.6 and I am now preparing to update to macOS Catalina.

I have used ‘Go64’ to scan my system for 32-bit apps/files and I’m in the process of updating or deleting those that I can. Unfortunately I have the old iWork ‘09 apps - Pages, Numbers and Keynote, and old versions of Garageband and iMovie too, all of which were migrated across from the old iMac! I cannot update these apps from the App Store, since they now require Catalina to update!

My question is, will I just be able to update my system to Catalina and update all of these apps afterwards without a problem? Will the apps just update as normal or will I be left with the ‘old’ versions on my machine as well as the ‘new’ versions? Would I be able to delete the old version in that case?

Alternatively, is it better to completely remove them all before I update to Catalina and download them again from the App Store afterwards? (I only have Pages and Numbers documents to consider, which are saved to my iPad anyway).  

I understand that 32-bit apps on a system may cause issues with the Catalina update and therefore wish to be prepared! I have completely deleted iDVD and iWeb since they cannot be used any longer. There are also a number of 32-bit Adobe files on my system too, which I will contact Adobe about.

Many thanks for any help.

64 bit apps will not run on Catalina— update your old versions of " iWork ‘09 apps" — I would do this before you upgrade the macOS to ensure compatibility as you move forward.

32-bit app compatibility with macOS... - Apple Support

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208436

Always have a robust backup plan in the event you have to fall back and try again the upgrade, without loosing any user data.

3-2-1 Backup Strategy: three copies of your data, two different methods, and one offsite.

— How to create a boot clone https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-10081

—Back up your Mac with Time Machine: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201250

You will only be able to download Pages, Numbers, and Keynote {v10.3.9 or later) once you have Catalina installed, as that is the installation requirement for those applications. Apple does not maintain full, past installers for older versions of these applications that you can install before the Catalina upgrade.

I would recommend that you perform a Time Machine backup of Mojave (including those iWork/iMovie '09 applications, your custom templates, and iWork '09 documents) before upgrading to Catalina. Don't just throw away these applications if you have them on older hardware too. Do not use the Mojave Time Machine backup drive on Catalina, but obtain another that is 2.5 - 3x your internal drive size and use it strictly for Catalina.

Something that you should know about iWork '09 documents is that if they use features unique to those '09 applications, that current versions on Catalina may either fail to open the document or if the feature(s) are implemented differently in the current applications, that the document may not appear as it did with the iWork '09 applications. Further, the iWork '09 document will not be changed by simply opening it in the newer applications, but any attempt to change anything will be met with a dialog asking to convert the document into the new (non-iWork '09) document format. Once you do that, it is no longer the original iWork '09 document, nor will it be backward compatible with iWork '09 applications that you may retain on older hardware running Mojave or earlier.

There is a dedicated support community for Pages, Numbers, and Keynote here.

Whether you’ll be able to download the new versions I don’t know. Those apps are free with a new Mac, but the original owner may have already downloaded those. I don’t know how the App Store determines eligibility for the free versions.

I would leave them and see if they will update. If not, you should be able to remove them after installing Catalina.

Lindaro2020 wrote:

Thank you leroydouglas, that’s very reassuring to hear! I had read a few articles online about how it is better to update/remove 32-bit apps before the update, since it could cause issues with the install of Catalina. But I won’t worry about that now!

I hope I have done the right thing by completely (and carefully!) removing iWeb and iDVD - there didn’t seem much point in keeping them on my system if they can’t be used now?

I guess it is still worth me checking with Adobe as to what I should do about their 32-bit files lurking in my system?

I would not over think it...

files are not 32 bit or 64 bit, this applies only to the applications themselves— so lingering "files" is not an issue.

32 bit apps can be deleted after the fact.

I removed no 32 bit apps in the upgrade process, there were zero issues as a results.

You can not be any more current than Mojave when upgrading to Catalina.

Personally, I purchase a new Time Machine drive for each new upgrade of macOS. Perhaps naive, if I ever need to revert the operating system via booting into Recovery and Restore from Time Machine backup, my concern would be that it would just restore the current operating system and not the preceding one that I require.

That said, I have never found myself needing to revert operating systems, so have not actually mixed previous and current operating system on a Time Machine drive to see how it would behave in a Recovery scenario.