I am looking to make my app so that it only works on iPhone4 or higher, and not the 3GS.
How can I do this? Is it done via setting the Architectures setting to Standard Armv7/Armv7s
And Valid architectures to Armv7 & Armv7s?
Or do I need to look at deployment target? And set it to a certain iOS version?
Thanks in advance!
Deployment target is only going to allow you to target a specific iOS version and a 3GS can run iOS6. If you're truly looking to restrict older devices from running your app you're likely going to have to do some checks for device model within the AppDelegate and restrict functionality.
A caveat to this is that your app will likely not be permitted in the App Store. What feature(s) are you trying to leverage that a 3GS doesn't support?
Unfortunately you can target the iOS version not the device! You can try to build for iOS 6.0+ and it'll isolate some older devices like iPad1. I'm not sure what iOS version will go up to on 3GS, it'll be phased out soon, though with upcoming iOS releases. I know iOS 6 will work on 3GS but iPad1 won't
You can detect the device, and restrict it via code, but through Apple and iTunes, there is no device centric restrictions, only OS.
Related
I am new to iphone app development and am wondering which deployment target to use (as ios 6 approaches). My app is simple (http web service interaction, map) and my natural inclination is to target 3.1 to maximize potential use. However, I understand that ios 6 will soon be available to all iphones and I presume it will be widely adopted.
So, if I target 5.1 today, will my app be available to most, if not all, iphone users once ios 6 is released?
Right now, requiring a minimum of 5.1 is a bit bold in my opinion, but that depends on your app. It is customary to support the current version and the previous major release.
If you want to expand your target, you may considering going back to 4.3 or even all the way down to 4.0. But 3.x is practically obsolete. but:
Warning: Don't target a version you can not test on device. If you don't have a device running 4.0, testing your app only on the 4.0 simulator is not recommended (although perhaps it is OK. No assurance).
The iPhone 3G can run up to iOS 4.2.
All other phones and iPads can run the latest OS (5.1.1)
Not sure about iPod Touch devices but 3rd (and 4th) gen. should run iOS 5.
You can use 5.1.1 as deployment target if it is available to your menu.. if not 5.1 is best for your needs for now.
This way all (Who have not updated to IOS 6) can use your app...
Best luck for app development.
I am just about to upload my first app to appstore :-)
I have tested the app on an iPhone 3G (IOS 4.2) and my iPhone 4. What version of code should i upload and:
If i upload 4.2 to support iPhone 3G, will that cause any problems with newer phones?
If i upload the latest version of the code i guess iPhone 3G's will not be able to run it?
Is it worth while to still support iPhone 3G?
Can someone please recommend me what to do?
If you upload a version that the 3G does not support, then all 3G users will not be able to download the app.
If you upload a version that is supported by 3G, then only if the users have updated their firmware will be able to use the app.
In other words, the role of thumb is: upload the one that is tested on the latest firmware, but can be launched from as many firmware version as possible.
That might mean to just upload the one that is tested on the least firmware possible, but be careful because newer firmware versions might stop supporting certain APIs that you might have used, and then all newer (potential) customers will be locked out of your app.
If i upload 4.2 to support iPhone 3G, will that cause any problems with newer phones?
No.
If i upload the latest version of the code i guess iPhone 3G's will not be able to run it?
You need to compile for arm6 in addition to arm7 architecture.
Is it worth while to still support iPhone 3G?
That's a matter of opinion. This there any requirement for you specific app that requires a iPhone 3GS?
Choosing the latest ios as the deployment version is bad idea. iOS 4.3 isn't supported by Verizon devices, which means that you will lose a big portion of US users.
