Say goodbye to great apps on iPhone 3G

[TheBadger66]

I support what James said at the top. Until this week I was still very happy with my 3G iPhone. I have just upgraded it to a 5, bypassing 4. But what I am gutted about is the old phone with iOS 5 worked perfectly well via Bluetooth with the car stereo I had specifically fitted. Now it does not work or has very limited functionality. It still works perfectly if connected via USB.

However, as I refused to upgrade my iPad 2 to iOS 6, it still works perfectly every time in the car. Now I upgraded the phone today to iOS 6.2 because it said it was dealing with some Wi-Fi issues which I hoped would sort it.... but no.

I hope there is a fix soon or is nobody else having issues with iOS 6 and bluetooth on their car stereo?

[SnowLeopard OSX]

Upgrade your phone -- my iPhone 3G is used as an extra iPod -- not for application use.

[zildMacjian]

what you expect ? o/s software is updated/changed all the time.

tech moves on ...

[bradl]

Originally Posted by xlost6

BFizzzle, that gif is cracking me up. The iPhone 3G is old. Either you adapt with the new technology or stay behind. It's like with any video game system. Nintendo released the Wii in 2006. People played it. The Wii U released. Guess what? Nintendo dropped all support from that system and went straight to the Wii U. Evolution OP, evolution. That's life.

And what people sometimes fail to understand is that newer =/= better.

Two cases in point: when I was 12, I sold my Intellivision and the 150 (yes, 150) games with it to get the money to buy the NES when it first came out. After having it, I could only really find 7 or 8 games that I truly liked (SMB, Duck Hunt, and Gyromite came with it, and I bought Mike Tyson's Punch-Out, Gumshoe, Zelda, and Tag-Team Wrestling). While I still have that NES, I actually missed (and still do) miss my Intellivision more than the NES that I have. I'm glad the game developers came back and released a collection of them for the PS2/PS3, and that's how I'm getting my fix now. I haven't seen a classic Gumshoe update yet, and I doubt I will.

#2: Who is the leader of the Autobots in the Transformers? Most of you would say Optimus Prime. But in 1986, when the movie came out, they killed off Optimus, and brought in Rodimus Prime. He was supposed to be newer and better! So why did they bring Optimus back? Evolution, newer is better, right?

In short, sometimes that isn't the case. Yes, the iPhone 3G I have is outdated and won't run anything that requires iOS 4.x. But I can still navigate with it, watch youtube, and it is unlocked, so I can take it to any country I choose.

Old tech still has its uses, indeed. Ask the survivors of hurricane Sandy and when they couldn't find a cell phone signal to save their lives, they found payphones in phone booths to still be working fine.

BL.

[sheldore]

I have a iphone 3g running iOS 4.2.1, the thing is that although i dont disagree with how apple are updating apps for the the iphone 5, what i do disagree with is that theirs no support at all for apps to run on iOS 4.2 i didnt even know apple were updating apps until slowly one by one my apps started to fail they kept failing to the home screen then when i went to go and check it out at the app store, i found that the apps that were working on my device were no longer compatible my twitter app which i used frequently on a daily basis is now only compatible from iOS 5 and up.

The least apple and the app devs can do is provide support or a option for people running iOS 4.2 to download the older version of the app i mean its not that difficult is it?

not only that by not catering for users still running iOS 4.2 apple and App Devs are losing a huge chunk of their user base i mean i used a app called viber because i have a lot of family and friends over seas and the app allowed me to text and call them for free now the app is only compatible from ios 4.3 and up, how ever i did read in their support forums somewhere that they will be looking into allowing their users who still run ios 4.2 to be able to choose to download a olde version of the app instead of only have one option that doesnt work on their devices.

I think it will be nice to see developers of the popular apps on the app store to look at doing the same thing. ie. facebook, twitter, instagram, viber etc

i mean surely they keep backups of their older versions of their apps? but knowing apple i doubt they will even allow the Developers to do that, to make versions of the apps that are compatible with ios 4.2 available for download through the app store, but we can hope

[Lifter7]

I do not see why ppl are bothered. 3G came in 2008 or 2009. It is a 4 or 5 years old. This is life.....you cannot expect the iphone 5 to keep up with technology in 2016..!

[cynics]

Originally Posted by josh995

Not to be mean but your comment is silly. Look at Android phones. They get updates for... a year at best. But 4 years? No way.

And look at Windows Phone, the apps for Windows Phone 8 won't work on Windows Phone 7 devices.

