Q: I just bought an iPhone 4 and it's not letting me download from App Store because it says I need iOS 8 but iPhone 4 doesn't support 8, how can I get apps?

Return the iPhone 4 and purchase a later model iPhone.

The iPhone 4 does not support any iOS version greater than iOS 7.1.2.

You need to find apps that do not require devices with iOS 8 or newer. There's nothing else that can be done with a model that was introduced more than six years ago.

See this article:

Install an app on an earlier version of iOS or OS X - Apple Support

That article is completely unhelpful. It simply tells you to download the app, and if the app is not compatible with your version of iOS, to upgrade to the latest version of iOS. This is not possible for an iphone 4 user and not what he asked!

No, it says that you try to download the app, and if it is not compatible, and there is a compatible version, you can download it. If there is not a compatible version, then you would need to contact the developer to see if there is. The developers are the ones that determine what version of apps are available in the app store.

So why link to it? To annoy the guy who asked the question?

No, because that is the method to use to obtain a compatible app. However, if there isn't one, then you cannot do anything. But not everyone understands that you can get some compatible apps. If you look in the App Store and see that an app requires iOS 8 or above, many people will stop there and not attempt to download and would not find there is a compatible app.

Wow...I mean...**** it, there's no point.

Of course there is. It provides instructions on how to get compatible apps if they exist. Just because you don't like the answer does not mean it isn't the correct one. It seems you are the one annoyed, not the OP.