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User profile for user: StuckWithLion
StuckWithLion Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

What's a Lion to do??

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


According to the above article, if an App requires a newer version of OS X, the App Store will help you install the last compatible version on an older version of OS X if you previously purchased the App. This feature was introduced in the App store on OS X 10.8 and later.


So those of us running OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard and OS X 10.7 Lion have the App Store but not this "Last Compatible" feature. And most of the good Apps that are continually developed and supported are listed as requiring OS X 10.8, 10.9 or even higher.


If Apple won't support our hardware for upgrading the OS (I have a 64-bit Intel Core 2 Duo MacBook that cannot go beyond Lion), how are we supposed to purchase and/or install any Apps? Most of these incompatible Apps have older versions that WERE compatible with Lion and Snow Leopard. How do I get them? Does Apple seriously expect its users to pursue each individual developer to see if they have some mechanism in place to download older versions of their apps and a spreadsheet to say which app is compatible with which OS?


For example, even mainstream developers like AutoDesk don't provide me a way to download the older versions of AutoDesk Sketchbook Express that were and still are compatible with OS X Lion. The latest version requires at least OS X 10.8. They - and most developers - probably think Apple is handling version control per the above article.


What's a Lion to do?

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on Aug 2, 2015 2:16 PM

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6 replies
User profile for user: Ralph Landry1
Ralph Landry1
User level: Level 8
41,850 points

Aug 2, 2015 2:29 PM in response to StuckWithLion

The article represents a move on the part of Apple to at least make a path available to obtain apps that are compatible with the latest family of OS X versions. That is not a small step since they have long had the view that apps are the property and responsibility of their developer.


For many of us this is a very welcome alteration of stance. Maintaining a complete historical library of every app, especially of the many tens of thousands of apps in the App Store, would be extremely expensive. Apple makes it clear, as do all vendors, that periodically equipment and software will be retired from active support. Apple is not unique in this.


All one can do when retirement is to ontact the owner of the intellectual property rights.

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User profile for user: StuckWithLion
StuckWithLion Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

Aug 2, 2015 3:07 PM in response to Ralph Landry1

The Android App Store, as an example, only shows Apps that are compatible with the device you are accessing it from. It's strange and frustrating to open the Apple App Store and see all these apps, only to find out - in the small print - most are not compatible with one's system.


Apparently, Apple spent the money and effort to provide a mechanism for users of OS X 10.8, 10.9 and 10.10 to install older versions of apps. As you say, that's commendable, but why not include all users and go back to when the App Store was introduced instead of leaving 10.6 and 10.7 users out in the cold?


They don't need a "complete historical library". You say they are already storing the last compatible versions of apps back to 10.8. It seems trivial to just include 2 more versions - one for 10.6 and one for 10.7. The mechanisms are already in place.

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User profile for user: Dah•veed
Dah•veed
User level: Level 9
64,729 points

Aug 2, 2015 3:25 PM in response to StuckWithLion

2 x 10 MB x 1,000,000 apps x Mac version, + (x iPhone/iPod version) + (x iPad version) ≠ trivial storage space required.


Late 2012 Mac mini, OS X Yosemite 10.10.4; Apple Watch, 38 mm silver AL, watchOS 1.0.1; iPad Air 2 & iPhone 6+, iOS 8.4


PS - You've now violated the Terms of Use to which you agreed a little while ago when you opened your Apple Support Communities account. You agreed not to criticize Apple's business or product decisions. You are now doing exactly that.

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