I have a simple question.
I use an old IPhone with ios version 3.1.3 and I have to deliver an app for the ios version 5.0.
Is it possible to build and deliver an 5.0 app to the store without the correct 5.0 device?
Problem is, it isn't really cheap to buy every single ios version device.
I know it is probably necessary to test on a real device, but I only want to know is it theoretically possible do develop and deliver without the device.
thanks for your help
Matthias
Yes, it's possible. Xcode comes with an iOS simulator that simulates iPhones and iPads running iOS 4.3 and 5.0. However these don't fully match real devices, so you really should be testing on real devices. There's an additional problem that a lot of functionality won't work on the simulator, such as in-app purchases and Game Center. But for basic applications, you can scrape by.
If you're looking to reduce costs, iPod touches are almost identical to iPhones and a lot cheaper, so that's the low cost way of testing on a real device. I would also upgrade your current device to iOS 4 if possible - iOS 3 is practically dead now, so it's better to test on a real device with iOS 4 than it is to try to support iOS 3.
Yes it is possible to deliver an app without the correct version.
I found out, that it is even possible to deliver apps without an iPhone.
even though you can deploy apps without having an iOS device ..or having a device with lower iOS version..
but in future and generally a good advice i will give is to find someone with correct iOS device version(any other version will work too) and get him to try your app using ad-hoc distribution..that way you can get feedback of how your app will perform..
Yes it's possible. You can anyway test most functionality by using the simulator.
With the new Xcode, you don't need the device when you are building for release.
What you need to do is select iOS Device in the menu, then Product -> Archive.
Then you will see the "Validate" and "Submit" options in your organizer.
Related
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.
I have the following problem, in near future I will need to write a few not very complicated apps for iPhone. I do not currently own an iPhone, so I plan to purchase one for testing purposes. In short would iPhone 4 allow me to test apps written for older ios versions? Any pitfalls? Or would I have to purchase older phones/ipad to do the testing properly?
Yes, to perform a proper test you will need to test on the individual devices you are supporting. The documentation will tell you if the framework/API you are using is supported in the older iOS versions. I'm afraid there will be some subjective answers here as I am sure some apps end up running just fine across many versions with simulator testing. There are many factors to consider when looking at backwards compatibility (desired speed, memory usage, APIs, ...). You stated your app is "not very complicated" so you may be fine. I would test your application on as many devices as possible.
I should also make the distinction that there is a difference between "will it compile" and "does it perform as expected". You can use xcode to test whether the application is compatible by targeting and older version. Whether or not the application runs as desired will be discovered when testing on the specific devices.
You can't run iOS 3 on iPhone 4, so you have to buy separate devices.
But if it is a new app I wouldn't consider to make it iOS3 compatible. Most users have upgraded to iOS4 already. And at the time your app is in the store there will be even less users running iOS3.
Sure, this will remove like 0,5% of potential customers. But you don't want to buy another device for 100$ if you can get only 10$ revenue from the 0,5% customers that run iOS3. And you have to test your whole app again, which will take a significant amount of time.
So you should consider to drop support for iOS3.
See this question: Will an application compiled for iOS 3 run on iOS 4?
It will allow you to test apps which are targeted at older iOS versions, yes.
Performance differences to older iDevices like the 1st gen iPhone / iPod touch are quite significant however. So if your apps require expensive calculations or the like, I'd recommend buying an older, used device too to get a feeling for performance on that generation of hardware.
Note that if you need to make sure the apps you are about to develop will run on very old devices / iOS versions, you maybe need to do without some cocoa classes and methods which require more recent versions of iOS
If you bought an iPhone 4 for testing purpose.. You're testing on the latest iPhone available in the market and that doesn't means your app is ready to target low-end device automatically.
Let's take a deep look: If you've designed an App that must look gorgeous and work right out of the box on iPhone 4, then you're probably making your app a Retina display compatible. That is like playing with 960x640 resolution screen.
Now, if you planned to target low-end device for eg, iPhone 3GS, then all you gotta do is to reduce the graphic assets size by half, as iPhone 3GS is 320x480
That's it! Your App is ready for the low-end device as well, in looks and feels perspective.
Now, let's look from deployment perspective. If you base SDK is 4.2.1 and you're targeting to devices which runs 3.3, then all you gotta do is to make sure you don't use latest libraries/classes which are introduced in iOS 4.2.1, as they won't be available to device which are running on iOS 3.3. If you take care of this part, your app is almost ready to ship out.
From Market perspective. I see all the great apps out there had made their deployment target as iOS 4.0 or later. That means, they are targeting to only devices which runs iOS 4.0 or later versions.
I think, you can try your build in low-end iPhone simulator after successful testing cycles ran on iPhone 4 device. :)
The iPhone is generally not backwards compatible. Sometimes methods, properties, classes etc. are added or older ones become deprecated.
