Applications are constantly improving their features by developing new versions, except that sometimes they require a recent version of the operating system to be able to take advantage of it. Downloading is then impossible for devices running on older versions of iOS. Fortunately, there is a solution.
In this article, we will explain how to install applications when they require a recent version of iOS, but you are not able to install it. This guide applies to the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.
Download an Application from the App Store
When you try to download an application from the App Store, you will have already noticed this message indicating that it cannot be installed:
Sometimes, you may be offered to download an older compatible version for your device, but this is not always the case. Fortunately, there is another solution.
Download an Application from iTunes
New versions of iTunes no longer allow you to download applications, as the App Store is no longer integrated. In this case, please download iTunes 12.6.4 from the following links:
Open iTunes on your computer and search for the name of the application you want to download, via the search bar at the top right. For example, we will download the "Yahoo Mail" application:
Next, select the application you need in the search results of the App Store and click on Get. Log in to iTunes with your Apple ID and let the application be downloaded:
At the end of the download, open the App Store on your iOS device. Make sure you are logged in with the same Apple ID you used to log in to iTunes. Then go to the Updates category, and select Purchased. The "Yahoo Mail" application appears in the purchase list with a cloud-shaped button. Press on it:
A dialog box will appear asking you to download a previous version of the application. Confirm the download by pressing Download:
Finally, the installation starts:
Once the installation is completed, you can enjoy the application on your device. However, if the application requires hardware resources not available on the device (accelerometer, etc.) the application may not work.
This document, titled « How To Install Applications on Older Versions of iOS », is available under the Creative Commons license. Any copy, reuse, or modification of the content should be sufficiently credited to CCM (ccm.net).
