iOS Support for IPv6-only Networks

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What is IPv6 and why will we need to migrate from IPv4 to IPv6?

IPv6 (Internet Protocol Version 6) is the newest version of the Internet Protocol (IPng), developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) to replace the current Internet Protocol, IP Version 4.

 

Why IPv6?

The 2 main reasons for IPv6 are:

  • IPv6 has more address space available;
  • We are running out of IPv4 addresses.

 

IPv4 uses a 32-bit address, which totals to a few billion addresses. When the IPv4 protocol was defined (1981), this number seemed big enough, but after few years (1992) it was recognized as a serious limiting factor to the continued use of the internet to run on IPv4. IPv6 increases the address to 128 bits in length. For example, IPv6 supplies more than 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 times as many addresses as IPv4.

 

Example of IPv4 address: 192.168.0.1

Example of IPv6 address: 2001:db8:ffff:1:201:02ff:fe03:0405

 

IPv6 offers other advantages which improve efficiency and security of communications.

 

Apple supporting IPv6 on iOS devices
Apple started supporting IPv6-only with iOS 9, released on September 16th 2015.

Starting from June 1st 2016, all submissions to Apple’s App Store must be compatible with IPv6-only standards. The Apple recommendation for developers are:

  • Use the networking frameworks (for example, “NSURLSession”);
  • Avoid use of IPv4-specific APIs;
  • Avoid hard-coded IP addresses.

 

 

Enzyme IPv6 network

Enzyme implemented an IPv6 network to support our customers that want to submit a new app in the App Store. The new network configuration involved the implementation of:

  • IPv6 compatible firewall;
  • IPv6 IP/Mask assigned by the Internet Service Provider;
  • IPv6 DNS capable;
  • IPv6 routing protocol (static/OSPFv3/EIGRP).

 

Enzyme is ready to support Apple’s new requirements on IPv6 for mobile testing. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you wish to discuss and learn more about this new type of testing or to work with us to have your games and apps tested!

 

The Enzyme team

[email protected]