Geocaching App for iPhone3

[+GESAnderson]

Hi,

 

I have tried to find this information elsewhere on the forum without success so I apologize if it is already answered elsewhere.

 

When I got my iPhone4 water damaged, my brother-in-law kindly lent me an iPhone3 whilst my phone was being repaired. I configured it how I wanted it and when I got my phone back removed everything that I thought I had put on it, including the geocaching app which both I and my brother-in-law had purchased.

 

I didn't think this was a problem as I could always reinstall it from the app store. When I tried this I got the message

 

 

This application requires IOS 6.1 or later. You must update to IOS 6.1 in order to download and use this application.

 

 

If I connect the iPhone3 to iTunes and click "Check for Update" I get the message

 

 

This version of the iPhone software (4.2.1) is the current version.

 

 

Obviously there was a version that worked on the iPhone3 so how do I download and install it onto the phone?

 

The article on link

 

http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/09/17/apples-ios-app-store-now-offers-last-compatible-versions-of-apps-for-older-devices

 

would suggest that I should be able to download an old version of the app.

 

I look forward to any help to resolve this.

 

Thanks

Graham

[+sbell111]

I've never seen that feature and it sure would be useful to us as we still have some older itouches roaming around our house that the kids use. Hopefully, it's not a feature that requires a later iOS than those devices have.

 

How did you try to reinstall the app? Did you just search for the geocaching app and try to install it just like you did the first time or did you go to the appstore's previous download page? I think that in iOS 4 that is accessed by going to the update page and clicking 'purchased'. This should bring up all apps that have been previously downloaded.

Edited September 29, 2014 by sbell111

[+GESAnderson]

I've never seen that feature and it sure would be useful to us as we still have some older itouches roaming around our house that the kids use. Hopefully, it's not a feature that requires a later iOS than those devices have.

 

How did you try to reinstall the app? Did you just search for the geocaching app and try to install it just like you did the first time or did you go to the appstore's previous download page? I think that in iOS 4 that is accessed by going to the update page and clicking 'purchased'. This should bring up all apps that have been previously downloaded.

 

I tried downloading the app from my App Store account. I didn't want to try it from my brother-in-law's App Store account as I didn't know if it would charge him (It didn't say FREE). I went to the updates page and there is no purchased option. I have a screen print but it won't allow me to include it in this message.

 

Thanks

Graham

[+sbell111]

Have you tried to do it from iTunes?

[+GESAnderson]

Have you tried to do it from iTunes?

 

I've had a look on my iTunes purchase history and these are the geocaching apps that have been downloaded

 

27/09/10 v4.1.2

13/11/10 v4.1.3

20/11/10 v4.2

20/12/10 v4.2.1

07/07/11 v4.5

16/07/11 v4.5.1

 

The latest version I have is v6.2.2 which was updated on the phone rather than via iTunes so it didn't make the purchase history.

 

The directory on my computer where iTunes stores them only contains the 1 file and that is "Geocaching 6.2.2.ipa" as it appears that iTunes deletes the old version when a new version is downloaded.

 

You would think that iTunes would keep a copy of the previous versions and allow people who have purchased the app to download an older version. What happens if somebody loses or damages their phone? They will want to load old versions of their apps on their replacement phone.

[+GESAnderson]

So how do I get an older version of the App? If I go to the App Store on my iPhone 4 and look in Updates / Purchases it shows that I have Version 6.2.1 on my phone and gives me the option to open the App (The App itself tells me it is 6.2.2). On the iPhone 3 there is no option for purchases under updates. On iTunes it shows I currently have version 6.2.2 and this is the only version I can download.

 

Surely Groundspeak keep previous versions even if Apple's App Store and ITunes don't!

 

Thanks

Graham

[+thebruce0]

The app store won't give you older versions of apps. The purchase history is just a log (and purchases on other accounts, while they may not show in the purchase list, are still tied to your account so you don't have to pay for it again; as long as it was bought with the same AppleID). When the app's updated in the app store though, you'll need to either use a backup copy of an old version you made yourself, or find someone who has a previous version that you can get and install manually.

 

You might be able to contact the developer and see if they still have the installation file for a previous version.

That is, unless Groundspeak provides links to older versions you can install via iTunes, you'd need to contact them directly, and hope they listen and respond

Edited September 30, 2014 by thebruce0

[NordicMan]

I didn't think Apple/iTunes allows software to be "side-loaded" onto iProducts(?)

 

Even if Groundspeak had a version of the app that was compatible with your older iOS, how would you install it? I would think you'd have to jailbreak the phone, and that's a kinda extreme task just to use it for Geocaching.

 

Also not to burst your bubble but, from what I've heard every newer version of iPhone came with dramatically better GPSr accuracy.. so the older iPhone 3 GPS signal reception & accuracy might be really frustrating to use if you get it working at all..

Edited October 1, 2014 by NordicMan

[+thebruce0]

Yep, if you can collect the .IPA file from iTunes, you have a backup of that version. Try it - for Windows, in iTunes, sync your device apps, then in your app list, drag the app thumbnail into a windows folder. Or, right click on the app and Show In Windows Folder. All your app backups are there.

 

Keep in mind this is a single archive, so if you update the app in itunes, it overwrites its archived IPA. You'll need to manually copy out any app version you may want to keep. You can drag it back into your app collection at any point.

 

Also note that it's the app proper. The IPA doesn't contain any custom data you may have incurred over its use. So for example, if I were to copy out an old version of Geosphere I've been using a long time, I wouldn't be copying my cache database with it. If I were to re-install the app from the IPA, it would be a fresh install. Your custom user data is backed up with the iPhone Backup feature.

 

(of course, you can always use 3rd party apps like DiskAid that read the phone raw file system, but you really should know what you're doing if you play around with that; and it doesn't need jailbreak either)

[+GESAnderson]

I tried right clicking the geocaching app in iTunes and choosing "Show in windows explorer" which took me to the "mobile applications" directory" which I already knew the location of. It only had the current version "Geocaching 6.2.2.ipa" and no previous versions. There is discussion above suggesting that if I can get an old version, I would have to jailbreak the phone to install it. I would have thought that all I would need to do would be

 

1. Copy "Geocaching 6.2.2.ipa" to another directory.

2. Remove Geocaching from iTunes

3. Put the old version into the "mobile applications" directory

4. Use "add file to library" to add the old version into iTunes

5. Connect the iPhone 3 and on the apps tab, make sure that the geocaching app is set to install

6. Sync the iPhone 3 to put the app on the phone

7. Disconnect the iPhone 3

8. Remove old Geocaching from iTunes making sure a copy is kept

9. Put the copied latest version into the "mobile applications" directory

10. Use "add file to library" to add the current version back into iTunes

 

The only thing I'm short of is the geocaching app that is compatible with the iPhone 3 / IOS 4.2.1

[+thebruce0]

In short...

1) you wouldn't have to jailbreak to install the IPA.

2) no the mobile applications folder with all the apps wouldn't have older versions - as I said, it's just the current stored version of each app you have downloaded and/or installed. You'd need to manually back up your own old versions or find someone who has the old version IPA. (I know people who regularly sync and backup all their apps in their own external archive just in case there's any issue with a developer's newest app version or iOS itself; quick and easy to revert back to the previous version)

3) You should simply be able to drag the IPA version you want to install into iTunes, from what I recall. Uninstall the current app first, then install the IPA version you want.

 

So yep, all you'd need at this point is the actual old version of the geocaching app as an IPA which is compatible both with the hardware and the iOS version. No idea where you could find that