How to get the look and feel of ios 6 on a device having ios 7 using xcode 5.1..?
I have an app which is currently have the look and feel of ios 6 and does not have flat UI supported.
I was using xcode 4.6 and was deploying the app on ios 7 so the look and feel was of ios 6.
But now since I have moved to XCODE 5.1 the app when deployed on ios 7 gives the look and feel of ios 7.
Is there any way I can still make it look like the ios 6 UI.?
Any help is appreciated.
For the look and feel of ios6 on ios7 devices, you need to add and use the images of ios6 resources.
Images for button background, Table background, etc. for each component which is used in your app.
We don't get ios6 resources in ios7 device by default.
I have an ios app which was developed during ios5 to ios6
after updating my iPhone to ios7, there's something wrong with it.
For example, I had a textfield in an alertView which was supposed to input some password of the users, but in ios7 the interactors change a lot and the textfield is gone.
Also lots of other UI elements change greatly including switches, buttons, etc.
The UI of my app is not really flat style and it does not fit ios7 looks.
I'm gonna update my app to fix the problem of alertView,
but is there anyway that I can keep the interactors(buttons, switches, alertView, etc.) as the same as ios6?
Thanks a lot!
If you build your app with pre-Xcode 5, then it will retain the look and feel of iOS 6, even on iOS 7. But if you build your app with Xcode 5, then it will have the new iOS 7 look and feel when run on iOS 7.
However, you specifically mention UIAlertView, which is an exception. Even for existing apps that haven't been rebuilt with Xcode 5, the UIAlertView will always appear with the iOS 7 look when run on iOS 7. There's nothing you can do to have the old UIAlertView when on iOS 7.
From the sound of your question, it sounds like you're manually adding your own text field to a UIAlertView. You should never manually add views to a UIAlertView. Apple does not support this, and it appears that it is broken with iOS 7 anyway. If you look at the documentation for UIAlertView, you'll see that you can make it display a text field, including one for password input, that should fit your needs. So I would suggest updating your app to properly use the built-in text field functionality of UIAlertView.
As for keeping your app with the old look and feel, starting February 1st, Apple will stop accepting apps into the app store that are built with an Xcode version earlier than Xcode 5. So all new app submissions at that point will have the new iOS 7 look and feel when run on iOS 7. So whether you like it or not, you're going to have to deal with revising your UI to fit in with the look and feel of iOS 7.
You can do it through setting the Base SDK of your project target as iOS 6.1.
To do this , first go to Xcode 4 (Xcode.app), right click->Show Package Contents -> Contents->Developer->Platforms->iPhoneOS.platform->Developer->SDKs and copy the iPhoneOS6.1.sdk
Then go to Xcode5(Xcode.app),right click->Show Package Contents -> Contents->Developer->Platforms->iPhoneOS.platform->Developer->SDKs and paste the copied iPhoneOS6.1.sdk
So its looks like as below,
Then Quit Xcode5 and re-open Xcode5 ->Project Target->Build Settings->Base SDK and set it as iOS6.1
You can select the desired simulators from Xcode.
If its not availble, go to Xcode->Preferences->Downloads and download the simulators
This question already has answers here:
How to still use iOS6 UI in iOS 7?
(2 answers)
Closed 9 years ago.
I have design that is correspond to iOS 6. I know that iOS 7 has many differences in UI, but can I keep iOS 6 UI (like back button, tab bars, alerts) and at the same time let users install app on theirs devices with iOS 7.
So I mean even if user run on iOS 7 the UIControl back button from navigation bar does not change its appearance and stay with iOS 6 design.
Yes, if you keep and build app in IOS SDK 6 and Xcode 4.6 and then install app in IOS 7, it will keep your old GUI but some part will convert to IOS 7 GUI such as UIAlertView and UIActionSheet
It is possible only with xCode 4.
If you want to do it in xCode 5 - you need to use custom graphics so UI will look similar on both iOS versions.
I use two versions of XCode, one with the old SDK and one with the new! If you create the app with iOS6 elements, that is the way it will look on all iPhones. Except for a couple of things like the UIAlertView and UIActionsSheet, just like kokx explained.
