
Latest Version (iOS Support) - joshuacc
http://mattgemmell.com/2011/12/05/latest-version/
======
untog
What the post _doesn't_ mention- devices that are unable to upgrade. As the
iOS product line matures there are going to be increasing numbers of devices
left behind and unable to upgrade to the latest OS. Not the majority of
course, but it's something to bear in mind.

Also, why automatically target the latest and greatest? The app I'm working on
doesn't use any 5.0-specific features and I would imagine that a ton of apps
are the same. Develop for iOS 5.0 when you're using a feature it provides.

~~~
mikeash
Apple hasn't left a device behind since the iPhone 3G, and those devices are a
minuscule proportion of the userbase.

No doubt they'll start doing this to the 3GS et al at _some_ point, but Apple
still sells the 3GS _right now_ so it will probably be quite some time before
it stops getting OS updates. I think that is the case of devices that don't
support the latest OSes, they can be ignored, and newer devices losing out on
hypothetical future OSes is a bridge which can be crossed when it happens.

------
gcl2
I don't know whether this person is trolling or not but if he's not, I doubt
he's going to be good at running a business (might be great at running an
app/product though).

While all the stated reasons are correct and beneficial, they are only to one
party - the developers themselves. And unless all your money is coming from
the developer (which by definition is not), you probably want to care more
about what your users need and want rather than tell them what you can and
will not support.

Running a business (a profitable one) is all about meeting customers' needs,
expectations and wants. No matter how ridiculous they are. No matter if they
are wrong and you are right. No matter if they are running your app on a
machine from the 90's while you only support the latest and greatest
HTML5/Canvas/Node.js/blah blah.

One customer that you don't support is not just one customer that you've lost.
It's one customer that you've turned away from your product AND incentivized
to spread the bad karma to everyone they talk to about your product. The next
time they hear someone discussing your product, they're going to chime in
"Yeah, I loved using them until they turned me away by not supporting
<whatever version they had>. They don't care about me at all." While this
statement is false or at least untrue (I'm sure you care about all your
customers right?), the reality is that it doesn't matter. They are spreading a
negative review and it's only going to fester and grow from that point on.

So whenever you're ready to build a business out of your successful
website/app/whatever, remember that you need to support whoever is ready to
pay you. That's all that matters.

------
martingordon
Part of the reason a lot of users are running the latest OS is that Apple
sells twice as many devices each successive generation and the last three
generations (including the current) run the latest OS.

Getting the last few percent of users to upgrade (assuming their devices
support it) will be even easier now that iOS has PC-free software updates.

------
kinnth
I work on apps every day and I always recommend supporting 3.2 and higher.
There are relatively few "necessity" api's in anything above that and there is
another much simpler way of blocking out the older devices if you need to. Set
the opengles flag to 2.0 and higher, this will automatically cut out all of
the older devices while not punishing people who just don't upgrade.

Don't kid yourself that instapapers numbers are fully correct as Josh mentions
as they are Sku'd because his app is built to work best with iPad and
therefore all OS's will be higher. iPad is also owned by more tech savvy
people and thus they are more likely to upgrade.

If you are making a simple app which has a nice interface always aim for
lowest common denominator. If you are making a 3D game cut your losses and use
the tech of opengles 2.0, if you are somewhere in between, always aim for LCD
and you can always put your OS up if need be.

~~~
gte910h
Why 3.2? It's the initial, somewhat broken iPad release. 3.1.2 or 4.0 are
better minimum targets than 3.2

------
seiji
_Customers are not entitled to updates unconditionally._

The missing ability to cut a new paid version of the same app is an oddity of
the iOS App Store. Some app versions should have limited free upgrade lives.
You should feel dirty upgrading from GoodReader 2010 to GoodReader 2012
without contributing to the extra years of development.

Apple could add the feature, but they would have to stop blatant abuses (like
AdBlock saying there's a new version every day). A simple version EOL of 12
months with a 6-week-back free upgrade period would be sufficient. In the
Updates tab, your [Update] button gets replaced with a [Purchase Latest
Version] button. Problem solved.

