Single binary with two different iPhone apps (non-jailbreak)

Question

I've read up on how one can create a single iOS binary that combines an iPad and iPhone into a single (Universal) binary. However, I have not been able to figure out from this process whether it's feasible (or even advisable) to combine two different versions of the same iPhone app into a single binary.

The reason that I would like to do this is that I have done a full refactoring of my app to take advantage of iOS 5 features, etc. When I first began this, I figured the finished product would be released and I would stop support iOS 4. What I have realized in the interim is that there are still some people who use earlier iOS versions. I don't want to prevent them from downloading the app in the future. Ideally I would distribute a binary that (at runtime) determines which version of iOS is running and then load the appropriate bundled version of the app.

I have seen some jailbreak trickery (launch shell scripts) to accomplish this sort of thing, but no non-jailbreak examples. Any insight would be appreciated.

Thanks, Chris

Answer 1

The app store won't let you put multiple binaries in an app.

There are ways to support new OS features while falling back to support older versions -- search for weak linking for more info.

On the other hand, it's been pointed out that over 80% of iOS users are on 5.x by now, and that number keeps getting bigger. Spending a lot of effort supporting 4.x may not be worthwhile.