如何知道我的XCode将部署到哪些iOS版本？

Question

I currently have XCode version 8.2.1.

On my iPhone, I currently have iOS 10.3.2.

My version of XCode will not deploy to anything over iOS 10.2.

On my iPhone, I am being offered an upgrade to iOS 11.0.3.

According to this wiki here, XCode version 9 will deploy to iOS 11.0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xcode#9.x_series . But I can't tell whether this includes all the sub-versions, eg 11.0.3.

So my question is, if I get XCode version 9 and upgrade my phone to iOS 11.0.3, will I be able to deploy to my phone from XCode? How do I tell exactly which versions of iOS are supported by each version of XCode? And going forward, how can I ensure that my iPhone and iPad always have versions of iOS which I am able to deploy to from XCode?

Answer 1

Yes, you will be able to deploy to your phone.

While you need Xcode 9 and not 8 to program against iOS11, this question has more to do with the Base SDK and Deployment Target settings in your project.

The Base SDK is the SDK version you are compiling against. In Xcode 9, this could be iOS11, for example. The Deployment Target setting represents the lowest supported iOS version the app will run on. This might be iOS10, per your example, but it could be anything else.

To use the newest iOS11 features, you'd have to have a minimum Base SDK of iOS11. To support older platforms, you must make sure the Deployment Target is set to the oldest version you'd support. In code, you need to check the version of the platform when deciding to use a newer-than-Deployment-Target feature.

Answer 2

if I get XCode version 9 and upgrade my phone to iOS 11.0.3, will I be able to deploy to my phone from XCode?

Yes. Xcode 9 and iOS 11 are both the latest (as of Oct. 2017) versions available. If you want to support iOS 11, you need Xcode 9.

How do I tell exactly which versions of iOS are supported by each version of XCode?

Check the release notes . For example, the Xcode 9 Compatibility section says:

Xcode 9 includes SDKs for iOS 11, watchOS 4, macOS 10.13, and tvOS 11

And going forward, how can I ensure that my iPhone and iPad always have versions of iOS which I am able to deploy to from XCode?

Staying current with the latest iOS and Xcode versions is one way to do that. You don't even need the latest iOS version on your phone -- just any version that's later than the minimum version supported by whatever Xcode you're using. Looking at the list of available deployment targets, I can see that Xcode 9 deploys to iOS versions back to iOS 9.1.

Mostly, just be aware that updating iOS on your phone may require you to also update Xcode.