How to Install Unsupported Apps on Older IPhones
As much as Apple wants you to buy an iPhone 14 , your old phone is probably serving you just fine, even if the company no longer officially supports it. But the big problem with aging technology isn’t necessarily the lack of official software support, it’s that third-party developers stop making apps for your device. You may not need Apple’s latest iOS features, but if Instagram or Snapchat stops working on your iPhone, you’ll start running into some functional dead ends.
On Android, you can easily install older versions of apps on your device using sideloading . However, iOS tends to tie things to the App Store in the name of user safety (and money , of course). If an app no longer supports your device, you will most likely be blocked from downloading it. But as it turns out, iOS has a built-in solution to this problem , which it does not advertise.
To download older versions of apps that will run on your unsupported device, open the App Store, then tap your profile icon in the top right corner and go to the Purchased section. Here you’ll see a chronological list of all the apps you’ve ever downloaded with that Apple ID (which you can use to identify the first app you’ve ever downloaded , if you’re interested). Scroll back until you find an app you’d like to have on your device but isn’t technically supported, then tap the adjacent iCloud download symbol.
After you wait for the system to load, you will see a warning that the current application is not supported on your device, but an older version is supported. From here, click “Download” and the older supported version will be installed on your iPhone or iPad. After that you are inside.
What happens if you haven’t bought the app in the past? After all, trying to download the app now for the first time results in a failure, but there is a workaround. If you have access to a second, newer Apple device, use it to sign in with your Apple ID and then download the app. Switch back to your old device and you’ll find the app at the top of the Purchased page, ready to download.
However, this trick will not work 100% of the time. While the app itself should be compatible with your device, the same applies to the service. Netflix, for example, may let you download a “compatible” version of the app on an older device, but the streaming service only supports what it does. If your device is not supported on their side, no version of the Netflix app will work.
[ Apple Insider ]