Do I still have to test with older iPhone OS versions when using 3.0?

Question

I wonder if that's needed...who knows?

EDIT: Oh sorry ppl, I made a big mistake here. I want to develop for iPod touch users as well, and they are not likely upgrading so much to 3.0 like the privileged iPhone users do. So for that reason I want to keep developing for 2.2, but Apple is now forcing all developers to test on 3.0. But with only one device, that would mean I have to decide: Do I want to test with it for 3.0, or 2.2?

Now that's clear: If I upgrade my iPod touch to 3.0, I can forget development for 2.2, right? Or is there a way I can still develop for 2.2 while I have 3.0 on my iPod touch?

Answer 1

If you have customers still using them then, yes, you really should be testing with older versions.

Having said that, it's pretty tricky to know what proportion of users have upgraded. I think we can be pretty sure that most iPhone owners will upgrade soon if they haven't already. It's free, there's no good reason not to. On the other hand, iPod touch users may not be willing to pay to get 3.0. Are you willing to exclude them?

Answer 2

If you have built you app using the 3.0 framework then you cannot test for 2.0, it will not work as the API's have changed for things like the UITableView and would crash on 2.0.

When you deploy to the app store, you will need to specify what version you app is and users who have not upgraded to 3.0 will not be able to install your app. But not to worry, tapbots are reporting that huge number for iPhone users have upgraded to 3.0 http://tapbots.com/blog/news/iphone-os-30-adoption-rate

So keep building on 3.0 and by the time you are finished and approved then nearly everyone will be on 3.0.

Answer 3

Don't forget the iPod crowd who has to pay to get the upgrade. If you aim this market too, it might be worth to keep a version working with 2.x