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As a developer, that long tail of folks on the previous major version really sucks with fast-moving frameworks like SwiftUI. There's no way my company (a bankin

As a developer, that long tail of folks on the previous major version really sucks with fast-moving frameworks like SwiftUI. There's no way my company (a banking app) would drop 10% of customers, so we typically do N-1 for iOS support. Our Android app shipped almost 3 years ago with minSdk=24 (Android 6.0) and we haven't had to update it.

afavour 2y ago
The web browser is a big issue with this, too. A Safari release broke IndexedDB and they didn’t release a fix for over two months because browser updates are tied to the OS.
- bzzzt 2y ago
  If there's a critical security update they can release an update within days. So it's got nothing to do with the complexity of releasing a new OS, it's just that they found IndexedDB not important enough to warrant an out of cycle update.
ilinx 2y ago
I write apps for a large regional grocery store chain, and we have to support N-2. Even then we get support emails every time we bump it up.
- flutas 2y ago
  I work on Android apps for a food company turned media network. We, to this day...with no talks of changing it any time soon, support all the way back to Android 5.0 (released in November on 2014).
  - Const-me 2y ago
    I mostly work on Windows apps. People still complain when software drops support of Windows 7 released in 2009, or Windows 8 released in 2012. Despite none of them are supported by Microsoft.
    - mschuster91 2y ago
      It'd be a more fair comparison to take into account Windows 7's EOL which was just a year ago IIRC if you coughed up Extended Support money, its broad install base, and it being the last actually truly decent Windows that had a consistent UI across the place and no ads.
      - onlytime 2y ago
        Windows 7 didn't have a consistent UI, though. In multiple places you could find Vista and XP-decorated panels. Your nostalgia is wrong.
        mavhc 2y ago
        https://ntdev.blog/2023/01/01/state-of-the-windows-how-many-layers-of-ui-inconsistencies-are-in-windows-11/ https://ntdev.blog/2023/01/01/state-of-the-windows-how-many-... Goes back to 3.1
        BlueTemplar 2y ago
        That only continued to degrade with Windows 8 and 10 though.

afavour 2y ago

The web browser is a big issue with this, too. A Safari release broke IndexedDB and they didn’t release a fix for over two months because browser updates are tied to the OS.

bzzzt 2y ago
If there's a critical security update they can release an update within days. So it's got nothing to do with the complexity of releasing a new OS, it's just that they found IndexedDB not important enough to warrant an out of cycle update.

ilinx 2y ago

I write apps for a large regional grocery store chain, and we have to support N-2. Even then we get support emails every time we bump it up.

flutas 2y ago
I work on Android apps for a food company turned media network. We, to this day...with no talks of changing it any time soon, support all the way back to Android 5.0 (released in November on 2014).
- Const-me 2y ago
  I mostly work on Windows apps. People still complain when software drops support of Windows 7 released in 2009, or Windows 8 released in 2012. Despite none of them are supported by Microsoft.
  - mschuster91 2y ago
    It'd be a more fair comparison to take into account Windows 7's EOL which was just a year ago IIRC if you coughed up Extended Support money, its broad install base, and it being the last actually truly decent Windows that had a consistent UI across the place and no ads.
    - onlytime 2y ago
      Windows 7 didn't have a consistent UI, though. In multiple places you could find Vista and XP-decorated panels. Your nostalgia is wrong.
      - mavhc 2y ago
        https://ntdev.blog/2023/01/01/state-of-the-windows-how-many-layers-of-ui-inconsistencies-are-in-windows-11/ https://ntdev.blog/2023/01/01/state-of-the-windows-how-many-... Goes back to 3.1
      - BlueTemplar 2y ago
        That only continued to degrade with Windows 8 and 10 though.