You can use legacyUI method. Just put the below code in your Appdelegate
[[NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults] setObject:#(YES) forKey:#"UIUseLegacyUI"]
From the transition guide from apple I know that there is no rounded rect button in iOS 7, but when I see many "old" apps that run in iOS 7 are still in iOS 6 style.
I have recently developed an app in iOS 6, everything is good. But after iOS 7 published, I have to change a lot UI, for example, the navigation bar and bar button item. But I really do not want to adopt iOS 7 style , but with my app, UI cannot adopt itself to iOS 6 . Even I use the iOS 6 SDK, and publish my app in iOS 7 in iPhone 5, it still use the iOS 7 style and looks terrible.
Any ideas and suggestions? Thanks
It is time to change. This is how Apple sees its operating system. Older apps are already making people angry because they look outdated (look at the backlash WhatsApp is facing for not releasing an update on time). You should get on with the times, take the time and update your UI.
As a short-time solution, you can still upload to the AppStore with Xcode 4.6, compiling against the iOS 6 SDK. But this is only temporary, and you should update your UI as soon as possible.
The UIUseLegacyUI route, suggested in another answer, is a fun way to have fun with the frameworks, and perhaps experimenting, but will not be acceptible on the AppStore due to use of private and probably future-unsupported API.
You can enforce iOS 6's UI in your app:
[[NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults] setObject:#(YES) forKey:#"UIUseLegacyUI"]
Compiling my app on XCode 4.6.3 and running it on iOS 7 works great.
Compiling my app on XCode 5 and running it on iOS 7 results a big UI mess I don't want to handle right now. (iOS 7 pickers, tabbars, tableviews etc')
Goal:
I want to be able to use XCode 5 and test my app on the iOS 7 simulator but still use the iOS 6 and lower UI and feel.
Reason:
I don't want to redesign my app to iOS 7 but I do want to make sure it runs fine on iOS 7 using XCode 5 iOS 7 simulator.
Is there a quick toggle on XCode 5 to force everything to stay the same?
Is doing something like using iOS 6 Base SDK in XCode 5 acceptable or a bit too much hacky?
Edit:
Using iOS 6 SDK doesn't help. You'll still get the iOS 7 look on your app, just more buggy.
This is the scenario:
Your app works fine on iOS 6 and lower
You want to test your app on iOS 7
If you have iOS 7 on your device you'll need XCode 5 in order to test it on it
If you want to test it on the iOS 7 simulator you'll need to install XCode 5 for it
Compiling your working app on XCode 5 will break all hell loose and will force you to redesign your app at least for iOS 7
The solutions suggested here so far will help you to see how your app will look like on iOS 7 but will not keep your iOS 6 and lower look on iOS 7.
Best solution I've found so far:
Update your current XCode to XCode 5
Download XCode 4.6.3 from here
Install it in a different location and Change the name of the app to XCode4 in order to differentiate between the two.
Find your XCode 5 app icon, right click it and select "Show Package Contents"
Locate the folder MacOS and move the xcode file outside of its
folder. Those last two steps are to prevent you accidentally opening a
project with XCode 5. An alternative is to change the default "Open With" app
but for some reason that didn't work
for me plus I wanted to be extra sure after I had one project opening with XCode 5
and the StoryBoard changed to be compatible to XCode 5 only. *
Open XCode 4.6.3 and run your project. In your simulator menu you
should now See iOS 7. Even if in XCode top bar you'll see AppName->iPhone
6.1 Simulator , selecting iOS 7 on the simulator will run your app in iOS 7 and keep everything the same.
After the above you'll have two versions of iOS simulator. Version 6 and version 7 that contains iOS 7 Simulator.
