This thread took a lot of finding…
I agree with others who've said that EA Sudoku is the best version of Sudoku on the App Store. (Well, it was on the App Store until very recently…) Apologising for "inconvenience" when it ceases to work after an OS update is not an appropriate response. Being unable to play this version of Sudoku is not remotely inconvenient to me; it causes me no trouble, difficulties or discomfort. It is, however, deeply aggravating, frustrating and disappointing.
I love this version of Sudoku, as do many other people, I'm sure. It was this implementation that got me into Sudoku in the first place, and I've tried loads of other versions. None of them is as nice as this one. I've spent many hours with it, and I want to be able to continue to do so.
Making the "old technology" claim is feeble. Yes, software needs maintenance from time to time, and sometimes it may be relatively drastic. Sometimes you have to rewrite a portion to use a different library or API or whatever. But all it takes is a bit of will. To claim that it can't be done is glib and fatuous. Given EA's recent track record, presumably the will isn't there largely because the Sudoku app wasn't an endless cash sink: you bought it and could play it as much as you liked, whereas many recent EA games exist to extract money from you endlessly via in-app purchases.
Anyway, I first bought EA Sudoku on my old iPod 5G. It was fantastic, and I was delighted when it later reappeared on the iOS App Store; I bought it again there as soon as I saw it. Then I played it on my iPod touch and later on my iPhone. Now I've just got an iPhone 5s and am most disappointed to find that it doesn't work any more, and has vanished from the App Store, which presumably means that EA isn't interested in fixing it.
The 'technology change' in moving from click-wheel iPods to iOS must surely have been FAR greater than that needed to move from iOS 6 to iOS 7. Come on, EA: PLEASE show us some loyalty and commitment, and do the work necessary to update this great game for modern devices. After all, if you really MUST, there's an opportunity for IAPs in this game too, in the form of extra Sudoku puzzle packs. (Though I personally really deplore most IAPs and I totally avoid freemium titles. I don't like to be nickel-and-dimed.)
Sudoku for iOS has been left to rot for far too long in any case. There was no support for retina displays, so the graphics looked disappointing on anything from an iPhone 4 onwards. There was no support for iPad, so one had to go down the ugly 2x scaled-screen route there. And there wasn't even (as far as I know) any support for the new, taller iPhone 5 screen.
What we need is a good, comprehensive update of the game that makes it Universal (iPod/iPhone and iPad), provides full support for all screen sizes (retina, non-retina; 3.5" screen iPhones; 4" screen iPhones; iPads), and obviously makes it compatible with iOS 7 and future devices.
I wouldn't even mind buying it again, if the new version is a substantial update with support for new devices. Heck, you could even do separate iPhone/iPad versions, priced individually, rather than a Universal version.
This is, as I say, the best version of Sudoku (formerly) on the App Store, despite the vast numbers of alternatives, and it's a crying shame to just drop it. Come on, EA; please do the business and rewrite this superb game as necessary for the modern range of devices.
How about it? Will it happen? Any idea of a timescale? I'd love to hear a definitive answer. Or at least, anything meaningful that does more than express a mealy-mouthed apology for my supposed "inconvenience".
