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Tell HN: All new iPhone apps and app updates submitted must support iPhone 5

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Tell HN: All new iPhone apps and app updates submitted must support iPhone 5

#21

Post by WildUtah »

WA wrote: post #20

Important note: This also means that you cannot release any updates that support the iPhone 3G (iOS 4.2.1), since you cannot compile for both, iPhone 5 and 3G. iPhone 5 requires Xcode 4.6, which doesn't allow to build apps for iOS < 4.3.

That's probably the only reason that the iP5 requirement was delayed until now.

Apple isn't good about keeping its build tools compatible with older editions of OS/X or of IOS. It's a little tough for them since their systems are built to last for so long with better hardware components.

If it weren't for that irony, the iP5 requirement probably would have gone into effect the day the iP5 was released.

Re: Tell HN: All new iPhone apps and app updates submitted must support iPhone 5

#22

Post by tehwebguy »

Samuel_Michon wrote: post #18
M4v3R wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Check your facts. http://www.apple.com/ios/whats-new/ Bottom of this page.

http://giphy.com/gifs/njPdRtrrdyoVO

Reaction gifs are seriously discouraged here.

Re: Tell HN: All new iPhone apps and app updates submitted must support iPhone 5

#23

Post by ryanpetrich »

WA wrote: post #20

Important note: This also means that you cannot release any updates that support the iPhone 3G (iOS 4.2.1), since you cannot compile for both, iPhone 5 and 3G. iPhone 5 requires Xcode 4.6, which doesn't allow to build apps for iOS < 4.3.

To support old versions of iOS, one can build an armv6 version using an older version of Xcode and then lipo it to an armv7+armv7s version built with Xcode 4.6 (details: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/12619124/how-to-support-b...)

Re: Tell HN: All new iPhone apps and app updates submitted must support iPhone 5

#24

Post by wesnerm2 »

kennywinker wrote: post #3

The reason this is an issue at all is that in order to support te iPhone 5 screen you must drop support for everything before iOS 4.3. Many of the apps you see holding out are doing so because they have (or believe they have) a significant >4.3 user base. This got better when iOS 6 got jailbroken, but it's still an annoying forced obsolescence. The reason they did it this way is unclear as well.

Support for the 5in screen only requires adding an extra default png file to signal support. default@2x~568.png. I don't see where the OS restriction comes in.

Re: Tell HN: All new iPhone apps and app updates submitted must support iPhone 5

#25

Post by ryanpetrich »

Osmium wrote: post #12
Samuel_Michon wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

iOS 5 works great on iPhone 3G S. If you’re having performance issues, you might want to free some space on your iPhone 3G S; that has been known to work miracles.

Good to know. For some reason I didn't think iOS used the disk as a memory cache, so didn't think that would matter?

It doesn't use it to implement paging, but many things do use the disk as a cache (URL cache, keyboard cache, icon cache, Spotlight, app-specific caches, etc) and running low on disk space will cause the background cache cleaner daemon to run.

Re: Tell HN: All new iPhone apps and app updates submitted must support iPhone 5

#26

Post by k-mcgrady »

jonknee wrote: post #17
Samuel_Michon wrote: post #2

This has been known for over a month[1]. I’d say it’s good change. Within 2 months of when the iPhone 5 was released, about half of the apps I use most had received updates that optmized for the larger screen. After 7 months though, the remaining apps still haven’t been optimized, even though many of those apps did receive updates in the meantime. As of May 1st, a developer can’t just post a bugfix without also optim…

I don't know why it has taken this long. It should have been the case as soon as the iPhone 5 started shipping.

>> "It should have been the case as soon as the iPhone 5 started shipping."

That would have been a nightmare. A lot of apps would need to redesign UI's and create new graphics. Let's say it took 2-3 weeks to get all that created, working, and tested. What if they had some urgent bugs they needed fixed before then? Or developers who didn't manage to get the device on launch day and had to wait a few weeks. Are they supposed to release updates which include iPhone 5 support having only tested the iPhone 5 portion in the simulator?

Re: Tell HN: All new iPhone apps and app updates submitted must support iPhone 5

#28

Post by WA »

ryanpetrich wrote: post #23
WA wrote: post #20

Important note: This also means that you cannot release any updates that support the iPhone 3G (iOS 4.2.1), since you cannot compile for both, iPhone 5 and 3G. iPhone 5 requires Xcode 4.6, which doesn't allow to build apps for iOS < 4.3.

To support old versions of iOS, one can build an armv6 version using an older version of Xcode and then lipo it to an armv7+armv7s version built with Xcode 4.6 (details: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/12619124/how-to-support-b... )

Thank you, but still, this is considered more or less a hack. The question is how long it'll take until the first apps get rejected that aren't built "properly".
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