Apple Closes App Store Doors to iOS 3.1.3?

What I get from this is update your devices to the way we want you to do it. If you don't, no more icrack apps for you. lol

and people wonder why i call apple communist.

So Apple locks us down to using the App Store. Then they prevent those of us using older iOS software from getting Apps from the App Store. Additionally Apple tried to make it illegal to jailbreak.


Sounds like they want us to buy a new phone badly.

Planned obsolescence isn't enough for Apple. Now they are using forced obsolescence to get people to buy new devices. Can you say lawsuit?

8 day break?....what about the customers?.....wtf is Apple thinking?

You forgot to mention that apple limits the device's that can upgrade beyond a certain point, so they essentially just froze all of their old devices from being able to get new software without iTunes.

The fact that developers will be unable to push updates for their apps for well over a week is ridiculous. Plus, I'm sure the huge backlog of apps will not be cleared on the 8th day. Oh well, I hope nothing really breaks, or an app could really be trashed.

Ok, so I will admit right up front, I know nothing about iAnything...

Sooo, WHY is 3.1.3 the magic number?

...and I rest my case.

I believe it was the last update supported by earliest devices and before 4.0. I still have a first gen which is running 3.1.3. (jailbroken)

This is the only way Apple will keep Android behind them. This limits the fragmentation between all the devices, making it easier for devs to program.

Well, to be fair, this only affects the original iPhone and first gen iPod touch. These devices were released in 2007. Both of these devices have received updates all the way up to last year which ended with v3.1.3

Not really sure how many of these devices are really operating or being operated anymore, but most of them are probably iPod touches. These older devices most likely do not even have the ability to run the newer updates, and continuing to provide updates for older software would be silly from a business perspective. I would guess that there was maybe a security flaw or something found with the older iOS version and they disabled access instead of trying to go back and fiddle with the outdated software.

This just made Installous a much more attractive option for people with 3.1.3 who want to download apps on the device.

Here is the story Apple wants them to upgrade their devices.

it's a feature.

It's ok, people with that iOS probably aren't paying for software anyways.

First of all, did you all just completely fail to read the part where it was explained that this may simply be a temporary glitch, or that they can use iTunes as a temporary workaround?

Second of all - the only devices affected by this are the original iPhone, and the 1st gen iPod. That means that iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S and the 2nd and 3rd-generation iPod touch are not affected at all. The original iPhone was released in June 2007 - before Android had even been released.

Thirdly - if you really want to talk about failure to support older devices, look no further than the Nexus One. Launched in 2010, and Google's flagship smartphone - it will not receive the Android Ice Cream Sandwich update. Who is forcing who to upgrade? Who is a communist? Who limits the devices that can upgrade beyond a certain point?

Just imagine first defrauding morons into buying their proprietary drm infested
crap hardware and then hitting them with this. It is indeed sad to be an Apple fanboy. And these reptiles still go out on a limb to push people into buying crap from Apple.

Heheh First of all - article lacks very important information - WHAT devices will be limited - thanks to watcha for pointing it out. On the other hand his argument that Nexus won't get ICS isn't valid at all - a smartphone based on android 1.6 can STILL purchase compatible apps, Apple basically switched that option OFF for customers who DID NOT upgrade yet. It's like selling a car to a person and after 5 years taking the roof and the doors out. You can still drive it - but the product is seriously crippled by company's policy enforced by them not being bothered to support 5% (another missing info in the article - how many devices will be affected?) of 40% of all smartphone users - perhaps the number is so small it doesn't matter in the end? I'm an Android person but let's face it - it's kind of understandable.

The ICS argument is entirely valid, because it addresses device support. Some people may have bought the Nexus 7 months ago on a 24 month contract and don't get the software updates which give them the latest features, giving them a push to upgrade. That is far more unacceptable, in my eyes, than a temporary bug with a workaround which causes issues for much much older devices.

