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I recently found my old iPhone 3G with iOS version 3.1.2. I'm planning to let my 4-year old nephew to use it. But then, I'm having a problem on installing apps like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. because these apps only support iOS 5.0 or later.

How can I install the apps I mentioned?

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Um - hopefully there will be some apps that work for a 4 year old - but luckily the downside of them not having their Facebook and Instagram fix will be bearable. I applaud the re-use of an old device but chuckle with the examples chosen :/ – bmike♦ Nov 19 '12 at 17:40

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The short answer is there is no way to install an app that was created for an iOS newer then the one you are running. You should connect the device to iTunes and see if you can get it updated to the latest 4.x iOS as many games and apps that target the 4 to 8 year old demographics will certainly work on that older OS.

The longer answer (and some related discussion on this site) is that developers of more powerful apps want to use the latest APIs that are introduced every iOS, and for a developer to create an app for an older iOS version, would mean he couldn't use the newer tools. Worse, it's more work to keep using the older API so cutting them makes schedule and financial sense. For example, a resource known as ARC (Automatic Resource Counting) has made a huge difference in reducing the time and cost of app development by automatically doing things that otherwise the developer would have had to manage.

Because these necessary APIs don't exist on pervious iOS versions, there is no way to run a newer app on an older iOS. Hopefully you can use the web versions or find acceptable apps to do the things you need this device to do to continue to be of use.

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In general, you can't.

Apple hase changed their most current releases of their iPhone development tools so that the minimum Deployment Target is iOS 4.3. Thus, any apps built with the current version of Xcode will not run on devices running older OS versions. Any developer who wants their apps to look good, or use the latest features on the latest devices (iPhone 5, etc.), can no longer submit apps or updates compatible with iOS 3.x. So a vast percentage of apps updated since Sept. 2012 are no longer compatible with an iPhone 3G, since a 3G can not be upgraded to iOS 4.3.

The iTunes App store only offers downloads of the latest version of an app from the App store, so older versions are no longer available (except to customers who have previously downloaded these old versions and made backups in case iTunes tries to trash these working versions.)

A few developers still use older development tools; and some apps have not been updated recently. Those fewer apps are the apps suitable for you device. But they may or may not be the ones you want.

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I'm surprised more 3G users haven't complained to Apple about removing support for making apps compatible with their iPhones. – hotpaw2 Nov 19 '12 at 17:37

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