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What happens to users who don't upgrade to iOS 7 in the long term?

F

FHayek

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 24, 2012
101
5
My question is not meant as red meat. I'm relatively new to iPhones, so bare with me.

What happens if one chooses not to update to the newest iOS?

Will one's experience suffer? Will the phone stop working properly? Will there be compatibility issues with apps etc.?

Thanks-

FH
 
What happens to users who don't upgrade to iOS 7 in the long term?

FHayek said:
My question is not meant as red meat. I'm relatively new to iPhones, so bare with me.

What happens if one chooses not to update to the newest iOS?

Will one's experience suffer? Will the phone stop working properly? Will there be compatibility issues with apps etc.?

Thanks-

FH
Click to expand...

You'll be punished by Apple and the authorities will come and fetch you for questioning.

Lol, nah, from what I know apps will no longer be compatible as in future updates and newer apps as they will require iOS 7 to run, you can still download legacy version or whatever they call that? Whereby the app store will find the last most compatible app for you. I highly doubt Apple will direct force you to upgrade but eventually everyone will get on with the times, for your info, I am on iOS 6 and am holding on for as long as I can.
 
Last edited:
Your phone will never just stop working. It will continue to work just as it does and has with no changes planned. Ever. Apps should continue to work (especially now that Apple allows the legacy downloads) but they may not get any future updates, because that may require iOS 7.
I'm personally holding onto iOS 6 for as long as possible. The only thing that would tempt me to iOS 7 is a jailbreak, but I'm not sure if that will even yet.
 
Nothing.

Some apps require the latest OS for a number of reasons, but my friend is on iOS 4 (has a jailbreak, doesn't/didn't want to upgrade to 5 or 6 with a jailbreak, for whatever reason) and his phone still does everything he wants.
 
I did that going from 5 to 6. Eventually the main apps I use required iOS 6. I was forced to update.
 
Probably one of your favorite app would be ios 7 only or higher. And either you have to upgrade to ios 7 or dont update the app and keep using it.

That's about it I think.
 
Plus, you will always be able to download an older version of an app that you own from the app store. Apple started allowing this a few weeks ago.
 
Not to mention you won't be able to use the new influx of game controllers that are coming out that will only be supported in iOS 7.
 
FHayek said:
My question is not meant as red meat. I'm relatively new to iPhones, so bare with me.

What happens if one chooses not to update to the newest iOS?

Will one's experience suffer? Will the phone stop working properly? Will there be compatibility issues with apps etc.?

Thanks-

FH
Click to expand...

1. Once Apple releases a new iOS version, they do not update the old one. If security vulnerabilities are discovered for that old version, they will not be patched. (That I know of. I could be mistaken here, and would welcome info to the contrary if anybody has any.)

2. Some apps could have updates, or new apps released, that require iOS 7 or newer. You wouldn't be able to run those.

3. You won't have access to any new features introduced with the new iOS version.

4. Some people have reported automatic downloads of newer iOS versions, which while the install of the new OS is not forced, the download still takes up a fair bit of storage space.
 
My extended family are total non-techies. They don't update anything. I end up being their tech support person.

One person owned an iPhone 4 and never updated his iOS. He was still on iOS 4.x. He doesn't really download apps, so he didn't have any issue for the longest time. Recently, we started using WhatsApp messenger. When I tried to install WhatsApp on his phone, it wouldn't because his iOS version was so old. I ended up having to update his iOS. I could not do so over the air because the iOS version was so old. I had to connect it to his PC and install it via iTune. However, I cannot do it via iTunes because his iTunes version on his PC was too old. I ended up having to update his iTunes and then update iOS on his phone.

He recently got an iPhone 5. He's likely not going to update the iOS until something stops working or doesn't work for him.
 
defunct32 said:
You'll be punished by Apple and the authorities will come and fetch you for questioning.
Click to expand...

Yes it is true Google complained and NSA police listened they stopped by at my place and took away my iPhone 3GS and gave me a spanking new Samsung Galazy S2!! (I didn't like it I sold it at the eBay. :apple:
 
Apple now allows older versions of apps to download. The "pain" of not updating will not be as strongly felt as in versions of the past.
 
More than likely the only thing that will happen is if you try to download a new app you will get a message saying you have to upgrade to iOS7.XX to install. I remember having 3G iPhone jailbroken and not updating for more than 6 months and then trying to download a new app and getting this message.
 
plainwhitetay said:
Your phone will never just stop working. It will continue to work just as it does and has with no changes planned. Ever. Apps should continue to work (especially now that Apple allows the legacy downloads) but they may not get any future updates, because that may require iOS 7.
I'm personally holding onto iOS 6 for as long as possible. The only thing that would tempt me to iOS 7 is a jailbreak, but I'm not sure if that will even yet.
Click to expand...

Does Apple also allow the legacy downloads for Mac apps.
 
FHayek said:
My question is not meant as red meat. I'm relatively new to iPhones, so bare with me.

What happens if one chooses not to update to the newest iOS?

Will one's experience suffer? Will the phone stop working properly? Will there be compatibility issues with apps etc.?

Thanks-

FH
Click to expand...
your phone will become outdated.................
 
I wonder why Apple chose to allow legacy apps to be downloaded?
Did they know that ios 7 was rushed out and incomplete?
 
I never understand anyone not updating just makes no sense, i even have family that are hopeless at updating & they are graphic & web designers. I am fairly sure they only just updated their macs to leopard to which they had to get disks for :D
 
Stuntman06 said:
My extended family are total non-techies. They don't update anything. I end up being their tech support person.

One person owned an iPhone 4 and never updated his iOS. He was still on iOS 4.x. He doesn't really download apps, so he didn't have any issue for the longest time. Recently, we started using WhatsApp messenger. When I tried to install WhatsApp on his phone, it wouldn't because his iOS version was so old. I ended up having to update his iOS. I could not do so over the air because the iOS version was so old. I had to connect it to his PC and install it via iTune. However, I cannot do it via iTunes because his iTunes version on his PC was too old. I ended up having to update his iTunes and then update iOS on his phone.

He recently got an iPhone 5. He's likely not going to update the iOS until something stops working or doesn't work for him.
Click to expand...

This story is hilarious, but I wish it continued into further absurdity:

"However, I cannot do it via iTunes because his iTunes version on his PC was too old. I ended up having to update his iTunes and then update iOS on his phone." But I couldn't update his iTunes because his PC's operating system (Windows) was not up to date. I had to convince him to buy the latest version of Windows. Then when he finally agreed I realized that his hardware spec is too low to install he latest version of Windows. Then when I tried to convince him to upgrade his hardware, he blew his lid off and screamed at me: "You want me to drop hundreds of $ on new hardware just so that you can save a couple of bucks on texts by using WhatsApp? ******* you Stuntman06!"
 
Nothing really. Your experience will pretty much just remain constant. The place where you would experience problems is when an app that is dependent on outside calls(calling back across to a server hosting important info) is not updated in iOS 6.1.3, when the APIs change for iOS 7.1.3 or iOS 8.1.2, etc...

I have an iPod Touch 2, It's stuck at iOS 4.something. It still plays music, runs netflix and TuneIn Radio, and plays plenty of standalone games that were made for iOS 4.something. I can't get much/any newly released games/apps for it. But it still runs just fine.
 
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