XF 2.2 Really crazily messed up article preview display on older iOs

[Mr Lucky]

One member has reported this display issue. It occurs on safri, Duckduck go and edge. He has an old iPad and dousen't want to upgrade from 10.3.2 (due to some apps that need it.

Obviously the best solution would have been to upgrade, however is 10.3.2 actually too old to expect it to work?




No other users have reported any issues so I can only presume it is this iOS.

Can anyone please help? (Apart) from telling him to upgrade?

 

[ZeroG]

He probably already tried this ..but rebooting / powering all the way down and restart has been know to fix things similar to that.

 

[Mike]

Yeah, this is probably down to an old iOS version and is likely beyond our support window. Browser support is usually current version and current version - 1, which would take us back to iOS 13. We might go back a bit further to something like iOS 12, but 10 goes back really far. It was first released over 4 years ago and even 10.3 was back in March 2017. (I don't even know if our testing tools go back to iOS 10 at this point!)

On your end, without code changes, I think the only option would really be to not use the preview display.

 

[Mr Lucky]

He's just posted a screenshot of this site. At least I now know it's not something I did wrong!

 

[Mr Lucky]

Yeah, this is probably down to an old iOS version and is likely beyond our support window. Browser support is usually current version and current version - 1, which would take us back to iOS 13. We might go back a bit further to something like iOS 12, but 10 goes back really far.

I totally get your point. But I just had another user with the same issue. He wants to update but his iPad won't let him go beyond 10.3.3.

It's a real shame because I love the preview look for that forum (classifieds) . It's obviously not xenForo's fault that Apple love this kind of built in obsolescence

 

[Mr Lucky]

On your end, without code changes, I think the only option would really be to not use the preview display.

I've now had the third user complain about this and we know it applies to the xenForo site - it isn't something I may have caused with style or addons.

Also these users cannot be blamed for not keeping their OS up to date, a those model iPads it cannot be ugraded any further than 10. I would not care if I could just say to them: you need to upgrade. I can't say "you have to buy a new iPad".

So it seems to be becoming more of a serious issue, I wonder @Mike if you know of a workaround I could use, e.g. css that can force normal display on responsive medium or something. I hate it after finding the new article preview works really well on classifieds, that it is so incompatible with quite a few users' devices. The advertisiers are happy with the preview look, but it would be sad if we have to revert on account of iPad users.

 

[Mike]

I can make a note to have a look to see if there's anything simple we can do, though I don't know if it's viable realistically.

If these devices can't be updated beyond iOS 10, I presume it's the 2012 iPad, which appears to have lost support from Apple in 2017. (Apparently only about 11% of iPads are using a version before iOS 12, as of June this year, according to Apple themselves.)

 

[Mr Lucky]

Many thanks Mike that would be great if you can find something. Not expecting bells and whistles but if it can at least display something legible. I presume it would be the same on older iPhones.

I have no problem telling people they should upgrade, but as they can't in this case, telling them to buy a new iPad just for xenforo when everything else on it seems fine isn't something I feel like doing. It is Apple's built-in obsolescence.

 

[Lee]

What happens if they download chrome on the iPad does that make any difference?

 

[Mr Lucky]

Apparently only about 11% of iPads are using a version before iOS 12, as of June this year, according to Apple themselves

11% is still quite a significant number of users though.

It is Apple's built-in obsolescence.

ipad 4th Gen highest ios version upgrade - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com

Apple is trying to get older iPad 2, 3, 4 and 1st gen Mini iPad users to upgrade to more modern iPad hardware in anticipation of iOS 11, which will render all older 32 bit iDevices obsolete.

So I cannot blame users for feeling disgruntled that an iPad they bought only a few years ago has problems with the forum display. Instead of (quite rightly) expecting them to keep their OS and browser reasonably up to date, I don't feel I can say "sorry buy a new iPad."

What happens if they download chrome on the iPad does that make any difference?

Apparently not.

 

[Mr Lucky]

On your end, without code changes, I think the only option would really be to not use the preview display.

I can make a note to have a look to see if there's anything simple we can do, though I don't know if it's viable realistically.

Just wondering if you had a chance to look into this @Mike . I totally agree in most cases we would expect users to upgrade, but not in this case because they can't. It's something that will be affecting any xenForo forum using the preview. (probably not his one as most forum devs and owners may have a slightly newer iPad.