Old version of my app runs okay when downloaded from the App Store, fails when running with Xcode

Question

So I have this strange issue with one of our apps. Our app became available on the App Store in February 2012 , was compiled and submitted with Xcode 4.2 .

• When downloading the application from the App Store, it works perfectly on iOS 6 .

• When debugging exactly the same code that was submitted in February 2012 with Xcode 4.5 and iOS 6, the app launches as follows:

The image issue was solved by setting a rootViewController to the main UIWindow.

My question is:

Why does the application run okay in iOS 6 when downloaded from the App Store, but doesn't when debugging with Xcode?

Thanks!

Nicolás.

Answer 1

Because your app will now be compiled based on the iOS 6.0 SDK where the orientation API has changed. You would have to compile your app using Xcode 4.2 (or iOS 5.1 SDK) to get the same result.

Answer 2

iOS 6 on a device can detect which SDK an app was compiled with, and calls different rotation APIs depending on which Xcode SDK was used. Thus, when you debug the app using a newer SDK than the submitted app, the results will be different when run under iOS 6.