Currently the minimum version requirement for Mlem is IOS 18 however Apollo was slightly more backwards compatible allowing one to use the os on older phones.
Apollo supports IOS 17, 16, 15.
Mlem supports IOS 26, 18.
I suppose the desire comes from wanting to make hardware last longer and to make the app more accessible. Apple doesn’t always make the best software changes ie new photos app.
However it would be more difficult for the devs to track down bug reports and the devices that are no longer officially supported by Apple are insecure. One could use the older version of the app until the home instance is no longer supported on the app.
If someone is also interested maybe consider testing and submitting a pull request for IOS 17 support.
This is not a priority, just an interesting discussion.
For context, currently 97.5% of active iOS users are on iOS 18 or above, meaning that 97.5% of iOS users are able to use Mlem.
Supporting a version incurs an ongoing development cost for us. Changes we make have to be tested on more versions, and we’re limited in which of Apple’s APIs we can use. Dropping support for older versions allows us to focus our time on making Mlem the best it can be for the majority of users, as a modern iOS app.
With our current development capacity, it is not feasible for us to re-add support for iOS 17. You can find more details by reading our compatibility plan here.
I suppose folks can use Mlem for 7-8 years for their current iPhone.