Will apps built for iOS 6 or earlier versions run without issues on iOS 7?

Question

Or does every app producer need to make updates to their app to make them run on iOS 7. I assume not, but I'd love a confirmation and some risks that are present in apps built for earlier versions of iOS when running on iOS 7.

Answer 1

This comes up every year. This is not specific to iOS 7 (or any other version of iOS).

As a developer you must test your existing app(s) to be sure they will work as-is under the upcoming version of iOS. Some apps will work just fine with no changes. Many apps will have some issue ranging from a small UI glitch to frequent crashes.

You need to install the beta iOS on a test device and test your app from the app store and see what issues you have, if any.

If you find any issues you then need to fins solutions. In many cases you can fix your app without the need to update to the latest Base SDK. But in some cases you may want to update to the latest and use some new features while fixing any issues.

Answer 2

You will need to test:

• built on iOS 6, run on iOS 7 (likely to work, possible minor appearance issues)
• coded against iOS 6, built on iOS 7, run on iOS 7 (likely to need work)
• coded against iOS 7, built on iOS 7, run on iOS 6 (likely to need lots of work)

YMMV