Percentage users still on iOS 3.x? Should I bother?

Question

I know its been asked/answered before, but everything I look at is from back in July, or otherwise out of date.

Should I bother making my app compatible with iOS 3.x (probably 3.1.2 and up)? Means extra testing some coding changes, etc, etc.

Or are enough users on iOS 4.x that I don't need to worry about it.

If there are any sites that keep up to date (daily, weekly, even monthly) stats, please post.

Underpinnings

As usual, I'm voting to close this as too localized. The reason this keeps getting asked (I count seven times in the last year) is that there can be no definitive answer, because these statistics change day to day. – Eby

I also direct you to What percentage of iPhone users have the different versions of iPhone OS/firmware?, where the answers have been kept fairly up to date. – Eby

@Brad -> all the more reason we need to keep asking this question. Hopefully someone will find a link that is kept up to date on a daily basis. The link you posted has answers from Jun/July. So pretty out of date considering when iOS 4 came out. – Underpinnings

No, the fact that this question keeps getting asked shows that it really isn't appropriate for the format of this site. It is too localized to a specific point in time. It will just clutter up the [iphone] tag if it keeps being re-asked once a month. Perhaps the Apple Developer Forums or mailing lists like the iPhoneSB list would be better places to keep inquiring about this. – Eby

@Brad- If people post links that are kept up to date with iOS stats, like the one I posted below, then we will have something that is timeless. Of course the title of the question is not timeless, so you have a point there. But its really no different than asking a programming question. Next month that method could be deprecated when iOS 4.3 comes out or whatever. Nothing lasts for ever. But the heart of this question is timeless (what platform should I support if I'm starting new development right now?). – Underpinnings

Answer 1

This answer is 6 years old.

You can confidently ignore 3.x now.

---

DO NOT BOTHER.

You will find no difference in sales. It's a 4 world as of xmas 2010.

Parallel

This is sort of what I'm thinking, but I'd love to have the data to support it. You'd think Apple would release this info. – Underpinnings

Answer 2

A reasonable number of users are unable to upgrade to iOS 4.x and will remain forever in 3.x land because their phones are pre 3G. Specifically many users in countries without access to the latest smart phones will still consider a 2G iPhone to be modern. I'd recommend launching with iOS 4.x and adding support if your user base desires it (and if your app gets traction, it is a very competitive market). As an aside, the iPhone (2G) were on sale until mid-2008; many users are still under contract on a device and unable to upgrade! Poor souls!

Tendinous

Answer 3

The evidence of the installed base of devices with older OS versions is misleading. People running devices with older OS versions buy new paid apps much less often. Unless you are doing a free app, it's not worth it.

Steinman

Answer 4

Something like 10-20% of my users appear to be on 3.x in the past 2 weeks. I bet the percentage will drop a bit after people get shiny new iPhone 4s for Christmas.

Eldoraeldorado

Answer 5

Here's the best link I've been able to find so far. Best, mostly because it is kept up to date. Of course it still just reflects the users that this one company has, so it could be skewed, and they don't say how many users it is. But its something.

http://www.sunflat.net/en/iphoneoscount/index.html

Looks like iOS3.x is under the 10% mark if you just look at iPhone users.

If anyone has a similar link that has current stats, please post.

Underpinnings

Answer 6

Skip 3.x. As a developer, I have supported 3.x, but I am now ready to move on to 4.x only because the conditionals in my code that are required for supporting any 4.x feature in a 3.x compatible app are creating too many quality control testing situations.

Here are the stats you are looking for:

http://www.9to5mac.com/47661/developer-stats-say-90-of-ios-device-users-run-ios-4-x/

Cheers,

Henry

Soluk

Answer 7

It never hurts to support older iOS versions, until Apple says it's not necessary.

Anyway, here are some results from Google.

Stats from Delhi City

iOS 3.0 Adoption Rate

AdMod Updated iOS Stats

September Breakdown

Frunze

well, it does sort of hurt. New Xcode doesn't have simulator for 3.x, so I would have to go buy some ones old iPhone for testing. – Underpinnings

You can always find 3.x SDK on a torrent site. – Frunze

3.x SDKs have not been cleared for use in newer versions of Xcode. And you should take that to mean, effectively, "don't work." – Groceryman

I'm not even sure what you mean Joe Blow, but say 10% of your users are still on 3.x. How are you going to handle that support load when your app crashes on devices anything below 3.2? You waste FAR MORE TIME AND MONEY on providing support for something you would have to spend more time and money on updating and submitting to Apple. When all you had to do in the first place is make sure your app runs on 3.x. I don't see the big deal supporting iOS's that are still supported by Apple. So no, it DOESN'T hurt to support something that is supportable. – Frunze

You make a fair argument. But until Apple dumps the OS, I will continue to support 3.x. – Frunze