Okay, I've never used the Facebook app myself, but let's try to download it on my 3G…
Working! I get the same message about downloading an older version… Done! I wonder why it's not working for you mcneilis… I'm on the Australian App Store.
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Apple Begins Offering 'Last Compatible' Version of Apps for Users Running Legacy Versions of iOS
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Okay, I've never used the Facebook app myself, but let's try to download it on my 3G…
Working! I get the same message about downloading an older version… Done! I wonder why it's not working for you mcneilis… I'm on the Australian App Store.
Double job for developers, but great for end users.
No, this isn't "maintain separate executables for separate versions of iOS," this is "when someone on an older iOS tries to download, offer them the latest version that is compatible."
I've been waiting for this for YEARS - Since my original iPhone stopped getting iOS updates, and apps slowly started updating so that they would no longer work on it. I have since stopped using that, but my daughter does still use an iPhone 3G, and some of the games she likes have been updated to no longer work with iOS 4. Not a huge deal, except I've had to restore her phone, and none of the computers had the old iOS 4-compatible copies any more. So she just lost her games.
Just tried this on my old 2G touch (I think that's what it is...) that can't run anything newer than 3.1.3 and tried to download the iHome Set app which was broken (and then lost when I had to reset the device) after an update, and it didn't work... so either they don't have the earlier version or they're not going THAT far back in support...
I wish Apple would provide older OS versions, too. My iPad 1 would still be a great machine if I hadn't upgraded to 5.x.
I'm in the UK. It's now working.
It must have just not updated in the UK right away or something.
Because typically iOS updates run slower / have bigger memory requirements than their predecessors. If you have the latest iOS device, you probably won't notice; but if you're installing on an older device all you're doing is making a functioning, responsive device a lot slower.
After having problems with this in the past, I don't think I'm going to bother with any future (major) iOS updates. I'll buy a new iPhone & iPad every few years and keep the iOS version it comes with. There's nothing major that I absolutely have to have in each iOS update - other than the broken app compatibility mentioned here.
I noticed a few months ago that the App Store had stopped asking to install incompatible updates to apps, so this is a nice improvement on top of that.
I wonder if Apple kept copies of all prior app versions on their servers, or if the developers have to resubmit backwards compatible versions of their apps.
We started with iOS6+ compatibility, updated a couple of things to comply with iOS7, so we haven't had this scenario, but I'm _assuming_ in ITC, if you upload a new version, it creates a "legacy" instance from the previous version if there's a version uniqueness (like if we uploaded a version specific for iOS7), and you get some kind of indication that previous version will lurk around (with the option to nuke).
I wonder how much is automated. Like _if_ we wanted to have an iOS 7 specific version, but wanted to updating an existing legacy version, does ITC allow separate versioning for the same app[?]
The real question is how far back iOS wise will APple be going with this? I suspect it migh be limited to what was available no more than a few months ago and not something that will have software versions that were gone over a few months ago as Apple may not have saved the older versions anyway before they decided to make this change.
It isn't as all Apple needs to do is maintain the various versions of the apps on their servers. The developers have nothing to maintain on the older versions.Double job for developers, but great for end users.
It's actually a terrible thing. Now customers have an unreasonable expectation for developers to support legacy devices. Your iPhone 1 running iOS 3 is no longer supported - get over it and buy a new iPhone that is supported.
Yes, as a developer I am glad my working games can be re-accessed by customers that do not upgrade. The same is sorely needed in the Mac App Store -- anyone know if the same feature is available there?
That's why a decent software developer will adopt a policy of deprecation - i.e. keep a method 'alive' until you are sure that there are no more users of that method. In a closed system such as an iOS app (i.e. where it's using closed rather than public APIs) this is relatively easy to do. It's also easy to get stats on how many people are still using, for example, a 3G or a 2G so you know when to finally remove the deprecated methods. Alternatively, if it's just the case that a verb has changed (e.g. "search" to "find"), it's not difficult to put a shim in place that redirects to the new method.
In short: that's a dev's issue, not Apple's.
This may or may not be something that is feasible to do. It depends on how many new decent apps come out that need a later version of iOS than you are on.
