# IM app for iOS 3.1.3?



## CubaMark (Feb 16, 2001)

Since the iPad 2 landed in our house, we've been enjoying the expanded app availability that comes with newer iOS compatibility.

However - we have a 1st-generation iPod Touch that's still going strong, holds a very good charge, and which my wife prefers to use for email / instant messaging (MSN & AIM/iChat). 

Which brings me to the problem... this iPod Touch maxes out at iOS 3.1.3. The app she was using now requires iOS 4.3 and up. 

...and now I've discovered the limitations of the iTunes app store. No way to filter results by iOS requirements or device or whatever. A gazillion chat apps (most of which are now oriented toward SMS) that you have to click on one at a time, check the system requirements, and then go back to the results list, repeat ad nauseum.

So - shortcut time. Anybody found an iOS 3.1.3 compatible chat app that supports MSN (which I hear Microsoft is killing off, but I suppose Windows Live account chat will continue) plus AIM/iChat?

TIA,
M


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## Dr_AL (Apr 29, 2007)

Sorry don't have any suggestions but there will be less and less apps available for iOS 3.1.3 out there. The current version of Xcode cannot make apps to run on anything lower that iOS 4.3. That's ridiculous. 

I think Apple is going to have to start making older versions of apps available as they keep dropping devices. There is no reason that an older version of an app which supported iOS 3 could be down loaded for a older device running that version.


Sent from my iPhone


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## CubaMark (Feb 16, 2001)

We had a thread related to this some time ago - at the time I thought - and still do - that it wouldn't take that much programming genius for iTunes to flag (for users who are running devices with older iOS versions) whenever an app that has an available update also has higher OS requirements (and will therefore likely break on upgrade).

I've been all over the 'net (yup, one end to the other) and I don't see any options... even jailbreaking doesn't look promising for a device of this age...

And since we have a newer device that will accept updated apps, we do indeed let the upgrades fly - so eventually our old iPod Touch may be good for little more than music and apps for which developers have stopped releasing app updates...


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## iMatt (Dec 3, 2004)

I'm not clear on whether the app is on the iPod but won't work, or has somehow been removed from the iPod but can't be restored. I'm going to assume the latter.

Learned this the hard way when I backed up and restored my old iPod touch. Went to put Remote on it, but it couldn't run the currently available version and there was no obvious way to restore it from the backup I thought I'd made. 

I don't remember all the details, but in a nutshell you have to locate the version of the app you need. Try folders like iTunes/iTunes Media/Mobile Applications or iTunes/iTunes Music/Mobile Applications. I'm not sure why I have both of these, but I do, and it's the one under iTunes Media that seems to have all the old versions of apps compatible with my iPod.

Once you've found the version you want to install, you need to (temporarily) make sure it's the *only* version iTunes can see. Find any more recent ones and get them out of either Mobile Applications folder, then relaunch iTunes. Now you should be able to install it on the iPod.


And it's not just iOS. Let's say you purchased iPhoto 9.2.3 (desktop version) from the App Store way back in the mists of time, a whole year ago.

It's an App Store purchase, you get to re-download it whenever you want, right? Not if you're still running 10.6.8 -- all you get is the more recent version requiring 10.7 or 10.8.

Edit: just realized the above is incomplete/unclear. Let's say you have a late 2009 iMac, shipped with iLife 09 or whatever version was then current. You've got along fine with that until now, but now you want to buy iPhoto 11. You can't, unless you also upgrade to OS X 10.8.

A lot of old-time Mac users find today's Apple annoying in some major way... this is mine. If I bought some software (or even downloaded free software like Remote), why not give me a choice of versions to re-download? I'm loyal, I still spend plenty of money on you, but you want to force me to ditch a perfectly good iPod touch (Remote 2.2 still works well, BTW), or drive me to upgrade to Mountain Lion whether I like it or not? For shame.


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## Dr_AL (Apr 29, 2007)

I think iTunes trashes the old version of the app which seems dumb to me. If you don't empty your trash it might still be there. There is no reason that it can't keep a version compatible with iOS 3 and then install that on an old legacy device. It's not like it is that old. Same goes for iOS 4 and probably soon iOS 5. 


Sent from my iPhone


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## CubaMark (Feb 16, 2001)

Unfortunately, the app we were using -* IM+* - only appears with one version inside */Mobile Applications/* 

When i find some time, I'll see if going the jailbreak route offers any other options for us...


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## CubaMark (Feb 16, 2001)

Dr_AL said:


> I think iTunes trashes the old version of the app which seems dumb to me. If you don't empty your trash it might still be there.


I'm a compulsive trash-emptier  This comes from my days of having a Tangerine iBook with a 3.2 gig hard drive. I was *always* desperate for space, and developed the habit of immediately emptying the trash upon sending something to it.

This cause no end of trouble once while helping a friend with her computer... it never occurred to me that some people would use the Trash can as a place to *organize* files... unreal....


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## iMatt (Dec 3, 2004)

Mark, did you double check that you only have one Mobile Applications folder? Like I said, my computer has one inside iTunes Media/ and one inside iTunes Music/. The latter is the one with all the most recent versions, the former has the (backed up?) legacy versions for my iPod.


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## CubaMark (Feb 16, 2001)

Yup - I don't have the */iTunes Media/ *folder....


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## iMatt (Dec 3, 2004)

Pity. You should be able to get a working copy of your legitimately acquired app for your still-working iPod.

I would try contacting the developer to see if they can help you get the version you need.

If they can't, I'd contact Apple. Even if they won't help, you can at least make it known that you're upset that you can't even restore the apps you used to have on your iPod, let alone easily find compatible new ones.


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## jhuynh (Mar 21, 2011)

Do you use time machine? You might be able to get the old version of the file from there.


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## chas_m (Dec 2, 2007)

I have an original (US) iPhone (day one) ... jailbroken and unlocked. I used WhiteD00r to make it act like iOS 6 and I can report that my older version of Skype and IM+ Pro work fine with it.


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## CubaMark (Feb 16, 2001)

Thanks for that info, Chas_m. When I can find some time to play with this stuff, I'll keep it in mind.


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