We have decided to drop support for ios < 7 with the next update of our app (its a small project so there is no big issue here).
my question is - will ios6,5,... users still be able to use the last version of the app, or will they be provided with the same update as ios 7 users and have a non-working app from there on?
in extension: how do we create a build that will only be available for ios7 users and not mess with older versions of the app for non-update users? is it sufficient to specivy Deployment target: ios 7 in xcode?
Since last week, Apple gives people on older iOS versions the option to download the latest compatible version of an app.
Updating an app to a a version that's no longer supported was always restricted, and it is sufficient to set the Deployment Target in the General settings to the desired minimum iOS version.
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I am making an app and I have already spoken to several people about it. They would like to download it once it is released on the app store.
I received an email and have researched into the changes which state:
"Starting July 2018, all new iOS apps and updates submitted to the App
Store must be built with the iOS 11 SDK."
Some of the people I have spoken to have older devices which cannot run iOS 11, and I will not be able to run it on my own phone either (I will on my iPad, however).
I therefore want to release on iOS 9, but will not be able to do so before July, and so will I still be able to release the app and the people I have talked to who have older devices can download it?
After doing some reading, it seems like you can set the Deployment Target lower than the 'Base SDK'. Is this true? How would this work if iOS 11 can do things that iOS 9 can't do?
I am therefore asking for clarification and answers to the 2 questions above.
The message means that your app must be built with a Base SDK of iOS 11. And this means you need to be using Xcode 9. It's always best to use the latest tools. Apple is always pushing developers forward.
But this does not prevent your app from supporting older iOS devices. If you wish to support back to iOS 9, set your project's or target's Deployment Target to iOS 9.0 (or whatever older version you wish to support).
The Deployment Target defines the oldest version of iOS your app supports. The Base SDK defines the latest APIs you can use.
The trick is to ensure that if you use a newer API in your app, it must not be used when the app is run on a device with an older version of iOS.
There are plenty of discussions that cover the details of this but in short, use #available around any API added after whatever Deployment Target you have set.
Update as of July 5, 2018:
According to the Supported Xcode and Application Loader versions help page, Xcode 9 is only required for new iOS apps and iOS app extensions.
I want to raise the deployment target of my iOS App from iOS 7 to iOS 8.
I searched a lot and found many threads saying that after the App-Update iOS 7 Users would not be able to download the current updated version.
This is okay, but can iOS 7 Users still downloaded an outdated Version of my app which is compatible with iOS 7 deployment targets?
This behaviour we've in android - there we can publish multiple versions of a single app.
In iTunesConnect you can manage your settings concerning that issue under:
MyApps >> [Your App] >> Pricing and Availability
It there says that if users that own a device that is incompatible to your latest update will be able to download the last working version of it. (You can uncheck versions you do not want to be available if they contain critical bugs for instance.)
Hope that helps :)
I know that it's possible to build an app with xcode 6.4 and then deploy it on a device running iOS 9 with TestFlight or any other deployment tool. The question is if it's possible with apples app store. Or more precisely, when will apple force us to switch to the iOS 9 SDK when submitting to the app store? Will it be September? Octobre? 2015?
Many thanks!
TK
There 2 things to note:
The iOS SDK version
This version is set in your projects, it lets you use the API of this version.
The minimum iOS Version
This is the minimum version targeted for the device.
It is more about the device limitation, for example iPhone 4 will not run ios9.
And the iOS SDK version available is based on your version of xCode.
The most likely candidate is February 1, 2016, if you trust that Apple will behave as previous years.
Follow https://developer.apple.com/news/ in your RSS-reader to get updates. The update for last year was released on October 20, https://developer.apple.com/news/?id=10202014a.
They made an exception for app updates last year, see https://developer.apple.com/news/?id=04082015a, but it is unlikely they will make the same exception this time.
Over time, Apple sets the minimum version of XCode that you can submit with, but the "SDK" requirement is dependent on the APIs that you are actually using.
The Deployment Target version is the minimum iOS version that your app supports, and you can set the target version less than the latest version. This affects the user at download/install time. If their device does not meet the minimum, they won't be able to download and install the app.
The minimum Deployment Target that you can set in XCode also increases over time with new releases of XCode. In that case, you may have some deadlines to beat to provide updates for the app that support older iOS versions. According to wikipedia, XCode 7 will allow a minimum iOS 5.1.1 deployment target, though you may have to set it manually.
I will soon be uploading a new app to the App store. I have a question concerning the build version of the app. Does Apple still allow us to upload an app that has been build for iOS 7, since I know Apple is kind of forceful about staying up-to-date. I can't find anything about it while googling.
Thanks
The deployment target is the lowest iOS version your app is supporting and Apple doesn't limit that (AFAIK). So if you want to (and are able to), you can still submit an app that runs on iOS 5, for example (iOS 5.1.1 is the newest iOS version for first-generation iPads).
Apple does specify the lowest acceptable Base SDK (the libraries you're linking against) when submitting, though (they change this every few months/years and announce this to developers via e-mail). If you're using the latest non-beta Xcode, you're always fine. Submissions from Xcode beta version are never accepted.
I have made an app for iOS that supported iOS 5 and above.
Later I added an update that supported iOS 6.1 and above (which is now live). Thus people with iOS versions 5.x.x and 6.0 could download the first version and those with 6.1 and above could download the second version. I accidentally uploaded a new version (third one) with support for iOS 5 and above.
And now all users are getting the third version of the app in their updates. This update is not working for iOS 5.x.x and iOS 6.0 users. I cannot rollback the update. Uploading a new version with minimum iOS 6.1 and above will not help as the iOS 5 users will continue to receive the 3rd version as the latest update.
Our new technology does not support iOS 5.x users. Hence I can't update for them. The first version used to work. What do I do? I asked Apple but they did not provide any method or idea.
I want my users using iOS 6 and below to get the first version and others to get the latest one. Please suggest.
you should resubmit the first version.
then you should make an other update to users having 6.1+
This is the only solution to your problem.
You can't have any other solution.
But you can also make a version that make a test on ios version to open/close the wanted feature.