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The next update of my iPhone app will be targeted for iOS7 only. A couple of questions?

Does this mean I can delete all the non-retina images from my app?

If I have only retina images left do I still need to mark them @2x?

Does Apple keep older iOS versions of my app on the store so those running older versions of iOS who have bought or want to buy can still access it?

Any help would be most appreciated.

dandan78
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Paul Andrew Herbert
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2 Answers2

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Yes you still need to have the @2x at the end. Yes you can drop all the non-retina images but could affect performance as even the newer devices will use some none-retina images but the main performance hit was to iPhone 3GS and below but as iOS 7 will not run on iPhone 3GS or below it isn't a requirement you'll just have to handle the performance issues. No Apple do not keep hold of older versions of your app on the app store, if you drop support for it then it is gone.

Popeye
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  • Hi Popeye, thanks for you input. Funny thing is some of my images are marked '@2x' and some not. I have a lot of double sized images with no '@2x' post-fix and with no equivalent non-retina counterpart and they seem to work fine on my iPhone 5c. Am I missing some thing when you say I should keep the '@2x'? – – Paul Andrew Herbert Jan 16 '14 at 16:20
  • @Popeye What about iPad mini? From what I understood it runs iPhone apps as 3.5" (non-retina) – thedp Feb 25 '14 at 16:30
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    @thedp: iPad mini (1st gen) does run the 3.5" display, but starting with iOS 7 is using Retina artwork (if provided). That means it is completely safe to drop non-Retina artwork if your app is iPhone only. – Scott Berrevoets Feb 25 '14 at 16:32
  • @ScottBerrevoets Thank you! One more thing, I use "Images.xcassets", what should I do with the warning messages saying I have missing images for non retina ? – thedp Feb 25 '14 at 16:51
  • @thedp: If your deployment target is set to 7.0, you shouldn't get the warning for the iPhone images (you will for iPad, because of iPad 2 and first generation iPad mini). If your deployment target is below 7.0, then you will need to include non-Retina images as iPhone 3GS and iPod touch 4th generation are still supported then. – Scott Berrevoets Feb 25 '14 at 17:10
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    @ScottBerrevoets Managed to solve the warnings issue by going to the imageSet, clicking the empty(!) square of the 1x, and "Remove Selected Item"... I have no idea why, but it worked. Thanks again. – thedp Feb 28 '14 at 13:20
  • @thedp: I bet the problem was in the Contents.json file. There was still a reference to the non-retina file. – palme Aug 19 '15 at 13:37
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To answer the second part of your question YES, Apple does indeed store older versions for download.

For my app Parkable I created one for iOS5/6 then when 7 came about I specifically targeted it and dropped support for older iOS builds, now if you're not on 7+ you can still download the old version (instead of the old error telling the user to update their OS). This happens automatically as I recall, simply change your deployment target in both your project and target under the info tab.

Feel free to test if you have a pre-7 device (iPhone or iPad) and 7+ device https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/parkable/id577954935?mt=8&uo=4

Stu P.
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