I tried to download the Disney plus app on my Ipad2. And it says not compatible with this device.

Disney+ requires iOS 11 or later which an iPad 2 cannot run.

Every iOS is a bit different. So say Disney wants to be compatible with iOS9, 10,11, 12 and 13, they need to write five different versions of the app. So they need to put out 5 different apps that all do the same thing.

That’s every expensive. ANd with each new feature or option that’s 5 different versions that need to be made....which is why DIsney and others abandon older iOS versions....it’s not cost effective to pay someone to make an app that not very many people have.

They and every other app developer out there, have very specific cost/benefit ratios where to be maintained, an IOS needs to have a certain number of users. ANd once the number of users drop below that level then it is no longer profitable to pay someone to maintain that iOS version for their app.

If a developer wants to distribute multiple versions of their app to have it accessible from iOS 5.1.1 to iOS 13, Apple will not stop them.

But for the same reason Paramount no longer sells VHS movie copies, developers stop supporting older iOS versions.

And apple or android, it’s all the same. They all backstop eventually.

Apple does not dictate anything to app developers other than to follow Apple's app guidelines for developing an app and selling it in Apple's App Store/s.

It is purely the decisions of the the third party app developers which mobile devices and which versions of a mobile OS they want to support.

I betcha Disney+ does not run on any Android devices that got support dropped 3-5 years, ago!

It is the app developer that makes these decisions and NOT Apple.

All of the major streaming services have moved on to a higher minimum iOS version, now, with some older apps that already exist on users’ devices still being supported and working and some that are not.

It is the way it is

Both Apple and app developers are not going to continue supporting 7, 8 and 9 year old mobile hardware.

The 4th gen iPad is an over 7-year old device.

The beginnjng of 2019 was the start of third party app developers more quickly dropping support for all of Apple's 2011-2012 iDevices.

It is going to be the same scenario for any iPad that just ended its support life at iOS 12.4.3.

In 2-3 years, third party app support is going to go away.

This is the way it is.

What it comes down to is, especially for ipad 2 models which run 32 bit only while the current supported infrastructure is 64 bit, it’s up to the developer how much they support. If they want to invest the money into maintaining multiple versions, good for them. If not then not.

apple gives developers access to the IOS early - so when iOS13 was released developers got access to it months before so they could update their apps to be compatible with it. If they want to maintain software to run on devices that are almost 10 years old, good on them.

Maintaining multiple versions is expensive. It means that instead of one app a place like netflix must maintain multiple versions, and keep current changes or perks compatible with older versions. Most developers hit a cost/benefit analysis point (where they realize there are only so many people with the old versions) and it just becomes too expensive to maintain old ones so they stop.

If you happen to have an old version on your device it will continue to work, at least to a point (depends on the app, is it self contained or does it need to interface with online content).

I have some games on my old iPad 2 that still work fine, I have others that have stopped working.

An 8-1/2-year old iPad cannot run any iOS version higher than iOS 9.3.5/9.3.6.

Your iPad 2 is too old and cannot run iOS 11 or any newer iOS versions.

Sorry.

You are mistaken.

The availability of older apps for older iOS devices and versions is SOLELY up to the decision/discretion of the app developer ONLY and NOT by Apple!

Your “beef” is really with Disney and NOT Apple.

Complain and whine to Disney.

Fungus123 wrote:

yeah, i understand all that and tech moves quickly. but streaming media is the most basic of functions

The fact that streaming media is a common function doesn't make t technologically "simple". Streaming media is actually a fairly complex function. It requires increasingly powerful hardware. Older smart televisions will soon no longer support NetFlix. You're not just navigating a library. The streaming protocols determine what version of the stream you should get based on your connection speed. There is rights management built in that prevents you from recording the stream. As the streaming protocols do more, they require more powerful hardware to decode the streams on the user end.

Apple does not allow older devices to run newer apps. This is to force you to continue to buy newer devices. Switch to an Amazon or Android device. No issues there.

Complain to the all app developers, that have moved on to support more modern Apple mobile hardware and iOS versions then!

Apple has no control or authority over what third party app developers do or do not do!

FYI,

Android app developers DO the exact same thing even sooner than app developers do on iOS!

I have and use a Google Android phone!

I am more of an iPad user than an iPhone user.

I got nearly 2 years of Android support from Google and that was it!

AND only a total 3-4 years of app support from third party apps developers.

For the past year, or so,I haven't got a single app update for my Android phone!, at all

Compared to my iPads which got 5 years of support and many of my third party apps are still being supported 2-3 years later making a total of over 8 years of iPad support.

That is not entirely true. i had 2 older ipads with Netflix on them. It accidentally got uninstalled on one and then could NOT be reinstalled because Apple no longer allowed download of the older bits. both iPads ran the same iOS. The older code for Netflix existed. It couldn't be installed. If the App store allowed older versions to be archived and chosen, this would not have been an issue. This is disingenuous. And a way to force another 400 - 600 bucks out of someone with a perfectly capable piece of hardware.

yeah, i understand all that and tech moves quickly. but streaming media is the most basic of functions that it still feels dumb i have to buy a whole new ipad to stream media. i mean how much hardware and software requirements is really necessary to navigate a video library tap on something you want to watch, and watch it. i mean even a DVD players UI can do that. again, i point the finger a developer, not apple. Apple would allow an IOS 9 version of Disney Plus to run if the developer coded it that way.

Well the Disney app isn't the only app where this problem exists yet this problem doesn't exist anywhere with Amazon or Android so, beef or no beef, staying away from Apple will prevent this problem from occurring.

Yup. Android tends to stop OS updates quite soon for anything outside the flagship models.

App updates are even more sporadic and short lived.

My mother uses a Motorola g5, and only got Android 8.1 Oreo in July. Almost 2 years after its original release, and I doubt it will get anything else beyond that.

Some Apps continue to be updated, but for the most part, its on its last legs at this point.

In contrast my iPhone 5 from 2012, even though its still on iOS 9, does still get app updates every now and then.

My iPhone 6 (from 2014) at iOS 12, is still getting full updates consistently for all apps it has installed.

Yep :)

Think of it as practice for Christmas morning when every new device failure will be everyone else’s fault but the owner that is trying to set up their new device from the one they’ve never backed up.

I blame Apple a bit for the fact that people no longer have a sense of how complex technology really is. We're so used to all these amazing things "just working" that it's easy to forget how hard engineers and programmers work to get it to seem that way.