For testing, i would recommend that you have several devices with different iOS Versions depending on the target iOS Version you want to release.
Also check the the iOS Reference Library: Under "Availability" for each function etc. is noted since when it is Available
Do I need to buy Iphone to develop Iphone applications on MacBook Pro? Or is Iphone SDK for the job?
Thanks.
Technically no, but obviously it would be handy.
Xcode provides an iPhone simulator that can handle most testing (but without support for accelerometer or microphone).
All in all, if you plan on doing iPhone development seriously - get an iPhone.
Technically you could use the emulator with the SDK but you really want some raw devices to test on due to subtle differences.
The iPod touch does a great job for testing apps on a real device. Its performances are very closed to the iPhone and it is much cheaper.
Technically no, unless you building apps related to accelerometer, microphone, sms or auto calling applications. The SDK comes with the iPhone simulator which is more than handy
You can use the Xcode iPhone simulator as well as the iPad simulator to test your code, all of which is free. The only issue will be accessing certain filemanagement which cannot be debugged on a simulator. However, you must have a computer running on Mac OS X and a valid Apple ID to download Xcode. Finally, in order to submit Apps into the App Store, you must buy a $100 developer's license with Apple.
Hope that help! And iPhone development is a ton of fun :)
Thommy
I highly recommend to get the device you're developing for. Since some issues will only will only come up by really using your app as intended.
The touchscreen and it's behavior for example can't really be testet in the simulator. If you want to do more than the next "Fart App" you should invest the money in at least one actuel iOS device.
I will speak from personal experience with a financial prespective
Can you afford it or is the short term compensation from the work going to cover the cost? The latest models are pretty expensive, so I would suggest looking for good deals on models that are a couple of years old. When I say short term, I mean 3 years or less. Because after that, there is a good chance that you are going to need to buy a newer model to take advantage of the SDK features available at that time.
Even if you can afford it do you need it immediately? Are you soon going to be developing features that are completely dependent on hardware and impossible with a simulator ? If no please push the purchase further down the line, by which time you would have made some money (or not) and you can buy a newer model.
Having a latest device gives you the freedom to try out and build apps using the latest SDK features that Apple rolls out, so you can stay ahead in the game. On the flip side, it would be good for development only as long as at least one of the apps that you are developing for runs the highest version of iOS supported by the device at any particular time. For example I bought an iPhone 5S some years ago and now none of the apps I am working on run on iOS 12. So I have very little use for it. Ah I guess the vicious upgrade cycle gets developers too :(
I am developing my first iPad app using the iOS SDK 4 and Xcode 3.2. I have written a simple Hello World and have been able to run it in the iPhone simulator. I would like to figure out:
How can I get an iPad simulator?
Is it possible to test my app on my actual iPad without signing up for a developers license for $99?
Thanks,
Mike
There are unoffical ways to get your app onto your device, you have to jailbreak it and install software called AppSync from cydia. This voids your warranty if Apple find out (restoring the device to it's original settings using the restore button in itunes means they can't tell, so jus trestore before you go to an Apple shop) and if they do find out it might prejudice them against you as a developer (but chances are very slim)
(I have no problem giving specific details as the US Government has said that jailbreaking is legal)
http://www.pcworld.com/article/201892/us_government_iphone_jailbreaking_is_fair_use.html
The SDK includes an iPad simulator. I don't have my Mac in front of me, but you should be able to choose which device to target when you launch the simulator. You can also switch between iPhone and iPad mode from within the simulator - check the Hardware menu.
Yes, you have to have a paid developer membership to deploy code to your device. That's the only official way.
If you have jailbroken, then install app sync from the Hackulo.us repo. Just sync your app in iTunes without signing it. It will work easy as Pi!
This is yet another way to keep flash from getting to iPads, if you could put your own on the device without going through apple then you could also put someone else's. I think it should be allowed, but if something doesn't work on software that isn't officially released it shouldn't be supported by Apple.
How will you test an iPhone application without the iPhone being available?
The SDK comes with a simulator.
Of course the simulator doesn't really provide true feedback and it is most advised to do most of the testing on a real iPhone or an iPod if you don't own one, you could possibly use some beta testing program and publish your app there, using ad-hoc provisioning and adding UDID's according to requests. You could try "Mechanical Turk".
An iPhone application can be tested (to an extent) using simulators, it is included within iOS SDK. An iPhone application can run on simulators only if you have source code available with you, but cannot run iPhone builds (IPAfiles) directly on simulators.
The simulators have following limitations with reference to testing purposes
1. Accelerometer,
2. Telephony,
3. GPS,
4. Only up to two figure gestures can be simulated,
5. Hardware and memory, as simulators use the MAC hardware and memory etc.
So ideally testing on real device is more reliable rather than using simulators.