Make the Apple App Store backward compatible on Blog24

Make the Apple App Store backward compatible

Posted by Chris
On May 13, 2009
Categories: Apple, Featured, Software

Apple App Store

When Apple release the new iPhone Operating System (3.0) they will remove applications which are not compatible with the update from the App Store. Is it time to make the App Store backward compatible?

iPhone App developers encouraged yet warned

Apple have been encouraging iPhone App developers to create new apps for iPhone OS 3.0 for some time. In addition to developing new apps developers are also encouraged to test old apps to make sure that they are also compatible with the impending iPhone OS release (if not make them so). This encouragement from Apple seems reasonable and logical, yet it has been tainted with the warning that compatibility issues could lead to some applications being removed from Apple’s App Store.

When I first read about this I immediately thought that Apple were being inconsiderate. Initially I thought that Apple will be removing all apps that would not work on an iPod (or iPhone) that was not running the third major release of the iPhone operating system. However, it is now my understanding that a current iPhone OS 2.x application that is made compatible with version 3.0 will still work on iPods and iPhones running OS 2.x.

The Future will bring compatibility issues

We all know that technology progresses at a terrific rate. How long before there is a newer, better iPhone or iPod Touch? Three months, six months, a year perhaps? (Surely not a whole year!) There is no doubting that there will be new iPhones and new iPods and maybe a new device that Apple have not even thought of yet. What is new today will become old and one day today’s iPhones and iPods will not be compatible with the latest iPhone OS.

These new products will, of course , feature cutting edge technologies which make us wonder how we coped in the past.

Now imagine a time when there are a number of devices (old and new) that run different versions of iPhone Operating Systems. Will Apple continue to remove older versions of applications on its iTunes App Store, simply because they don’t run on the latest release of the iPhone OS?

Improving the App Store

Apple should act now by making simple changes to the iTunes App Store and the App Store application on the iPhone and iPod Touch.

The software we use to look and download new applications should be made ‘device aware’.

For example when someone uses App Store on an iPod Touch they should not been shown the great Apps that will either lack functionality or simply will not work on their iPod. I am sure it would be really easy for Apple to add such filters. Taken further Apple could filter out Apps that would not work with the operating system that the device is currently using.

Making iTunes on a Mac or PC ‘device aware’ would be possible too. If you own and sync an iPhone with OS2.1 using iTunes then make sure only compatible apps are shown in the iTunes App Store. Of course there should be the option to switch such a function off, so users can see every application available, regardless of which device they actually own and which iPhone OS it uses.

Take a look at the Apple Store and you can choose suitable accessories for your iPod, whether it is the latest Shuffle or even a pre-Nano iPod Mini. To find suitable accessories Apple make it super easy by adding ‘Shop by Type’. A simple idea where the correct iPod is chosen from the extensive list and the user is presented with compatible accessories.

If it can be done for accessories — why not applications?

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One Response to “ Make the Apple App Store backward compatible ”

# 1 Mark Says:
June 19th, 2009 at 8:28 am
Oh dear, I found my first app that is OS 3.0 only. The F1 Timing app was updated to become 3.0-compatible and, in the process, has become 2.x-incompatible. It fails to sync with an iPod Touch running the older firmware. So there’s presumably now no way to resync the original version of the app if I need to restore the device.

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Make the Apple App Store backward compatible

iPhone App developers encouraged yet warned