Step 5:
COPY iPhoneSimulator6.1.sdk
FROM
<YOUR XCode4 path>/Xcode4.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/iPhoneSimulator.platform/Developer/SDKs/
TO
/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/iPhoneOS.platform/Developer/SDKs/
and set your base target to iOS6.1 (It will be listed after copying/pasting from xcode4) and
You cannot do this on the iOS 7 Simulator. You can do it in the iOS 6 Simulator (running under Xcode 5) and on the device (running iOS 7 as long as you build with the iOS 6 SDK). But there is no iOS 6 compatibility mode in the iOS 7 Simulator.
Note that iOS 6 compatibility mode is not a perfect replication of iOS 6. There are still various behavioral differences that you will likely have to test for and deal with. But the basic UI components are what you expect.
EDIT - Note that it is not possible to force an app to use the iOS 6 interface on an iOS 7 device using Xcode 5 (unless you make custom graphics). It is also not a good design approach. Users on iOS 7 expect a certain UI style, that's why they updated; so give it to them, don't force them back into an older interface.
If you really, really need the pre-iOS-7 interface, you can download a copy of Xcode 4 and build with that. However, starting February 1, 2014 Apple will stop accepting apps built with anything earlier than Xcode 5.0 (I think I saw something about that in the iOS 7 dev docs, but can't find the reference again).
Keeping the iOS 6 UI in your app, but building for iOS 7 is fairly straightforward. Make sure that you've set your Deployment Target as iOS 6.1 or earlier. Your Base SDK can still be set as iOS 7 though. Now, just follow the instructions below for each of your interface files:
Open your storyboard file or XIB file
Open the Utilities Panel on the right side.
Click on The File Inspector Tab. You should now see something like this:
Next go to the Interface Build Document Section and change the Builds For setting to iOS 6.0 and Later or whatever version you need.
Then change the View As setting to iOS 6.1 or earlier:
Xcode will prompt you, just confirm that you want to convert to the older UI.
Make sure to run your project in the iOS 6 Simulator. Otherwise, the iOS 7 Simulator will override it's own iOS 7 UI style. To download the iOS 6 Simulator, go to the Xcode Menu Bar. Select Xcode, Preferences. Then click on the Downloads tab. Finally, click on the Simulator(s) you need to download:
Then Run your app on the iOS 6 simulator:
Unfortunately, even disabling the iOS 7 UI in Xcode does not override it on the device / simulator. Unless you design custom UI elements, there isn't a way to maintain your iOS 6 UI on iOS 7. But as I showed you, you can continue to edit it in iOS 6 and build for iOS 6.
Linking the 6.1 SDK into Xcode 5 as described in the other answers is one step. However this still doesn't solve the problem that running on iOS 7 new UI elements are taken, view controllers are made full-size etc.
As described in this answer it is also required to switch the UI into legacy mode on iOS 7:
// put in main.m
[[NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults] setBool:YES forKey:#"UIUseLegacyUI"];
[[NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults] synchronize];
Beware: This is an undocumented key and not recommended for App Store builds!
Also there are subtle differences to a version built using Xcode 4.6. For instance, transparent navigation bars behave differently (causing the view to be full-size).
However, since Xcode 4.6.3 crashes on Mavericks (at least for me, see rdar://15318883), this is at least a solution to continue using Xcode 5 for debugging.
Update: the crash of Xcode 4.6.3 on Mavericks only occurs when using LLDB. When switching back to GDB it works.
Contrary to my comments, I could actually follow the steps mentioned in the link.
What I tried was nothing sort of hacky:
Open XCode 4.6 app package (I have it still installed)
Go to Contents/Developer/Platforms/iPhoneOS.platform/Developer/SDKs folder.
Copy iPhoneOS6.1.sdk folder.
Open XCode 5 app package.
Go to same Contents/Developer/Platforms/iPhoneOS.platform/Developer/SDKs folder.
Paste.
I could then see iOS 6.1 as an option to base off my iOS project under Build Settings->Base SDKs.
However, even after doing this when I ran the app under iOS 7 simulator, I could sense no visual difference - all was rendered in default iOS 7 style - borderless buttons and bars.
No change after resetting simulator.
No change after changing storyboard version too.
So this again seems to confirm my assertion that this isn't possible.
If anyone tried it, I want to know.