4 years for phones is ancient nowadays.

That's a stretch for the topic on hand. Apple stopped supporting the 3G with iOS updates at the end of 2010 (iirc). So the phone was supported by Apple for 2 1/2 years not 4....once again iirc...

The topic though is Apple is removing the ability for it to be supported by 3rd party devs.

3rd party Android devs can still make apps for froyo and many do as long as its not something that requires specific hardware like graphically intensive games. Even then high end games aren't supported on old versions of iOS nor are 3G owners probably that interested in even playing high end games.

I have an OG Droid I'll pop out of the drawer every now and then and it will have some apps that require updates and I can still download new apps as long as its within reason. It will likely be that way forever.

Personally I think its probably a good idea for apple. Kill support for old device to reduce fragmentation...

[sheldore]

Thats my point the people who are on the iphone 5 will have the same issues that we are having now but if apple just provided the support then we wouldnt have this problem then

[0dev]

Originally Posted by x-evil-x

android barely supports devices a year old be happy(updates).

My Nexus 7 will get many updates in the years to come I'll have you know. It's all about buying the right device.

I don't blame Apple for dropping iPhone 3G support though, TBH I'm surprised they even gave it iOS 4 considering they didn't give it to the OG iPhone and iPod Touch despite the fact they share pretty much the same specs, and those specs clearly were never enough to run iOS 4 smoothly.

These devices are old and outdated, I don't see why anyone would still use an iPhone 3G anyway. Upgrade.

[barkomatic]

I understand that tech needs to move forward. But it's a shame that a piece of hardware that is in otherwise perfect working order becomes unusable over time. It's wasteful.

[ucfgrad93]

Originally Posted by josh995

Not to be mean but your comment is silly. Look at Android phones. They get updates for... a year at best. But 4 years? No way.

And look at Windows Phone, the apps for Windows Phone 8 won't work on Windows Phone 7 devices.

4 years for phones is ancient nowadays.

Agreed. Androids confusion on providing upgrades is one of the things that keeps me from getting an Android phone.

[cynics]

Originally Posted by barkomatic

I understand that tech needs to move forward. But it's a shame that a piece of hardware that is in otherwise perfect working order becomes unusable over time. It's wasteful.

I wouldn't necessarily say that. It just won't be able to use new apps and updates. It should still function as it does currently. I wouldn't like it but I could use my 4S how it sits right now for a very long time....

[0dev]

Originally Posted by ucfgrad93

Agreed. Androids confusion on providing upgrades is one of the things that keeps me from getting an Android phone.

Buy a Nexus 4.

[fredy]

This is why I would use a 5 year old phone i need a cheap pocket device that run the ebay mobile app so i can check ebay and save myself money and time. The ebay mobile app is much cleaner to navigate than the ebay website. not all people who use old technology is stupid their just saving money.

[Bear]

Originally Posted by barkomatic

I understand that tech needs to move forward. But it's a shame that a piece of hardware that is in otherwise perfect working order becomes unusable over time. It's wasteful.

It's still useable. Just just won't get new apps or app updates on it.

As others have said, at this point anyone who still has a 3G probably doesn't care about updating apps anymore.

[sheldore]

can anyone please provide me with a link to a site or something where i can buy a incase frame case for my iphone 3g? i went to the goincase.com which are the people who sold them but they no longer sell them, i have tried ebay and amazon but no one ships to south africa which is where i am so i need to find a online store that not only sells them but also ships world wide.

Any ideas?

[RWL2013]

There is a solution It requires you to have (an) iOS 6 device(s) as well though (I have an iPhone 3G on 4.2.1, and an iPod touch 4 and iPad mini both on 6.1):

1) Jailbreak your 3G on 4.2.1 if it isn't already

2) Over on your iOS 6 device, bring up the app details in the App Store, go to "version history" and look for the last version released prior to late September 2012

3) On a PC or Mac, download and run iFunBox with your 3G connected, download the .ipa file of that specific version (or earlier) of the app and then click "Install App (AppFastIn)".

This works great for me - despite only getting my 3G in April 2013 and restoring it "as a new iPhone" this method has allowed me to install apps like eBay and TuneIn Radio, as well as games like Temple Run, Jetpack Joyride, Angry Birds (original) and Icy Tower.

