Apple will require all new apps to be optimized for iOS 7 from February 1

http://thenextweb.com/apple/2013/12/18/apple-will-require-all-new-apps-to-be-optimized-for-ios-7-from-february-1/

by Brajeshwar • 13 years ago

35 28 13 years ago

yeukhon2• 13 years ago

Apple doesn't have fragmentation to worry about. I think the requirement is smart and necessary. Developers must keep up with new SDK and new iOS.

On the other hand, older devices, at least my iPad, doesn't work very well all the new updates. I wonder if this has anything to do with the backward compatibility, or the hardware, or just the fact iOS7 is new so updates are not optimized yet.

SyneRyder3• 13 years ago

Maybe I'm cynical, but I think that's part of the Apple treadmill to keep people buying new devices. iOS 7 is written for the new hardware (as it should be), and not fully optimized for older devices because they want people to buy new ones.

I have a 5 year-old laptop that works perfectly for my purposes, but I'll probably have to buy a new one just so I can run Xcode 5, and the only reason I can't run Xcode 5 is because it won't run Mountain Lion / Mavericks. Even then, that's only because Apple won't optimize Mavericks for the GPU on my machine - the same laptop can run Windows 8.1 just fine.

InTheSwiss2• 13 years ago

You are not being cynical, that is exactly what Apple is doing and always has done. They set a limit on how far back they support older products regardless of if they are technically able to do whatever is needed.

Whether doing so is right or wrong is up to the individual to decide. Apple do not keep it a secret or advertise that whatever you buy today will be supported by their newer software in a couple of years. You buy the product as is today.

sbuk2• 13 years ago

Can I ask, purely out of curiosity, which MacBook you have?

bruceboughton• 13 years ago

I have a 2007 iMac and it is still a better computer than any other desktop I've ever had. It can't run the latest OS X releases but it got more releases than I expected.

You can't magically make older devices support newer features, especially in a market that has evolved as much as mobile.

cmelbye• 13 years ago

No need to buy a new device if you don't want to upgrade because you don't think iOS 7 will work well on yours. iOS 6 still works, and it's possible to download an older version of an app if the latest version isn't compatible.

chrisdevereux• 13 years ago

This provides some additional support for your cynicism (and may also be useful to you):

http://lifehacker.com/5994204/mlpostfactor-installs-mountain...

I have a (slightly) less cynical interpretation, which is that they have a finite amount of engineering time and would rather use it developing new products than supporting old ones (or increasing capacity at the risk of lowering focus/quality).

It's probably not a coincidence that developing new products makes more $$ than supporting old ones.

eropple• 13 years ago

YMMV, but I'm very happy with the performance of iOS 7 on my iPad 2.

yaeger2• 13 years ago

I heard this multiple times and I think this is most likely because the iPad2 does not have a retina screen.

I heard from multiple persons with an iPad 3 aka the first and therefore "weakest" iPad that uses a retina display that iOS7 does not result in a nice user experience when comparing it with the performance they had on iOS6. Talk about lots of lags and stuttering in the OS itself.

pjmlp• 13 years ago

Apple doesn't have fragmentation to worry about.

This is not true, even if you are able to install newer iOS releases into older devices, not all features are available.

jigneshg• 13 years ago

I do agree with you. If we upgrade xcode or new os in older device, there is always an issue with performance.

You also need to upgrade RAM an other hardware

makomk4• 13 years ago

Also, if you're developing games for, a lot of the fragmentation issues are apparently the result of differing GPU performance between devices, which is a problem on iOS just as much as on Android.

yeukhon2• 13 years ago

Okay, in that case, yes I do agree there is fragementation. However, I argue being a single OS distributor Apple's move forcing people to move to newer device, SDK and standard helps to achieve the long term goals.

When was the last time you ever thought about upgrading to Android officially from your phone's? Well, at least for contract phone I have I can't upgrade unless Motorola supports it and doing custom build is a lot of work and I care about stability. For the iOS I wait a bit before upgrade (usually 2-3 months after each new release of iOS).

chaz• 13 years ago

Developers must keep up with new SDK and new iOS.

It's also a great way for Apple to defend against companies spending time and money building/updating for Android and other platforms. They'll continue to get priority.

yaeger2• 13 years ago

The question is, by "optimized", do they mean just the UI of the app? The article mentions that the apps must be build with xcode5. But it doesn't specify against which iOS version it must be build.

Do they force devs to not just make their apps looks like iOS7 but also force them to use iOS7.x as a minimum build target? That would really suck considering there still are devices out there that are ineligible to upgrade to iOS7.

muzzamike• 13 years ago

This just means apps will have to be built with Xcode 5. Older iOS versions can still be supported.

interpol_p• 13 years ago

More specifically, it means apps will have to be built with the iOS 7 base SDK (you can modify Xcode 5 to build with the older SDKs as base).

This ensures things like the new style keyboard and status bar UI are used in your app when running on iOS 7.

bnolsen• 13 years ago

the big problem here is that apple gets to decide what hardware can and cant be updated. The nice thing about linux and some not locked down android devices is that someone in the community can generally back port to older hardware if the device manufacturer didn't bother to do it themselves.

Apple will require all new apps to be optimized for iOS 7 from February 1

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