Support for iPhone 5 screen size in apps with sdk older than 6.0

Question

I have an app which is developed with older SDK ie 5.0. I want to modify my app so that it won't be run in letter boxed mode on iphone 5. But at the same time I won't be switching to autolayout feature and use sdk 6.0.As my app has many hardcoded rects and runtime aligned UI elements I will modify my app to check the screen size and make special coding for iPhone 5. Is it possible and are there any chances of app rejection in case I go by this way of not upgrading to SDK 6.0 and not using autolayout features?

Answer 1

You will not get rejected for not using AutoLayout. That is a feature available for you to use if you so wish. It is not mandatory for iPhone 5.

In regards to the iOS 6 SDK, I highly suggest building against it. There is no guarantee that Apple will continue accepting applications with a Base SDK of iOS 5 or below in the future, so you should prepare now.

As for the iPhone 5, you can still build against iOS 6 SDK, and not support the iPhone 5 'tall mode'. To support tall mode, you need to include Default-568h@2x.png , which will indicate that you have provided a launch image for iPhone 5, suggesting that the application supports it too. If you don't include this image, then the app will run in a letterboxed mode, emulating the display of on iPhone 4S or below.

If you do wish to support the iPhone 5, and you want a way to determine whether you're running on it or not (for your special cases), you can use a #define to check (place in a header file that is imported everywhere, possibly a header included in your .pch).

#define IsRunningTallPhone() ([UIDevice currentDevice].userInterfaceIdiom == UIUserInterfaceIdiomPhone && [UIScreen mainScreen].bounds.size.height == 568)

Then throughout your app, if you need to check if you're running on iPhone 5, call IsRunningTallPhone() (or call it whatever you think is best)