The 3G isn't dead after all

[ThatsMeRight]

Originally Posted by xlost6

BFizzzle, that gif is cracking me up. The iPhone 3G is old. Either you adapt with the new technology or stay behind. It's like with any video game system. Nintendo released the Wii in 2006. People played it. The Wii U released. Guess what? Nintendo dropped all support from that system and went straight to the Wii U. Evolution OP, evolution. That's life.

It's not the same with video game systems, really. The Nintendo Wii was already almost death before the Wii U released (with that I mean: Wii sales collapsed before that).

Take the PlayStation 2 for example: the PS2 was still in production until this year, and it still gets new games (like the immensely, in Europe, popular FIFA 13).

[Nightarchaon]

I don't mind apple dropping support for older models,

BUT, there is an issue with apps that are working on an old device allowed to update and install on a device that doesn't support them.

iTunes and the APPstore need to NOT upgrade to versions of an application that will not run on a device with an older version of iOS

My mother, who is still using the original iPhone has updated apps because "the little icon told her too" and then found that they no longer worked because she didn't have iOS 5... i then have to track down an old copy of the file from torrents and force it on via jailbreak, not ideal for a company that supposedly sells things that "just work" and are user friendly.

[roxxette]

People need to learn how to read, OP talks about future apps updates not OS updates apple stop supporting the 3d while ago and because of some changes seems developers wont bother much to support older hardware (cant blame the guys).

Regarding android well old phones (like the 3g) still get google apps updates and third party apps, also a lot of new released app work with no problem cant say the same about the iphone 3g.

Now the 3gs is the most supported idevice apple had, still going strong with ios6 and all apps support it.

If the iphone 4 gets ios7 i would be shocked if the 3gs dont.

[RWL2013]

My mother, who is still using the original iPhone has updated apps because "the little icon told her too" and then found that they no longer worked because she didn't have iOS 5... i then have to track down an old copy of the file from torrents and force it on via jailbreak, not ideal for a company that supposedly sells things that "just work" and are user friendly.

Nightarchaon:

Since that happened to your Mum, more recently If you try to update an app and the update is incompatible, instead of ruining it an error message now appears such as "This app requires iOS 4.3 / 5 / 5.1 / 6" or "This app is incompatible with this iPhone". Transfering the .ipa files is now the only way to install apps you haven't installed before though. Good to hear that someone else uses the same trick

[AFDoc]

Originally Posted by jamesr19

You'd be surprised at the number of people who still use the older technology. Our logs still show a reasonable percentage of users use the iPhone 3G and iPod Touch.

Sure any one can use older tech but they shouldn't get butt hurt when it's not supported. /thread.

Originally Posted by Persondude

It's a joke. The only difference between this iPhone 3G and all of your silly iPhone 5 users is that there's milliseconds less for all you impatient consumers who want to play clash of clans all day and ask Siri to write yourself a message that youre all too lazy to type.I've been using a prepaid until now and being 19 years old, I'm alot more tech needy than many of you. but as far as a new version of a phone??? It's a phone! Geez.

19 and know more than all of us huh.... That attitude tells me you have a lot of growing up to do. Second thing that tells me you have some growing up to do is saying the 3g and i5 are the same except for that millisecond less time.... Yeah..... practically identical phones. It's ok you can't afford the newer phone but don't bag on all those that update.

[braddick]

Originally Posted by Lifter7

I do not see why ppl are bothered. 3G came in 2008 or 2009. It is a 4 or 5 years old. This is life.....you cannot expect the iphone 5 to keep up with technology in 2016..!

I bet it does.
There is enough going on with the iPhone internally it'll keep up until the wheels fall off.

[ZombiePete]

Originally Posted by Persondude

I've been using a prepaid until now and being 19 years old, I'm alot more tech needy than many of you.

lol...you kids today and your rampant narcissism. The only thing you *need* is to finish school, kiddo.

Honestly, Apple has a pretty good track record for offering support and updates for their older phones. Other manufacturers are releasing products at such a ridiculously fast pace that their old phones generally get one update and anything after that is a crapshoot (and even that's not always a given, eh, Windows Phone 7 fans?). The 3G was released, what, five years ago? In the technology world, especially the smartphone world, that's a long damn time.

[zorinlynx]

The worst part about all of this is that the Apple Store doesn't support multiple versions of the same app.

For example, when an old device stops being supported, the store SHOULD keep the last version that works on it around, so those devices can still install that app.

It does not. There is no way to have multiple versions of your app available. I have a friend with a 2G iPod Touch who can hardly install apps anymore because nothing works on it. And she can't install previous versions either. This is horrible design and Apple should fix it.