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iOS App Store now allows legacy downloads to support older OSes

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Re: iOS App Store now allows legacy downloads to support older OSes

#31

Post by vvhn »

pdpi wrote: post #24
melange wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is Apple themselves recognizing that hardware that is too old to run iOS7 is still useful.

Nah, this is because of the new 64 processors. There's still no mechanism that allows for 64 bit iOS7/32 bit iOS6 fat binaries, it's either 64 bits iOS7/32 bits iOS7, or iOS 6 only. Probably the first time that apps compiled for the latest and greatest can't run on old phones at all.

why is it "64 bit iOS7/32 bit iOS6" ?

iOS 7 is 64-bit only on the iPhone 5S.

iPhone 5S will run 64 bit iOS 7 and can run both 32 bit and 64 bit applications.

iPhone 5C, iPhone 5, iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPad 4, iPad 3 (or whatever they are called), iPad 2 and the iPad mini all will run 32 bit iOS 7 (kernel, libraries, drivers and the Applications themselves).

Re: iOS App Store now allows legacy downloads to support older OSes

#32

Post by mikeash »

marbletiles wrote: post #12
hcarvalhoalves wrote: post #8

This is basically Apple themselves showing they don't trust everybody will like iOS7.

It's less that and more that there is now a significant-enough installed base that can't upgrade to the latest OS. There's now a lot of older iPhones and iPods Touch out there that will never get 7. Knowing that, developers will become increasingly reluctant to leave those customers behind -- and so will keep building for 6 and earlier, and won't use the new 7-only stuff. This way, devs can immediately go to 7, knowi…

It's probably significant that the 3GS is not getting iOS 7. The original iPhone was fairly underpowered, and the iPhone 3G changed essentially nothing besides the case and the addition of 3G cellular data. The 3GS was the first real upgrade, the first iPhone with a decent camera, a decent amount of RAM, and a decent CPU. It ended up as the longest-lived iPhone model yet, starting out as the high-end model in 2009, then dropping down to a secondary model in 2010, and it was only discontinued with the release of the iPhone 5 in 2012. It was on the market for almost three years, and while sales no doubt dropped off after a while, it must have sold a ton of units.

Prior to this, the only iOS devices that stopped receiving OS upgrades were the original iPhone and the 3G, the roughly corresponding iPod touch models, and the original iPad. The addition of the 3GS to the "no more OS upgrades" category probably vastly increases the set of people with devices that cannot be upgraded.

In addition to the numbers, there's also timing. The last new 3GS was sold less than a year ago. To already lose OS updates is a blow to those users.

So if I had to guess, a large part of this move is probably the 3GS, due to it suddenly contributing a large number of devices to the pool of those that the latest OS doesn't support, and due to it still being sold until relatively recently.

Re: iOS App Store now allows legacy downloads to support older OSes

#33

Post by oscargrouch »

year-2024 Banana statement to its customers: "As a sign of the commitment of the Banana Inc. to its customers freedom in a uOS App Store near you, the uOS no longer controls where are you going, and gives you complete permission to go to the grocery store or to play with your kids.. talk badly or curse Banana Inc. is expressely forbiden of course, as usual, and you will receive an instant eletro-shock (from the spy app you can never remove). Therefore you are completely free. only in the next versions of the uOS in a store near you"

its in times like these that i miss shows like Monty Python..

Those guys could show with a good dose of intelligent humor, how stupid people behaviour are sometimes..

Re: iOS App Store now allows legacy downloads to support older OSes

#34

Post by hcarvalhoalves »

marbletiles wrote: post #12
hcarvalhoalves wrote: post #8

This is basically Apple themselves showing they don't trust everybody will like iOS7.

It's less that and more that there is now a significant-enough installed base that can't upgrade to the latest OS. There's now a lot of older iPhones and iPods Touch out there that will never get 7. Knowing that, developers will become increasingly reluctant to leave those customers behind -- and so will keep building for 6 and earlier, and won't use the new 7-only stuff. This way, devs can immediately go to 7, knowi…

I'm one myself, since my 3GS still works.

If iOS7 were any good in my opinion, I would feel compelled to upgrade to a 4 or 5 though, as already happened before for users of 3 and prior.

This App Store change makes people like me even less compelled to upgrade, so this move is kinda unexpected coming from Apple, since it keeps the inertia.

Re: iOS App Store now allows legacy downloads to support older OSes

#35

Post by EvanAnderson »

snom380 wrote: post #13
jaysonelliot wrote: post #6

It's a wonderful half-measure, but also serves to highlight a problem with cloud-based installs that I'm not optimistic will ever go away. When software was distributed physically, the consumer always had the freedom to use any version of an application they liked. Want to run a lightweight version of Word because you don't need all the latest features, or maybe you just hate the new UI? No problem. Did you like some…

As long as you keep a backup of your old app bundles on your computer (for instance using Time Machine) I don't think it's a problem to load old apps. The exception being if some of those apps require online services that are no longer available.

Keeping and installing old copies of app bundles doesn't seem like a very viable option for non-technical users.

Re: iOS App Store now allows legacy downloads to support older OSes

#36

Post by jimsilverman »

escoz wrote: post #21

Apple could have told developers about this during WWDC, but didn't. My guess is Apple decided to do this last minute, after they saw the number of iOS7-only apps that developers were submitting.

looks like they're fearing slow/low iOS7 adoption, considering how boldly they emphasize how few legacy iOS users are out there.

Re: iOS App Store now allows legacy downloads to support older OSes

#37

Post by prehkugler »

escoz wrote: post #21

Apple could have told developers about this during WWDC, but didn't. My guess is Apple decided to do this last minute, after they saw the number of iOS7-only apps that developers were submitting.

It probably would've been useful to know before iOS7 app submissions were open, but, if that's their reasoning, it's a chicken-egg problem.

Re: iOS App Store now allows legacy downloads to support older OSes

#38

Post by pilif »

EvanAnderson wrote: post #35
snom380 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As long as you keep a backup of your old app bundles on your computer (for instance using Time Machine) I don't think it's a problem to load old apps. The exception being if some of those apps require online services that are no longer available.

Keeping and installing old copies of app bundles doesn't seem like a very viable option for non-technical users.

Using outdated and unsupported versions of software doesn't seem like a very viable option for non-technical users.

Re: iOS App Store now allows legacy downloads to support older OSes

#39

Post by 300bps »

This is likely an attempt to head off the jailbreaking and app copying that many people resort to after discovering their otherwise fully functioning device is basically a paperweight in that it can't install any apps.

Unfortunately from real world tests it doesn't appear to be available for many truly older iOS versions.

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