14 DAY TRIAL // Apple has released a brief but clear message on its Developer portal, informing the masses that any binaries submitted after February 1, 2014 will be required to support iOS 7.
According to the memo on developer.apple.com, “Starting February 1, new apps and app updates submitted to the App Store must be built with the latest version of Xcode 5 and must be optimized for iOS 7.”
The Cupertino company offers the iOS Human Interface Guidelines for review, encouraging application sellers to get documented well.
If you can’t read between the lines, the announcement indicates that Apple will no longer be accepting any applications that haven’t been built with iOS 7 in mind. Any application you may be coding exclusively for iOS 6 or lower will not be approved after February 1.
This doesn’t mean Apple is preparing to leave behind customers who are still stuck on iOS 4, iOS 5 or iOS 6, whether it’s a hardware limitation or by the user’s own volition.
Developers can still code binaries in such a way that they support both iOS 7 and older versions of the operating system.
Apple encourages programmers to consider approaching the task in the way that the iPhone maker itself did while redesigning its own apps, such as Mail, Safari, Notes, and Reminders.
Apple says iOS 7 embodies the following themes:
“Deference. The UI helps users understand and interact with the content, but never competes with it. Clarity. Text is legible at every size, icons are precise and lucid, adornments are subtle and appropriate, and a sharpened focus on functionality motivates the design. Depth. Visual layers and realistic motion impart vitality and heighten users’ delight and understanding.”
The before / after screenshots above should make things a lot clearer, just like the sky in Cupertino, California.