Apple’s SDK 26 deadline passed; the migration still needs build evidence

Apple’s February announcement set 28 April 2026 as the SDK 26 upload deadline. Its current register now labels that requirement as effective since that date. The documented transition is complete; a particular studio’s migration is a separate question. Announcement; Current register.

What the follow-up resolves

The original milestone was an upload requirement becoming operative. We found a current first-party record carrying that date, so it is no longer appropriate to describe the rule only as a future possibility. This check does not independently test enforcement against an account or build.

For a growth team, the practical distinction is between a platform timeline and a release timeline. A campaign may still depend on an app update that has not been successfully uploaded, even though the provider’s migration date is old news.

What closes the local task

Our recommendation is to attach the candidate archive, build environment and upload result to the campaign’s release dependency. If a partner studio owns submission, request the evidence for the specific title and version. A portfolio-wide statement that migration is finished is weaker than a record tied to the intended launch.

Keep the earlier announcement in the timeline rather than rewriting its date. Future readers should be able to see what was expected and which later evidence established the current status. The remaining follow-up is operational: confirm that the experience promised by the campaign is actually in the accepted build, then evaluate acquisition performance separately.

Inspect the evidence

Download the announcement-to-outcome evidence timeline. The extraction separates documented facts from our analysis and unknowns.

Further reading in the existing archive: Apple Games and What It Means for App Store Discovery; LiveOps events as acquisition moments. These links provide background; this check does not independently verify their full contents.

Frequently asked questions

What happened next, and what should UA change after: Apple’s SDK 26 deadline passed; the migration still needs build evidence?

Treat the platform deadline as settled and the studio migration as still open. Apple’s February announcement set 28 April 2026 as the SDK 26 upload deadline, and the current requirement register lists that rule as effective since that date — so it is no longer accurate to describe the upload requirement only as a future possibility. That public-record check does not independently test enforcement against any account or build. For growth, separate the provider timeline from the release timeline: a campaign may still depend on an app update that has not been successfully uploaded even though the migration date is old news. Attach the candidate archive, build environment and upload result to the campaign’s release dependency; if a partner studio owns submission, request evidence for the specific title and version rather than accepting a portfolio-wide “migration finished” statement. Keep the earlier announcement in the timeline. Confirm that the experience promised by the campaign is actually in the accepted build, then evaluate acquisition performance separately.