People using the original iPhone and iPod can still buy apps through iTunes, it's just temporarily (and possibly due to a bug) disabled on the device, at the moment. Apple hasn't 'switched off' that option for customers. No doubt the issue will be rectified, so in fact the Android issue is worse.

To use your car analogy, it's like the analogue speedo breaking, so the customer has the temporary inconvenience of having to use the digital gauge to the left instead, until the car gets repaired.

Ouch, sucks if your using a 5yr old touch or iPhone, still, 5 yrs running for an electronic gizmo is not bad tbh, pretty much on the line of redundant after 5 yrs, does not owe you anything after that sad as it may be!

^^ (past the advertisement -- if it is still there)

who knew? a relatively reasonable argument on both sides by two people with differing opinions.

...that's rare. way to represent!

@tinnerdrp: Not acceptable that a flagship phone, wont get update to the recent software.

@watcha: Nexus original phone was sold under Google store not on carrier, so your contract thingy does not apply here, nobody is locked to nothing. It really suck to fork 500$ usd and then not be able to upgrade. i know but i least i can still buy and download apps for my android 1.6 released back in 2008.
and you know that if apple fix this.. it is because of the Bad PR this do for them.

I fail to see your point. People with android devices going back to 1.x can still access the market, they just can't install some apps which require more horsepower than their phone possesses. This is about being locked out of the app store (assuming its intentional, well it must be cause apple "just works") not about OS updating timetables.

Did you read the part where that is a serious PITA? And how many people actually know how to install an App from iTunes anyway (I do, but that is beside the point)?



Have you tried iOS 4.0+ on a 3G? It is terrible.



This isn't about providing updates to the OS on the phone. This is about being able to buy Apps on your phone. I'm certain that anyone with a Nexus One can buy Apps from the Android Market.

yeah it is called mechanical incremental sales... SMILE, Apple just raped you again , and the best part, you gonna pay money for it

I had a glitch on my iPhone 3G, that didn't allow me to update an app, but I could either click update all, or install a new app. Just the button to update a specific app was unclickable.This was a few months ago, then I updated to 4.0.

Pain in the ass, maybe. But it's a bug - that by definition is unintended behaviour, of course it's a pain in the ass. But that isn't the same as it being unsupported, or worse, intended behaviour.

This is absolutely about the support provided on old devices. This, to anyone logical, includes both updates and bug fixes. In the Nexus' case, the users don't even have the option to install '4.0' - which may I remind you is an OPTION not demanded, meaning they have a relatively new phone with already old software. In Apples case, the bug testing on very old devices seems to have slipped through the net and they will remedy it. So, Apple is remedying their gap in support for a much OLDER device, where a workaround already exists. Compare that to Google Nexus, where no such workaround exists, and no plans are in place to put that service back in place on a much newer model.

So which should we be criticising?

As I explained to the other guy - just because the gap in functionality is different, doesn't mean parallels can't be drawn. They both fall under the category of supporting older devices, in Apples case much much older devices.

People are not locked out of the App store at all, which is where your whole sentiment breaks down - there is a workaround. Wheras people on the Nexus ARE locked out, permanently, from ICS. And that's deliberate, intended behaviour from Google, forcing many to upgrade. From Apples perspective it is a bug which will no doubt be remedied.

Oh, and to finally round off this discussion, Apple has done exactly what I predicted, fixed the problem in an incredibly timely fashion.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/20 [...] -hold-off/

This is fantastic. Devices first brought out in 2007 and an immediate fix. Credit where credit is due.

I'm glad they fixed it (most likely due to the backlash/negative publicity) but your comparison still doesn't hold water. We were talking about market/app store availability not OS updates. If you want to take that route I'll ask if you can put iOS 5 on a 3G iPhone? No, not supported? That's what I thought. On a 3G you got 4.2.1 as your last update and you only got past 4.1 to fix the intentional bricking it caused with that update. You didn't get 4.2.6, 4.3, 5.0.1, 5.1.

I'm not sure why google not currently releasing only their latest update is such a bad thing when apple abandoned its product many many versions ago.

There, that's a more apples to apples comparison for ya.