iOS 3.0 Only Apps

[Saladinos]

Following on from another thread (https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=7975384#post7975384), I was wondering how developers are feeling with regard to 3.0-only apps.

There are certainly loads of great new APIs in 3.0 - features like peer-to-peer (GameKit), CoreData and access to the proximity sensor can really add to your application. However, they do exclude those that have not yet upgraded.

Obviously the situation will improve in a couple of months, but I'm just curious - how many of you are building 3.0 only applications?

 

[PhoneyDeveloper]

I suppose I haven't fully decided.

I recently updated my app with a 2.x version. I'll have another update in a month or two. I'm not using any 3.0-specific features right now. It is annoyingly complicated to release an app that's built for 3.0 but also runs on 2.x. It also adds to the testing matrix in a way that's not too much fun.

I'm currently developing under 3.0 and adding conditional compilation to decide between 2.x or 3.0. I'll decide when I get closer to release time but it seems much simpler to release a 3.0-only app than an app that supports both. Sticking with 2.x would be possible but also complicates things as I no longer have a 2.x device for testing.

Hopefully iPod Touch users will move to 3.0 soon so this becomes a non-issue.

 

[dougdawson]

Following on from another thread (https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=7975384#post7975384), I was wondering how developers are feeling with regard to 3.0-only apps.

There are certainly loads of great new APIs in 3.0 - features like peer-to-peer (GameKit), CoreData and access to the proximity sensor can really add to your application. However, they do exclude those that have not yet upgraded.

Obviously the situation will improve in a couple of months, but I'm just curious - how many of you are building 3.0 only applications?

All of our new apps (in various stages of development) are 3.0 only. We make really extensive use of the 3.0 stuff, and it's just not cost-effective to maintain all of that backwards compatibility with an OS that in 3 or 4 months will have disappeared.

Apps that were released for 2.x may be exempted, of course (for a few months.)

Doug

 

[buckyballs]

I think Core Data is going to be the biggie for many developers. As soon as that came along, I dropped everything and rewrote my in-development app for Core Data. Using SQLite directly is a complete pain in the wotsit.

 

[Saladinos]

I think Core Data is going to be the biggie for many developers. As soon as that came along, I dropped everything and rewrote my in-development app for Core Data. Using SQLite directly is a complete pain in the wotsit.

Same here. Besides, everyone knows CoreData is actually magic.

 

[johnnyjibbs]

I voted yes for my in-development app. My other app - on the store already - will remain compatible with both for now, just so that users can get bug fixes without having to neccessarily upgrade (otherwise I could envisage complaints from iPod touch users!)

I noticed that since the SDK 3.0 GM, new apps can only be compatible with 3.0 anyway, so that choice has been taken away. This is a sensible move from Apple has the sooner everyone gets onboard the better. Maintaining for 2 sets of OSs is a wasted of resource. The bonus advantage for Apple is that developers will be compelled to implement some of the new features to make it 'worth it'.