iOS Question Can B4I still support older Apple Devices ?

[aminoacid]

So I have an old original iPad Mini (2012 model). It has iOS 9.3.5 and cannot handle anything greater that this version. It's a 32 bit device. I used this iPad a long time ago for developing Apps using B4I and it has worked great.

Well, now I want to repurpose it as a dedicated wall display and write a very simple App that will display weather station data on the screen. So of course the first step is to get a current version of B4I bridge on the device - and this is where I have reached a road block - After running "Build B4I Bridge App" and getting the QR code on my screen and loading the URL in Safari, I click on the large "Install App button" and get the message "Cannot Connect to builder1.b4x.com". Note that the same URL will install B4I bridge successfully on a newer device but not on this one. I am using the hosted Builder.

* I have made sure that the UDID of the device is in the Provisioning File. Actually, it was never removed from my Device list.
* The certificate and Provisioning file are current and not expired. And like I said, the Bridge will install fine on a newer device.
* I can access the URL " https://builder1.b4x.com:51042/test" successfully from this device in Safari. So there's no issue connecting to the builder.
* I have tried both 32-bit and 64-bit Debug Architecture in "Build Server Settings".
* I have set #MinVersion: 9
* I am using a wildcard App ID
* The B4I Configuration Profile (certificate) is installed and verified on the device

Has anyone tried working with an older device like mine and had success? Am I beating a dead horse? The only reason that I can think off is that the Hosted Builder will not support iOS 9.x or 32 bit devices (although those options still exists in B4I)

 

[Erel]

I don't think that you will be able to run apps with iOS 9.

The specific issue you are encountering might be related to the builder certificate (lets encrypt certificate) not being recognized by the device.

 

[aminoacid]

I don't think that you will be able to run apps with iOS 9.

The specific issue you are encountering might be related to the builder certificate (lets encrypt certificate) not being recognized by the device.

Yeah, that's what I was afraid of. I have an old laptop with B4I v7.80 and an old Mac Mini with Local Builder v7.50 installed. I'll see if it works using that combination of tools. Thanks!

[edit] - Unfortunately I get the same error using the older development tools. Time to recycle my old devices

 

[aminoacid]

For anyone else interested in pursuing this - As Erel mentioned in Post #2 above, the issue may be related to the builder certificate (lets encrypt certificate) not being recognized by the device. I found the reason why and the solution. Here is a link:

Let's Encrypt root certificate expiration: how to continue using Diawi on iOS <10

On diawi.com and all our subdomains, we use Let's Encrypt to generate SSL certificates and provide navigation through secure HTTPS connexions. However, on September 30, 2021, the root certificate used by Let's Encrypt to sign their SSL certificates has expired on some older systems like iOS<10...

blog.diawi.com

Unfortunately, installing the new root certificate as explained above did not solve the problem.

 

[f0raster0]

Has anyone tried working with an older device like mine and had success? Am I beating a dead horse? The only reason that I can think off is that the Hosted Builder will not support iOS 9.x or 32 bit devices (although those options still exists in B4I)

my understanding is: we can't use B4i with old devices when using the hosted builder… It would be amazing if we could!

Building B4i Bridge with iPhone 5?

Old B4i Bridge on my iPhone 5 was closing after start and I tryed to install a new one. The compilation is successfull, but then the device says "Downloading the app is not possible" with detail "B4i-Bridge cannot be installed". Same I read here. My iOS version is a bit newer: 10.3.4 (on...

www.b4x.com

(solved) iOS version

Hey team Does any one know if iPhone5 iOS v10.3.3 still can be used for dev? I read iOS 10+ somewhere. I'm getting an error: unable to download the App, I'm feeling it's because the ios version

www.b4x.com

B4i bridge not downloading

I have removed the old B4i Bridge from my iOS device, and tried to install a new one. The compilation is successfull, but then the device says "Downloading the app is not possible" with detail "B4i-Bridge cannot be installed". Tried both primary and secondary server, tried 32bit and 64bit. Any...

www.b4x.com

B4I-Bridge unable to download

Today I found my really old iPad 1 and just try something on it. when I try to install b4i-bridge into the device, I got the message "B4i-Bridge" could not be installed at this time". Am I correct that it's no longer supported for this really old device? Thanks!

www.b4x.com

I have my iPhone5 in like-new condition, only used for B4i app development .
Due to a similar situation as yours, I now also have an iPhone8 in the same liek new condition (still working)... and even a nearly untouched Mac , back then, developing iOS apps on Windows wasn't an option

 

[aminoacid]

my understanding is: we can't use B4i with old devices when using the hosted builder… It would be amazing if we could!

Building B4i Bridge with iPhone 5?

Old B4i Bridge on my iPhone 5 was closing after start and I tryed to install a new one. The compilation is successfull, but then the device says "Downloading the app is not possible" with detail "B4i-Bridge cannot be installed". Same I read here. My iOS version is a bit newer: 10.3.4 (on...

www.b4x.com

(solved) iOS version

Hey team Does any one know if iPhone5 iOS v10.3.3 still can be used for dev? I read iOS 10+ somewhere. I'm getting an error: unable to download the App, I'm feeling it's because the ios version

www.b4x.com

B4i bridge not downloading

I have removed the old B4i Bridge from my iOS device, and tried to install a new one. The compilation is successfull, but then the device says "Downloading the app is not possible" with detail "B4i-Bridge cannot be installed". Tried both primary and secondary server, tried 32bit and 64bit. Any...

www.b4x.com

B4I-Bridge unable to download

Today I found my really old iPad 1 and just try something on it. when I try to install b4i-bridge into the device, I got the message "B4i-Bridge" could not be installed at this time". Am I correct that it's no longer supported for this really old device? Thanks!

www.b4x.com

I have my iPhone5 in like-new condition, only used for B4i app development .
Due to a similar situation as yours, I now also have an iPhone8 in the same liek new condition (still working)... and even a nearly untouched Mac , back then, developing iOS apps on Windows wasn't an option

Well, I tried it using an older version of B4I (v7.80) in combination with an older version the Local Builder (v7.50) on an old MacMini running Xcode v12.4 and I could not get anything to work even after installing the new root certificate (see post #4) on my iPad which I was sure was the issue.

Funny thing is that this same combination worked before with the same iPad running iOS 9.3.5. The only thing I can figure is that a certificate on the Local Builder has also expired. But I have no clue as to how and where to update it.

Yeah, there are SO many older devices out there in perfectly good condition with the capability to run even complex Apps satisfactorily and are not supported anymore. Too bad...

 

[aminoacid]

I have found a work-around if not a Solution to running a B4I App on iOS 9.x -

I took one of my B4I Apps and compiled it using my Local Builder (see versions in above post). I did a "Build Release App" followed by a "Download last Build". I then uploaded the resulting IPA using OTA Deployer (v2.03) and installed it on my iPad Mini using the provided link. It installed and Ran Fine.

I did various tests with different combination of builds using the Hosted builder, Local builder, with and without the updated root certificate. Here are my observations:

* I could not get B4I bridge to install, but I can now get an App to install. So what I can do is test my apps on another later device and run it on the older device.
* You must have the updated root certificate if you are using iOS 9.3.5. There are other fixes for other old versions certificates - See post# 4
* This will NOT work with the Current Hosted Builder. I used an older version of the Local Builder - v7.50
* You can build with the 64 or 32 bit setting. It does not matter since the IPA contains the binary for both and will run on a 32 bit device even if you select 64.