Disclosure: I'm the developer of Mealumo, an iPhone calorie-tracking app. I'm using it as the example here, but this is a question for the community, not a launch post.
Mealumo requires iOS 26.0 or later. That's the minimum on its App Store page, and it means anyone who hasn't updated to this year's iOS can't install it.
I'm not going to argue that this was the right or wrong call. I'd rather hear how other people make this decision, because it seems to be one of those choices every new app makes and few people talk about openly.
What the listing actually says
For context, here's the compatibility section on the App Store page:
- iPhone: requires iOS 26.0 or later
- Mac: requires macOS 26.0 or later and a Mac with an Apple M1 chip or later
- Apple Vision: requires visionOS 26.0 or later
So the cutoff carries over to other platforms too, which raises its own questions.
Questions I'd love your take on
1. How do you pick a minimum version for a brand-new app?
Do you start from the latest OS and only go back if you need to? Or start with N-1 or N-2 and only drop versions when an API forces you? Is there a rule of thumb you trust?
2. What data do you actually look at?
Apple publishes adoption figures from time to time, and analytics vendors publish their own. Which sources do you trust, and do you weight them differently for a niche audience? For a consumer health and fitness app, for example, would you expect users to update faster or slower than average?
3. Which APIs have pushed you to require the newest iOS?
I'm curious whether it's usually one specific framework, a SwiftUI behavior that only works properly on the latest release, or simply the cost of maintaining if #available branches.
4. Does the cutoff show up in your numbers?
If you've shipped a latest-only app, did you see a measurable difference in product page conversion, or in reviews from people who couldn't install it? Or was it hard to notice at all?
5. Would you lower the minimum after launch?
Going back to support older versions later means testing on more OS versions and possibly rewriting features. Has anyone done this, and was it worth it?
6. How does this play out on Mac and visionOS?
When an iPhone app becomes available on Apple silicon Macs or Vision Pro, do you think about those minimums at all, or do they just follow whatever you chose for iOS?
Why I'm asking
The choice about how far back to support older iOS versions tends to get made early and then stays in place for a long time. I'd rather understand how experienced iOS devs think about it than assume there's one obvious answer.
Please share your reasoning, your data sources, or the times you got it wrong. Disagreement is very welcome.
If you're on iOS 26 and want to see the app in question, it's here: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6811904664. It's free to download, any PRO plan starts with a 3-day free trial, and if you want to try PRO longer, comment or DM me for a free PRO promo code.
This post was drafted with AI assistance and reviewed before publishing.
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