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I haven't studied Objective-C yet, except some basics. I like backward compatibility, so I would like my iOS app work for example with iPod Touch 3rd Gen. (iOS 5) and the new iPhone 6 (iOS 8) also. In that case do I need to use Swift yet?

Edit: My idea at the moment is to make cheap apps for iOS, Android and Windows Phone for developing countries and others as well. That is why I'm interested in backward compatibility (not Swift development), because there are people who buy used devices and still might be able to buy apps to those devices. When I asked this question I was uncertain how far back I can go with iOS versions.

tomihasa
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    If you want to support iOS 6 and older, you cannot use Swift: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/24007050/swift-with-ios-5-deployment-target – Glorfindel Jul 14 '15 at 06:58
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    Swift is made as an addition to Objective-C, not to replace it. So you can still use Objective-C for many many years. – Fabio Poloni Jul 14 '15 at 07:00
  • If one would have to use Swift, the number of stable running apps would go close to 0. – Amin Negm-Awad Jul 14 '15 at 07:04

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Swift's min deployment target is iOS 7. So, no, if you want to support iOS 5 (which would be completely nuts IMHO), you'll need to use objective C.

Also, it doesn't look like Apple will remove support for objective C in any near future, so there is no need to switch to Swift anyway, you are still free to decide which language you prefer.

nburk
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    98% of the users use iOS 7 or newer (Source: https://developer.apple.com/support/app-store/), so even iOS 6 would be nuts. – Fabio Poloni Jul 14 '15 at 07:01
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    fully agreed! generally worrying about about backwards compatibility isn't wrong. but on iOS it's reasonable to assume that devices have a certain OS version and build your apps accordingly! support for _anything_ earlier than iOS 7 is just not necessary. – nburk Jul 14 '15 at 07:03
  • I still use my iPod Touch 3rd Gen. 24/7 to wake me up. And when I make food I use the built-in Clock app to remind me when the food is ready. I also use the White Noise app by TMSOFT when I work with my computer to eliminate disturbance from outdoor noises. My idea at the moment is to make cheap apps for iOS, Android and Windows Phone for developing countries and others as well. That is why I'm interested in backward compatibility, because there are people who buy used devices and still might be able to buy apps to those devices. – tomihasa Jul 14 '15 at 11:27
  • Sorry but you are not the general statistic. The statistic is clear how many people use that old devices. Most of peoples using old hardware won't even bother to download you awesome app(not to mention buying it). They use old hardware because they don't benefit from it in the common case. To answer your original question - @nburk give you all the clues you needed to take your decisions. – hris.to Jul 14 '15 at 11:53