I think that the only way to show iOS 6 controls on XCode 5 (and iOS7 Simulator) is to set the Base SDK of your Target to iOS 6.1(6.0).
You should copy the old sdk to XCode 5 like Nirav described and restart the XCode to make it visible under Base SDK selection.
My guess is that it didn't work for Nirav because he changed the settings of the project and in his case they have been dis-synchronized from settings of the target. So make sure that Base SDK for your target is iOS 6.0. Then it should work (at least it does for me).
This will give you a preview of how the app will look in iOS 6 using Xcode 5.
I saw this on a WWDC Video.
406 - taking control autolayout xcode 5 (about 32 mins in)
Using, the preview function within the storyboard.
This will allow you to pick between how it will look on iOS 7 and iOS 6.
The video shows a cool (almost hidden) feature of xcode that allows you to see, both previews of iOS6 and iOS7 at the same time, splitting up Xcode into 3 separate views
I'd like to add that while you may not be able to do it in the simulator, you can run your apps in compatibility mode on an actual device that has iOS 7.
Wow, this is a real mess. Thanks, Apple [*]
I got this (this: XCode 5 building iOS 6 apps) working for me, but I had several XIB's that were messed up, and it took a combination of several of the above steps to get it working.
1) Setup XCode 5 with iOS 6 base sdk
#Sha has good steps for that:
How to use iOS Simulator 7 \ XCode 5 to test pre-iOS 7 UI (without upgrading the app for iOS 7)
2) Go through each XIB and set it for XCode 4.6 mode
#RazorSharps post has good steps:
How to use iOS Simulator 7 \ XCode 5 to test pre-iOS 7 UI (without upgrading the app for iOS 7)
I'm not sure this was 100% required, but I did it and it works. (Perhaps I'll go back later and try without this, when I'm not still fuming).
3) Find any Navigation Controllers in XIB (or code) that may be set to Translucent, set them to Opaque
This was the trick for me. I had a root XIB that defined the Navigation Bar as Black Translucent, but all the XIB's that loaded overrode with their own appearance.
In 'real iOS 6' the controllers setting would override this (that is, the navbar would appear as opaque), but in iOS 6 Compatibility Mode on iOS 7 it wouldn't (that is, it would have an iOS 6 appearance, but be transparent, and mess up view layout).
#appledevtools: We appreciate your hard work, this is tough to get right. But here's a suggestion: When upgrading an existing project to XCode 5, IB xib's should be left in XCode 4.6 mode. Let the Editor > Validate Settings code offer to upgrade the settings, with a reasonable warning of the implications. Don't do this automatically & silently :-) Also, please find & fix why the navbar style changed in iOS 6 compatibility mode.
Good news is that we can set the base sdk to iOS 6.1 with XCode 5 now(in my case, it's Version 5.0.1 (5A2053)), and test & debug our pre-iOS7 designed app on iOS 7 simulator now.
For those who don't know how to set base sdk to iOS 6.1 for XCode, this link might be a guide.
Everything seems to work fine, the same pre-iOS7 design look & feel, except some os provided controls like ActionSheet look & behavior in the iOS 7 way.
BTW, I've upgrade my mac os to maverick yesterday, not sure whether this is an affect factor.
This worked for me but the explanation here needs cleaning up and detailing. If still desired, let me know and I will go into more detail.
It follows on from this answer
In addition to copying the iPhoneOS6.1.sdk folder, you also need to download the iOS 6.1 simulator (the proper way or copy it from an older installation of Xcode)
Then, make a duplicate of the iOS 7 simulator and replace it's plist with the 6.1 simulator's plist
Restart Xcode
You will then see two iOS 7 simulator options for each device option. One will be the normal iOS 7 simulator. The other will run your 6.1 SDK builds on the 7 simulator
WARNING You may not be able to remove the dummy simulator from Xcode's drop-down list afterwards (I haven't tried. It stuck around after I removed the dummy simulator folder)
Set deployment target to iOS 7.0 from deployment info. For that tap on project name and on first screen you will see deployment info... Change deployment target to 7.0. After that quit simulator, build and run app again.