Version compatibility with iphone SDK's . tar getting on older Sdk using higher sdk

Question

I just recently downloaded the Xcode 4.6 with mac 10.8.4 with iOS 6.0 SDK package and I immediately noticed that I am unable to use my iPhone 3Gs with iOS 4.6 for debugging. . I have my deployment target set to 3.0 because I am not using any features in my app above 3.0 and I want to be able to target all versions 3.0 or higher. I have all my provisioning profiles installed and up to date. I have quit and restarted Xcode, I have cleaned the build multiple times. My question is, is it possible to still make apps with the new SDK work for iOS versions lower than 6? How can I be sure that my app will still run on lower iOS versions if I am unable to install them on my old phone?

Answer 1

As of May 1 iOS 3.0 is no longer supported by Apple and you can not submit apps that any thing lower that iOS 4.3.

More important is that less than 1% is on an earlier version of iOS the version 5. 5% is on iOS 5 and 94% is on iOS 6, see the Check list.

This is because Apple now only accepts apps that support the 4" device for which you will need iOS 6.0 SDK or higher. The iOS 6 SDK dropped support for armv6 device (iPhone and iPhone 3G) thus making the minimum SDK to support 4.3.

Your iPhone 3GS will be able to run iOS 6, so you can still use this device to debug you applications.

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On a side note: As of now it is smart to support only iOS 6 with autolayout to make the transition to iOS 7 later this year easier.

Answer 2

with Xcode 4.6 you can ensure compatibility from iOS 4.3 to iOS 6