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I am looking to 'restore' an old iOS game (Mega Jump)—it was unfortunately never updated with a 64-bit release, so can't be run on any iDevices running iOS 11 or later. This isn't an obstacle for me personally, as I'm just looking to download the app and have access to its internal app files (i.e. game assets... for old time's sake :P).

Without access to an old mobile device running iOS 10 or earlier, is it possible to download 32-bit apps onto my non-jailbroken iPhone/iPad (iOS 16 and iOS 12.5.6 respectively), or onto my M1 Mac? I am doubtful about any iOS devices, but gaining access to files which are clearly still on the App Store (and which I purchased with my own Apple ID years ago) seems like it might be more viable on a Mac today?

(Note: this developer has not removed their iOS apps from the Mac App Store, i.e. Mega Jump "needs to [be updated] to work with your version of macOS" and an updated game by the same developer, Mega Run, still works.)

Am I out of luck? Is contacting the (more or less defunct) developers and gently nudging/begging for a 64-bit release my only option, besides shelling out for an iPad Mini 2 or iPad 4 which may not last more than a year? [Counterpoint: if all I need is to download and copy files from an outdated app, I may be able to borrow a family or friend's old device, but it would be good to know if other options exist.]

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Without access to an old mobile device running iOS 10 or earlier, is it possible to download 32-bit apps

No. There isn't a public directory of urls for older versions of an application.

It is in the realm of possibility, that you could use an old version of Xcode on an old version of macOS installed inside a VM on your M1 using UTM. (This alone will be complicated and take hours to set up). Once you are on a version of Xcode that has an iOS emulator supporting iOS 10. You may be able to download it to the phone.

Making use of the application may also be difficult. Apple discontinued 32 bit apps in iOS 11. So even if you found the binary, you can't run it on any iOS 11+ device. Apple also discontinued 32 bit apps on Catalina, so you can't run it on an M1 system.

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    This does not answer my question. I didn't ask if I could run apps, I asked if I could download them, and specifically noted "...so can't be run on any iDevices running iOS 11 or later. This isn't an obstacle for me personally, as I'm just looking to download the app[.]"
    – Nebula
    Commented Nov 18, 2022 at 0:54
  • Updated with a direct answer to your "can I download" question.
    – James Risner
    Commented Nov 18, 2022 at 1:02
  • Thanks, your line of thinking with VM-in-Xcode-in-VM is interesting! It's something to look into. I understand the details of virtualizing an old macOS/OS X is outside the scope of your answer. I'll mark this as accepted if someone (or myself) verifies that Xcode-emulated iOS 10 is capable of downloading old apps from the App Store (and it's presumably possible to get at those files thereafter).
    – Nebula
    Commented Nov 18, 2022 at 1:43
  • Addendum: doesn't seem likely that App Store access is available in Xcode in the first place: stackoverflow.com/questions/8137791/… & stackoverflow.com/questions/10611146/…
    – Nebula
    Commented Nov 18, 2022 at 1:46
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    That was my best out of the box theory. Note: if you can get a device to fetch, you can tcpdump the WiFi internet connection to get the download URL.
    – James Risner
    Commented Nov 18, 2022 at 1:48
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You could try using ipatool. I just checked that Mega Jump can still be found using ipatool's search functionality, so I suppose you should be able to download it too, assuming you've "purchased" it (even if for free) previously.

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