Comment by rendezvouscp | Hacker News Reader

Comment by rendezvouscp | Hacker News Reader

I doubt this will ever be fixed by Apple because this issue affects so few people. The overwhelming majority of iOS devices in active use can run at least iOS 4.3[1], and I’d guess that the users that don’t upgrade to the latest iOS version are the same ones that don’t update all their apps through iTunes. I’m guessing that the number of users who update their apps through iTunes but don’t update their device (or can’t update their device) to the latest iOS is very small.

I wasn’t particularly thrilled that I was forced to drop support for iOS 3, but looking at the number of active users of my app[2] that were running the current version, I saw that none of them were on iOS 3. This was probably the right time for Apple to drop support for < iOS 4.3.

[1] I don’t have stats to back this up, but seeing that iPhone 3GS is the lowest hardware to support iOS 4.3, and they’ve sold way more devices since then than original iPhone and iPhone 3G, I think it’s fair to assume that the vast majority of iOS devices in use can run iOS 4.3 or later.

[2] https://ironmoney.com/ios/

I don't see how there are so few people given the success that iPhone has been: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:IPhone_sales_per_quarter_s...

A 3-5 year old phone should do the job just fine.

I gave an old iPod Touch 2nd gen to a relative and was super annoyed that a 2 year old device doesn't have Skype anymore. I'm pretty sure it had at some point but since the device is stuck on iOS 4.2.1 I can't find the old Skype versions on AppStore anymore.

The problem that Apple is avoiding though is having a bad experience because you have an outdated OS - this occurs on the desktop with OSX as well. Because older OS won't handle newer software gracefully they just "Force" the upgrade. Not saying I agree with it, but that's the assumed policy.

While [1] may be true, many people never upgrade their iOS.

My stats are such that 8% of my users are using < iOS 4.3, and of that 8% slice almost 3/4 (or 6% of my total users) _could_ update to something newer, but they're happily running old iOSes.

If I were to cut them off, would that magically make them upgrade? I don't think so. They'd just be bummed that their apps stopped working.

I don’t think that would magically make them upgrade either, although they might be willing to do so since the only thing we can do is not upgrade our apps to support them.

Obviously this will vary from app to app, but I’m surprised that you have such a high number of users with an older version of iOS. Is that across all of your apps/games?

I can collaborate that data somewhat - across the US apps I have access to stats for (a sizeable number of users) I see a similar figure (~6.5%) running iOS 4.3 and lower.

However, only 0.7% of devices are iPhone 3G and lower, so the majority of users I see running <4.3 are not updating out of choice.

This is all anecdotal, though - figures will vary dramatically across apps/demographics/etc.

It's from my most popular app (game), but they're all similar in terms of audience.

Has that number changed much over time? The iPhone 3 hasn't been for sale for over 2 years at this point, so I'm curious if you're seeing the number go down at all.

What are you referring to when you say the iPhone 3? I'm assuming a typo but not sure if you meant the iPhone 4 (on sale for 2 years) or the iPhone 3GS (on sale for 3 years and oldest version to support iOS 4.3 and up).

I mean the iPhone 3G.

Not everybody can afford a new iPhone and buying one second hand is a way for people who can't afford a new one to get one. It is entirely possible that those number stay right around where they are at because of 2nd hand users.

"If I were to cut them off, would that magically make them upgrade? I don't think so. They'd just be bummed that their apps stopped working."

Remember, the problem listed will only take effect if:

* Their iTunes has downloaded the latest version, and

* They have to restore their device from a backup

Doing an update to your app to remove iOS3 compat won't remove it from folks' devices, iTunes won't push it to their device, and it won't magically stop working. Seems like such a small thing to worry about, especially given all the cool things in iOS4 and above...

It's worth remembering that many, many people experienced horrible performance problems on the iPhone3G under iOS4.

It's entirely possible that your 8% of users avoiding 4.3 despite its availability aren't tech-newbs, but are making a conscious effort to not update their OS.

In which case nothing short of "finally decided to get a new phone" is going to get them to upgrade.

What time period are these stats from? Last week, last month, last year? I have <4% of my users on anything < iOS 5. I only have 1.3% using < 4.3 over the last month.

They are my "active" users as defined by Flurry - not sure what that window is.

Many people can't upgrade their iOS because Apple doesn't support it. Example: my second generation iPod Touch is stuck at iOS 4.2.

Just reading between the lines on your post: don't think that iOS < 4.3 implies iOS 3. I think you'll find a much higher per centage of iOS 4.2.1 users. This the latest version supported by iPhone 3G.

egb more or less addressed this but I thought I'd make it explicit.

4.2.1 is indeed the largest piece (exactly 50%) of my users that are on iOS less than 4.3, with other versions sprinkled in. And as it happens, looking by device, 87% of my <4.3 users are on 3G devices.

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