Changing watchOS Deployment Target - What happens to users on old versions

Question

This is probably a silly question, but I couldn't find the answer to it in the forums or in the documentation, though I may be missing something.

I currently have an app with a deployment target of iOS 16 and a watchOS app (not independent) with a deployment target of watchOS 7. I understand what happens when I change the deployment target on the iOS app (e.g., users with iOS/iPadOS versions less than 16 will just never see the updates in the App Store).

But what happens if I change the deployment target of the watchOS dependent app to something like watchOS 8? Will users who have iOS 16 and watchOS 7 (iOS meets deployment target/watchOS does not) get the app update, and it'll just uninstall the watchOS app automatically? Will they just not see the update? Does the old version of the Watch app somehow stay on their watch while the iOS app gets updated?

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Posted by

khagan

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Answer 1

Not a silly question. Any watch that can update to watchOS 7 can also update to watchOS 8, so moving from minOS 7 to minOS 8 won't leave any users behind. They'll need to update their watches to get your app update, but that's something they can and should do. If you set your minOS to watchOS 9 (which is the analog to iOS 16), users on Series 3 watches won't be able to update their OS to that version, and the watch app on their device would be deleted when the iOS app is updated to the version with the dependent watch app that requires watchOS 9. If your watch app were independent, I believe (but have not tested this, so I might be wrong) that the last watchOS 7/8-compatible version of the app would stay on the watch, since app versions are not required to stay in sync in this case.

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Frameworks Engineer

Thank you! I appreciate the detailed answer.

—
khagan

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Answer 2

Not a silly question. Any watch that can update to watchOS 7 can also update to watchOS 8, so moving from minOS 7 to minOS 8 won't leave any users behind. They'll need to update their watches to get your app update, but that's something they can and should do. If you set your minOS to watchOS 9 (which is the analog to iOS 16), users on Series 3 watches won't be able to update their OS to that version, and the watch app on their device would be deleted when the iOS app is updated to the version with the dependent watch app that requires watchOS 9. If your watch app were independent, I believe (but have not tested this, so I might be wrong) that the last watchOS 7/8-compatible version of the app would stay on the watch, since app versions are not required to stay in sync in this case.

Posted by

Frameworks Engineer

Thank you! I appreciate the detailed answer.

—
khagan

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Changing watchOS Deployment Target - What happens to users on old versions

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