We have set the minimum version of our App to iOS 10 in the Deployment Target setting in its build target in Xcode. I want to confirm that someone running iOS 9 cannot download the app. The app is on the App Store already.
I have a device which I would like to load iOS 9 on in order to test this. I checked Xcode and I can only download iOS10 on the simulator. There are sites all over the place with .ipsw files I can download, however they are for jailbroken phones - they are not signed by Apple. I do not want to jailbreak the device. Anyway I think that would not even work as I couldn't get to the App Store anyway.
There are a few iOS device models where the maximum iOS version supported is iOS 9, such as the iPhone 4s, and equivalent vintage iPad. Apple still signs iOS re-installs on such devices. You might be able to borrow or buy a used one fairly cheaply, and use that for Deployment target testing.
There is nothing to confirm. An app with a deployment target of iOS 10 cannot under any circumstances run on iOS 9. It won’t be downloaded to an iOS 9 device. But you cannot prevent the downloading of the app in some other way (though it still cannot run on an iOS 9 device). So just believe in reality and move on.
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I had submitted my app as Universal a long time ago and now I need to remove it from the iPad section and few iPhone versions such as 4,5,5S. Is there a way I can achieve this or do I need to show custom not supported screen to user when they install on such devices. Will apple reject my app for this reason?
For restricting your app to only iPhones devices after the app was already published on App Store you should reupload new version of your app to App Store by simply just changing target devices to iPhone only(with different Bundle Identifier of course).
About restricting your app to stop supporting older devices(4,5,5S) you should change your iOS version compatibility. For example iOS 13 is supported on iPhone 6s and newer devices so user won't be able to use it on older devices. Apple should handle this on their own.
There are some alternatives to restrict your app to specific devices with Required device capabilities key which you can find in your Info.plist file. But I don't think apple will accept this, if this features are not actually used in your app.
Here is the documentation about UIRequiredDeviceCapabilities in case you need it.
You can only restrict user from downloading newer versions of your app from App Store ,By changing your apps deployment info in Xcode general tab.
By changing device type from Universal to iPhone only and Deployment target to iOS 13 which in supported by device above 6s. Then user will not be able to download on older versions.
Or you can restrict user access in your app by putting device specific checks and showing your custom ui for unsupported versions. But for this apple may reject your app if it fails in every case for specific device.
But both type of changes you have to upload newer version of app on App Store.
I have been searching for an answer for this for a while now and I can't seem to get a straight answer anywhere. I'm new to iOS development and am looking to get started porting my android app over to make my first iOS app. I'm not a big apple user, so I'm just running xcode in a VM and trying to build and test on my old ipod touch 3rd generation running iOS 5.1.1. I understand how out of date this is, but I want to develop and test on this device for 2 reasons:
I dont want to buy a $750 new apple product just to test my very simple app
When I publish my app, I want to reach the most users possible
So my question is this:
In xcode 8, is it possible to develop applications with a deployment target of iOS 5.1.1?
If so, will it build for all versions of iOS?
When I attach my ipod to xcode, it says device is not supported, can I fix this by installing some 5.1.1 developer package or sdk to allow support? Or would I have to build, then manually install and test each iteration?
If all of these are possible, and I build an app targeted to 5.1.1, can I publish it to the app store? If I open the app store on my 5.1.1 ipod, there are still apps in the store with recent update dates, so people must still be releasing updates to apps on iOS 5.1.1 right? Or am I missing something and an app that runs on iOS 5.1.1 is entirely banned by Apple.
A lot of questions, but If possible I really want to do this. Even getting a fully known, confirmed answer for ANY of these questions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
I dont want to buy a $750 new apple product just to test my very
simple app
Xcode has a simulator, you don't need a device to test your app.
When I publish my app, I want to reach the most users possible
As of July 31th 2017, https://developer.apple.com/support/app-store/
86% of devices are using iOS 10.
11% of devices are using iOS 9.
3% of devices are using earlier. (probably iOS 8)
It makes sense that you have this concern coming from Android, but iOS is quite different. Devices are designed to be uniform and apple encourages (almost forces) people to update them. (You won't stop receiving a notification to update your device)
It would actually be bad to focus on developing for that specific device you have, specially because a lot of the APIs will be deprecated, plus the screen ratio of that specific device is not so common.
In xcode 8, is it possible to develop applications with a deployment
target of iOS 5.1.1?
No*
If so, will it build for all versions of iOS?
