3 ms·

I have sympathy for any developer who supports just the latest iOS. Because: * you need to maintain a stable of test devices on all iOS versions * it's time-c

I have sympathy for any developer who supports just the latest iOS. Because: * you need to maintain a stable of test devices on all iOS versions * it's time-consuming to support legacy OS versions * it leads to more support * it has dubious economic value Also, to be angry at app developers because they act rationally seems misplaced. Particularly with HipChat, you want them to support what exactly... every version of OSX, iOS, Android, Windows, and Linux? Because they get pretty close. Why don't you just not update your phone, or your apps? Did FourSquare and HipChat force you to update the app, with some sort of blocking in-app pop-up? p.s. We do support 2-3 versions for our apps, but that's a practical matter for us.

untog 12y ago
There's a sliding scale here. I don't think anyone is expecting app developers to support every OS version that ever existed. But iOS8 doesn't work on the iPhone 4, and according to comments on here works pretty terribly on the 4S, and even on the 5. Supporting the current version and the most recent version doesn't feel like the biggest imposition. As a web developer we've adopted it - we just phased out iOS6 support now that we're looking at iOS8. And there aren't actually that many differences between 7 and 8 - especially compared to 6 and 7. What iOS8-specific SDK features are developers using that means they absolutely have to only target iOS8?
- rqebmm 12y ago
  The difference is that as a web developer you don't have to drop roughly ~$2k on devices to test the older versions of browsers, you just fire up a VM. Apple developers can't roll back the OS version, and need to have at least one 4/4s, one 5/5s, and one iPad for each OS they would like to support. Let alone the new screen fragmentation. The inability to roll back iOS is inconvenient for customers, but it's a HUGE middle-finger to developers. Customer are caught between "don't update a few of my apps" while we are caught between "don't support a number of new users" and "spend a lot of extra time and effort"
  - untog 12y ago
    The difference is that as a web developer you don't have to drop roughly ~$2k on devices to test the older versions of browsers, you just fire up a VM. Why? You can fire up an iOS Simulator just as easily for web developer as you can native development. The same issues affect both. In neither case would I suggest relying on simulated versions of devices - I've been caught out by too many touch event oddities in the past.
jevinskie 12y ago
Yes, Apple not allowing paying developers to downgrade their devices is a huge FU. My office spends way too much time dealing with iDevice management than it should. Which devices do we upgrade to the betas? How many old iOS versions will we support? These questions are made much more difficult when there is no going back to a lower firmware. Of course, we are always buying new devices ($$$) because new demand is outpacing deprecation.
crazygringo 12y ago
It's not a matter of updating the apps, I couldn't install them in the first place. I started a new job, was using iOS 6, needed both apps for the job, and when I'd try to download them from the App Store, I'd get an error message saying they only supported iOS 7. So, I was forced to upgrade to iOS 7, period. Not updating my phone was simply not an option. I mean, HipChat and FourSquare couldn't even support a single version back of iOS? Apparently not. Again, ugh. And I remember reading about some feature where Apple would let you download a previous version of an app that was compatible with your iOS. But that option definitely was not there with HipChat or FourSquare. In fact, I never saw it for any app anywhere, the whole time I was on iOS 6.

untog 12y ago

There's a sliding scale here. I don't think anyone is expecting app developers to support every OS version that ever existed. But iOS8 doesn't work on the iPhone 4, and according to comments on here works pretty terribly on the 4S, and even on the 5. Supporting the current version and the most recent version doesn't feel like the biggest imposition. As a web developer we've adopted it - we just phased out iOS6 support now that we're looking at iOS8. And there aren't actually that many differences between 7 and 8 - especially compared to 6 and 7. What iOS8-specific SDK features are developers using that means they absolutely have to only target iOS8?

rqebmm 12y ago
The difference is that as a web developer you don't have to drop roughly ~$2k on devices to test the older versions of browsers, you just fire up a VM. Apple developers can't roll back the OS version, and need to have at least one 4/4s, one 5/5s, and one iPad for each OS they would like to support. Let alone the new screen fragmentation. The inability to roll back iOS is inconvenient for customers, but it's a HUGE middle-finger to developers. Customer are caught between "don't update a few of my apps" while we are caught between "don't support a number of new users" and "spend a lot of extra time and effort"
- untog 12y ago
  The difference is that as a web developer you don't have to drop roughly ~$2k on devices to test the older versions of browsers, you just fire up a VM. Why? You can fire up an iOS Simulator just as easily for web developer as you can native development. The same issues affect both. In neither case would I suggest relying on simulated versions of devices - I've been caught out by too many touch event oddities in the past.

jevinskie 12y ago

Yes, Apple not allowing paying developers to downgrade their devices is a huge FU. My office spends way too much time dealing with iDevice management than it should. Which devices do we upgrade to the betas? How many old iOS versions will we support? These questions are made much more difficult when there is no going back to a lower firmware. Of course, we are always buying new devices ($$$) because new demand is outpacing deprecation.

crazygringo 12y ago

It's not a matter of updating the apps, I couldn't install them in the first place. I started a new job, was using iOS 6, needed both apps for the job, and when I'd try to download them from the App Store, I'd get an error message saying they only supported iOS 7. So, I was forced to upgrade to iOS 7, period. Not updating my phone was simply not an option. I mean, HipChat and FourSquare couldn't even support a single version back of iOS? Apparently not. Again, ugh. And I remember reading about some feature where Apple would let you download a previous version of an app that was compatible with your iOS. But that option definitely was not there with HipChat or FourSquare. In fact, I never saw it for any app anywhere, the whole time I was on iOS 6.