Apple Begins Offering 'Last Compatible' Version of Apps for Users Running Legacy Versions of iOS

Nice move on Apple's part.

With MILLIONS of devices "forever" stuck on iOS 3, iOS 4, iOS 5, and now iOS 6, being able to still download apps is a VERY good thing.

This is one of the biggest things to happen to iOS. Ever.

Original iOS model:

New versions pushed, no way to download old versions. Each download is DRM-tied to your account.

End result?
Scenario 1: User buys old iOS device, cannot download popular apps.
Scenario 2: User already had old iOS device, but needed to be wiped or sent into Apple for repair/replacement. User cannot re-download apps. Even apps they purchased. Paid $60 for iWork? Too bad. Paid $100+ for GPS app? Too bad.

This was a BAD thing. It required users to maintain their own app archive. Saving old versions would take up an insane amount of disk space, and referring to changelogs and release notes to try and figure out which version worked on your device & iOS combination was time-consuming.
Even if you did manage to back up and save EVERY download, it wouldn't help the user in Scenario 1, as they never had a chance to download and backup the app.

This basically forces older, but still perfectly capable devices to become useless. Whereas you once had a hundred apps that worked fine, you would be reduced to using only the built-in apps. No more Twitter, Facebook, Angry Birds, Around Me, Instagram, etc.

Compare this to Android:

Any user can install any app, at any time. Was the 2.0 version of the app the last one that ran on your device? Just get a copy from someone else. Done. No DRM. Piracy is a huge problem, but it makes it easy to install any version of apps, which means even your old/unsupported device will ALWAYS be able to download your favorite app again.

Unbelievable!! I was only just complaining to an Apple Store genius about this very issue last week (not why I was there). IMO this was the most genuine case of planned obsolescence in all of Apple's behaviours. So glad to see them finally fix this!!

Going off to see if this actually works on my old 3G now…

Now just to allow trials and paid upgrade paths.

So does this mean the iOS 7 haters can stay on iOS 6 now? :)

Seems like a nice step in the right direction, but I find It odd that they would allow this. I would assume that since iPhone is all about the apps incompatible apps would push people to buy newer hardware.

I guess this was a customer oriented move instead of a profit oriented move. :D

This is a really unique way to admit to a fragmentation issue.

So... for any app?

What if services are not supported anymore... Or code has changed and certain request are not valid anymore? (on the server side of the app)

Like... if spotify always used code like "search" and it has changed to "find" .... Your app will send a request "search:artist/song" ... but the server cant decode "search" anymore....

It's about time.

I know a fair number of people with no longer supported iOS devices, who have not been able to find apps for a while, and/or they have done a reset and lost their old versions.