I recently found my app doesn't work on iOS 5 and I have a few users who have asked that I release an older version that works on iOS5. One of them sent me this link http://news.softpedia.com/news/Apple-Enables-Pre-iOS-7-Downloads-Offers-Old-App-Versions-When-Necessary-383663.shtml Is there any way to release two versions of my app? One for ios6+ and one for ios5?
Apple does not provide a way to do this, but there is a way to do it yourself if you REALLY want to.
You have to create a new app id and name, (eg: MyApp for iOS 5). Then you have to set the deployment target of your iOS 5 app to iOS 5. Of course, someone with iOS 6 or 7 could also install it, so you might want to detect the the system version (via UIDevice) and offer to take them to the app store to get the newer version. You'll end up with two apps in the app store and your users will have to figure out which one is the best one for them.
You're probably better off trying to get your existing app to work on iOS 5 and fix whatever issues you're encountering with that OS (unless you're using autolayout--which is not supported on iOS 5 and would mean you'd likely have to re-do a lot of your UI for that OS version).
That said, there's a diminishing return on investment to support older versions of iOS. Most people update to the latest version of iOS pretty quickly and the number of users stuck with an old version of the OS who are unable to upgrade is going to steadily shrink.
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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 I understand how out of date this is, but I want to develop and test on this device for 2 reasons: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 a couple of questions about an app that is currently compatible for iOS7 and above that I am looking to cut iOS 7 support for. I would like to know:
What happens to our users that already have the app installed on their iOS 7 device? Will they just not be able to update the app or will it update and stop working for them? If so will they see an annoying red notification number above the App Store icon that they will not be able to get rid of?
For new users what message will an iOS 7 user get when they try and download our app? Or will they just not see the app on the app store when they search for it?
Is the community cutting iOS 7 support yet? Apple says only 8% of App Store users have an operating system earlier than iOS 8 (https://developer.apple.com/support/app-store/) but I would like to know the general communities current thoughts on this.
Installed apps will still run, but not update.
As XCode 7 doesn't support iOS 7 simulators anymore, really testing for iOS 7 is getting increasingly difficult - and releasing a version that does not work correct for iOS 7 is worse than just letting people use their (still working) old version.
I would look at your own user base, some apps tend to have users with more older iOS versions than others. My apps have < 5% iOS 7, so I'll be dropping iOS 7 from now on.
Detail: NO is the minimum version
Is there any way I can restrict versions of iOS?
For example, I have developed an application and would like it swirled in iOS versions 7.x.x and iOS 8.1.x. In short, I would avoid the application was installed on the iOS versions 8.0.x.
How come? Currently in iOS 7 works perfectly on iOS 8.1.x also, but on iOS 8.0.x the application presents several problems, including constant crashes.
No it's not possible. Apple only accepts new apps in the App Store which are able to run on the current iOS(iOS 8+ at the moment). They don't care about earlier iOS versions.
Simply said: Apps have to run on the newest iOS version.
Also I'd recommend you to fix the iOS 8 errors instead, because even if you could do that. Over 50% of all iOS users are using iOS 8. That means that your app won't be seen by many users. If you have trouble to resolve your errors, I'm sure there are people, maybe on this website, which will help you.
I wish to update an app to support ios5 and up. CUrrently the app supports ios5 and below and i was wondering what the implications of setting the build to be ios5 and above would be to customers still using the ios4 app on ios4. Would app store refuse to download the ios5 and up app update and complain to the user to update their os to 5? what exactly would happen in this case?
The App Store would simply refuse to upgrade the app and tell the user to upgrade to iOS 5 (or 6).
That's the standard policy, so that if you have an old iOS you can still use your old apps.
As a side note, the cumulated market share of iOS 5 and up is more than 90%, so you won't have to worry about supporting old versions. Most iOS devs I know are moving on or already have.
Is there any elegant way to "Cut off" support for older iOS operating system versions? When I first published my app the current version of iOS was in the 3.x range. As time progresses continuing to put out updates that support iOS 3.0, while integrating new features found in 4.0 is getting more and more time consuming. Yet I don't see any way that iTunes or any iDevice will effectively handle this for existing users.
Should I simply upload an update set the minimum iOS to 4.0 (or whatever I choose) and move on?
Most people have already upgraded to iOS 4.x, but there are still a few on iOS 3.x. Leaving those out will surely bring a couple bad App Store reviews (since they won't be able to update, and even worse: if they delete the app they won't be able to download the last 3.x-compatible version of your app), but sometimes it's worth it.
And yes, you'll need to upload a version that was built with "iOS Deployment Target" set to iOS 4.0.
There isn't any really elegant way, but fortunately most users have moved on to at least OS 4.
The best thing you can do is to give lots of notice in your app update notes, letting users know that "the next update will be 4.0+ only" or that "this is the final 3.x supporting version, please make a backup if you need it..."
Communication is key.
A few days before Apple released iOS 7, they start supporting download of older versions of your app. From the article:
For example, a user running iOS 5 can now — for the first time — download an app that supports that version of iOS, even if the latest version of the app is ready for iOS 7. The move, which was highlighted on Reddit, is a significant one as it will give those who have not upgraded their iPad, iPhone or iPod to the most recent versions of iOS access to a lot more apps.
So if I were you, I would do one more update to support older iOS devices for one last time before moving on and setting the deployment target to higher iOS version.
The weird thing is, I don't think we can go back and update the older version of our app. So if we have App 1.0 that supports down to iOS 5, then App 1.1 supports only iOS 7 and above, there is no way to release a 1.0.1 update to fix critical bugs for iOS 5 users.
That's why I said I'd update it one last time before bumping the deployment target. Maybe wait a few weeks and see if your last update has any critical bugs.