I believe most of apple's apps are using "iOS 3.1" as the deployment version, and i would recommend choosing the this as the lowest supported version.
iOS 3.1 is the last version supported by the original iphone, which guarantees that all users can use your app. Note it's not enougth to just pick 3.1 as the deployment version. you will have to test it with a REAL 3.1 firmware. There are a few guides on downgrading your iphone to 3.1, which is helpful for testing (such as http://lifehacker.com/5572003/how-to-downgrade-your-iphone-3g%5Bs%5D-from-ios-4-to-ios-313)
i tested my application by setting deployment target to 3.0 on iPhone device with 4.3.2 version and my iPhone app was running smoothly so my question is that do i still need to test my app on iPhone device with lower version like 3.0 before submitting it to app store.
Thanks in advance for your any help.
Yes: if you call any API that was introduced after iOS 3.0, it will crash. The only way to be sure is to test on an actual 3.0 device.
Yes you definitely should test your application on a device with iOS3 to ensure that everything is working.
Setting the deployment target to iOS3 only ensure linking. Do not forget that iOS3 has not only different APIs, but also differents behaviors for same components, even with same code.
And behaviors can even differs from Simulator to Device!
I'm making an app that requires multitasking. Is there a way to compile an iPhone/iPad (universal) app so it excludes devices that do not support multitasking. I know iPhone 1, iPhone 3G and iTouch 1-2 do not support multitasking but I haven't found a way to build my app so it prevents people to download the app from the app store if they have one of these devices.
I was thinking to simply set the "Architectures" setting to armv7 on Xcode but I'm not sure if this will work and if it will have any other consequences.
Any help will be appreciated. Thanks!
You can set the minimum API level supported to be iOS 4.3. This version only runs on devices that support multi-tasking.
You should check in your application for multitasking support and fall back to a non multitasking alternative if it is not available.
Suppose you change the supported architectures to include ARM7 upwards. If you do, you need to find out what happens if somebody attempts to deploy such an application to an incompatible device. If iTunes stops them from doing it, that's fine and it's the right answer. But if iTunes lets them do deploy the app and it crashes when they try to run it, it would be far better to do the test for multitasking support and display an alert telling the user why your app won't work.
Go to targets section of your project--> navigate to Build Tab-->Go to Deployment tab & select IOS deployment target as 4.2. It will not run on IOS versions earlier than this.
Please how can I make sure before developing my iPhone app that it will be compatible with iPhone4, 3GS, iPod touch and 3G?
You need to create the app keeping in mind all the features available in lowest version of iPhone you need it to be compatible to.
For Example:
Suppose you want it to be compatible to iPhone 2G then you cannot use in-app SMS feature as iPhone 2G cannot be upgraded to iOS 4.0 or higher.
In-app SMS feature is only available in iOS 4.0 and higher versions.
Hope this example gave you a proper idea.
Once the app is made, you should test your app throughly on different devices i.e. iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 and iPod Touch.
Unless you test it on device, you cannot be sure because sometimes some of the things work in simulator but crashes on device.
So better to test on device.
Hope this helps you.
If it's the SDK you are talking about, you might want to make sure it runs on iOS 3.X versions. See here for more details.
If it's the hardware you are talking about, you will need to test your app on separate pieces of hardware to make sure that they all run.
The settings in XCode that you make regarding which version of iOS your app will be compatible with is the iOS deployment target and the Base SDK. The Base SDK is the default version you are building against (this should be set to the most recent SDK which is currently 4.3). The iOS deployment target is the earliest version you would like your app to be available for (currently goes back to 3.0 on XCode 4).
These settings are in the settings for your target.
As for if your app will actually work on all of these devices depends on how you program for them. In other words, if you are using new APIs, they obviously will not work on versions that did not implement them.
Hope this helps.
Jamie
You can't be sure without testing. (and even with testing, some say...)
There are potential "gothcha's" in the iOS API documentation, in the Simulator handling of those APIs, and particularly in device performance, which you may not realize or be able to guess until you actually try an app out on all the device models and iOS versions which you plan to support.
Even some simple apps with no undocumented API use and no compiler or analyzer warnings, et.al., have been know to "break" after a new OS version is released.
You can "claim" an app is compatible by appropriate setting of the Deployment Target in the Build settings, lack of plist hardware restrictions, and in the app store submission data. But that's only a claim, not compatibility.