Kind of, it will run but it won't probably be what you expect until you FIX it for that specific iOS version. (many things break between iOS updates so developers are sometimes forced to branch code)
When I attach my ipod to xcode, it says device is not supported, can I
fix this by installing some 5.1.1 developer package or sdk to allow
support? Or would I have to build, then manually install and test each
iteration?
Maybe, but probably not. You can actually copy files from older xcodes to enable testing in newer ones. You can search about how to do this by googling for "Using iOS 7 in Xcode 8". However I doubt going as far back as iOS 5 will be possible. The Xcode needed for running on iOS 5 is not even supported macOS Sierra (The newest OS)
If all of these are possible, and I build an app targeted to 5.1.1,
can I publish it to the app store? If I open the app store on my 5.1.1
ipod, there are still apps in the store with recent update dates, so
people must still be releasing updates to apps on iOS 5.1.1 right? Or
am I missing something and an app that runs on iOS 5.1.1 is entirely
banned by Apple.
Theoretically yes, iOS Apps can still "support" old iOS version, the reason why developers drop support for older os is because it gets increasingly hard to debug them as well as they just don't have support for new features and APIs that come with newer iOS.
My suggestion if you are really obsessed with building for iOS 5.1.1 is to ensure it's a 64 bit app:
https://developer.apple.com/library/content/documentation/General/Conceptual/CocoaTouch64BitGuide/ConvertingYourAppto64-Bit/ConvertingYourAppto64-Bit.html
And Download an old version of Xcode: (Maybe Xcode 7 or 6?)
https://developer.apple.com/download/more/
But I think you still have to Build with xcode 8 since you need to build against their latest SDK. The old Xcode is just to develop for it and facilitate debugging.
I have submitted app and it got rejected as it crashed in iOS 9 devices. Can I opt out for iOS9 like I will say my app will support up to iOS 8.4. I don't want to support iOS 9?
No, you can not opt out of the current (or about to be released) iOS version. Apple will test iOS app submissions to their App store on the iOS version currently running on the devices that its customers are currently buying or will soon be buying just days from now. And that's currently iOS 9.0. Why put an app in the store that will crash a couple days after a customer buys it just before upgrading their device?
Also, most apps built with the SDK for the previous iOS version should work on devices running the next iOS version, perhaps after testing (and tweaking API usage) on devices running a beta version of that next iOS version, which is available to all enrolled developers. This testing does require Xcode 7 (although using the Xcode-beta or GM makes some of the testing and debugging a lot easier). There are other ways to put a test app on your test device, such as Ad Hoc deployment via iTunes.
If for managerial reasons I'm am developing an app that has not been designed with iOS7 in mind(the notion of supporting iOS7 wasn't apparent until I upgraded to XCode5 and tested the app in the simulator running iOS7), can I restrict my app to devices not running iOS7?
I know it's possible to change the app to support iOS 7 but we're already in the testing phase and it's not my decision how the app is made.
You can compile your application using Xcode 4, which will mark the binary to run in a compatibility mode on an iOS 7 device.
I'm assuming you want the app to still work on an iOS 7 device, just not with an iOS 7 user interface.
No, you can not restrict your app to devices not running iOS7.
You could check if the device is running with iOS 7 and through some kinde of exception or show an error message. Of course you won't get it through apples revision.
But it might work if you only deliver it to local devices.
When I was signing up for development program, then in the agreement, I saw a clause which basically stated that if a pre-release software is installed on any device, then that device will be put in test mode. So, what exactly is the limitation of a test mode as compared to a device which is in "normal" mode? Also, if I install iOS7 in a device (after iOS 7 has been released), then will the device be considered to be in a test mode if I test my application on it ?
Moreover, if I submit an application which runs on iOS 6 after iOS 7 has been launched, then can that be considered grounds for app rejection ? I will develop app for iOS 7 also. However, that will take some time.
Thanks
As far as I know, there is no limitation in "test mode".
If your application is developed for iOS 6, then it should still work on iOS 7 as well, but with the iOS 6 look & feel. However, it is always best to test it on a real device with iOS 7, of course.
There's no practical difference once you start using a device for development. I use my personal iPhone for most of my testing; it has no effect whatsoever on the utility of the phone.
On your second question: your app will NOT be rejected simply for supporting iOS 6, or any older version of iOS. Apple wants you to write apps that support iOS 7, of course, but they absolutely will not reject an app for supporting older versions; that would be crazy.
If your app actually failed to work on iOS 7 (once it's released), then obviously that would be a different matter.