This has nothing to do with fragmentation, it's all about legacy support. They're two entirely different things....
N
nostromo77
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Thank "Jobs" for that!
I've decided to stick to my iPhone 5 iOS 6.1.4 (a bit higher maybe if they do a final update to match something...) But I'm not putting iOS 7 on any of my iOS devices, I must be the only human being left on planet Earth who thinks it's damn near an insult to iOS users, to go form what used to be the most amazing OS on hand held devices, to this THX-1138/1984 kind of faceless, cold without any personality environment. I just don't get iOS 7. It truly is the worst thing Apple has done so far in my book, of all the stupid updates they made in the years gone, but this... this sealed it for me. I'm done updating.
Which also means, it's my last iOS device sadly cause I do love my iPhone 5, but I will not buy a device with that iOS 7 on it.
I guess I'll have to force my self to get into the world of Android where at least you can still customise and keep some degree of personality going on your device!
Hey that's my opinion, it's as right or wrong as yours...
I've decided to stick to my iPhone 5 iOS 6.1.4 (a bit higher maybe if they do a final update to match something...) But I'm not putting iOS 7 on any of my iOS devices, I must be the only human being left on planet Earth who thinks it's damn near an insult to iOS users, to go form what used to be the most amazing OS on hand held devices, to this THX-1138/1984 kind of faceless, cold without any personality environment. I just don't get iOS 7. It truly is the worst thing Apple has done so far in my book, of all the stupid updates they made in the years gone, but this... this sealed it for me. I'm done updating.
Which also means, it's my last iOS device sadly cause I do love my iPhone 5, but I will not buy a device with that iOS 7 on it.
I guess I'll have to force my self to get into the world of Android where at least you can still customise and keep some degree of personality going on your device!
Hey that's my opinion, it's as right or wrong as yours...
I'm in the UK. It's now working.
Glad to hear it! Jolly disappointing Ashes result, what! ;-)
LOL. Call me old-school, but I just never could bring myself to trust a Facebook app. But I've now opened it for the first time on my 3G, and it hasn't asked for access to my photos, or contacts, or soul, or anything yet (only push notifications) Gosh, maybe I'll survive this after all
There's a reason why apple added this functionality, it's because when iOS 7 comes out they can update all their own apps to support IOS 7 and drop support for iOS 6 but legacy users will still be able to use the old apps now. The problem with supporting two radical new UI designs for applications can increase the binary size dramatically and imagine all the conditional statements that are needed also.
Wonder if it works on my 1st gen iPod touch. Was really bad I couldn't download older versions, but finally it is seeing some much-deserved support.
Now I just need to update it for iPhone OS 3.1.3.
IMO this is the way a company keeps their customers happy. Should be implemented years ago, but a great move nevertheless.
Now I just need to update it for iPhone OS 3.1.3.
IMO this is the way a company keeps their customers happy. Should be implemented years ago, but a great move nevertheless.
This makes many older iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touch devices much less likely to be fodder for trash compactors. This is a long needed addition, though there is still room for improvement in the App store, and it's search functionality.
Updated my 2G to 3.1.3 (Don't worry I can still downgrade to 1.0.2) and it doesn't work. Maybe just for 4.x and higher? It's good though since the girlfriend's little sister wants an iPhone, but doesn't care which one as long as there's apps for it. Trolling Craigslit for a decently priced 3G now.
This is part of Apple's low cost market share strategy. This "market share" won't show up in the sales numbers that get reported. But it will make older iPhone 3 and 3Gs much more compelling products for a lot longer. Those used devices will slowly find their way to the third world or to non-smartphone user smartphone users (i.e., Grandma). And this will give them a better device.
Watch as the Android "market share" continues to be robust, and then the difference between App downloads between eco-systems puzzles folks. It will be because every Android made four years ago is currently in a landfill, while iPhones from four year ago will still be being used.
Watch as the Android "market share" continues to be robust, and then the difference between App downloads between eco-systems puzzles folks. It will be because every Android made four years ago is currently in a landfill, while iPhones from four year ago will still be being used.