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iphoneobjective-ciosversionautomatic-ref-counting
Geri Borbás
Geri Borbás

Reputation: 16598

iOS automatic reference counting (ARC) backward compatibility?

What is the lowest iOS version I can build for while using (ARC)?

I'm planning to ship for a wide range of devices (like some older iPods, too), so it is important.

Upvotes: 2

Views: 1484

Answers (2)

Basil Bourque
Basil Bourque

Reputation: 338516

ARC works on any version of iOS 4, 5, and 6. On iOS 4, the limitation is no automatic zeroing of weak references.

If you intend to use ARC (and Apple strongly recommends doing so), then I suggest you target version 4.2.1. That is the latest version of iOS 4 that runs on all devices that cannot support iOS 5 & 6. Specifically, on the iPhone 3G and iPod touch (2G) version 4.2.1 is the highest supported OS. You may see people suggest iOS 4.3, but you loose the two devices of which millions were sold.

I base my suggestion on my reading of this Wikipedia page, List of iOS Devices, and this article, iOS 4.3 Will Not Be Compatible With All iDevices.

Upvotes: 0

V1ru8
V1ru8

Reputation: 6147

ARC is (with some limitations) backward compatible to iOS 4. http://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#releasenotes/ObjectiveC/RN-TransitioningToARC/_index.html

ARC is supported in Xcode 4.2 for Mac OS X v10.6 and v10.7 (64-bit applications) and for iOS 4 and iOS 5. Weak references are not supported in Mac OS X v10.6 and iOS 4.

Upvotes: 5

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