Ok, so when uploading something to the App Store one can choose supported deploy targets.
I chose “iphone and ipod touch (2. generation)” and it also lists that in the details of my game on the App store.
Now i got a support mail from someone saying my game doesn´t work on his 1st gen ipod touch.
I´d like to know if it is a general issue with unity not running on ipod touch 1st gen or (as i think) a general issue of the ipod touch 1st gen not supporting various types of content (since i imagine otherwise they wouldn´t have that deploy target option “iphone and ipod touch (2. generation)” )
or if there is something i can do to make the game also run on 1st gen ipod touch.
Its definitely no general problem, I have an iTouch first generation
but there are features only available on the 2nd generation like speaker and microphone for example
but there are other things that might be different but just nowhere documented like RAM at worst
If you have an ad hoc version or some other freely accessable version, I can give it a go an send you the crash report from XCode Organizer
thanks for the reply and help offer. i haven´t made an ad hoc version for others up to now so i have to look into how to get that going. good to know that unity stuff can also run on 1st gen iPod touch devices, i´ll try to find out what in mine doesn´t work on em and whether i can get around that.
I can’t think of a reason why a Unity game wouldn’t run on a 1st gen iPod Touch. That’s what I’m using to develop. Unless as was said earlier, perhaps you’re right on the borderline of RAM limits and the 2nd gen is slightly different in this regard. That wouldn’t surprise me too much as I’ve seen how there are very significant performance differences between 1st and 2nd gen iPod Touches. Which is why I’ll never get rid of my 1st gen for development. 
If it works on a 1st gen iPod, it’ll work on EVERYTHING.
EDIT:
Oh, wait, I just noticed you said you chose 2nd gen when you listed your app in the AppStore. Could it be that your customer meant that he/she was unable to obtain your game on their 1st gen iPod? Because if you choose 2nd gen when you list your app, then only those with 2nd gen devices will be allowed to download it. That option is available in case your app relies on, say, a built-in microphone, etc. That way, you can restrict it just to those platforms. So, unless you’re doing something really cool with Unity I’m not aware of, you definitely need to change that setting so that everyone can download your game.
Yeah, that´s definately good thinking. I don´t have a 1st gen iPod (that´s also the main reason why i chose “iphone and ipod touch (2. generation)” as supported devices in iTunes Connect). I will buy a 1st gen iPod asap so i can test things on it, too.
Its hard for me to imagine one can select several deploy options like “iphone and ipod touch (2. generation)” and then users with 1st gen devices could still just attempt to buy it, then buy it and then get a message its not supported AFTER they buy it so i guess the problem is probably somewhere else (well, i hope so,otherwise that´s definately a design bug in the store system).
I meanwhile had a nice email exchange with that buyer and he told me what exactly happens:
He gets a message saying “The application was not installed on the iPod because it is not compatible with this iPod”
so yeah., its not a problem of the game needing too much ram or anything but rather he can´t even get the game installed in first place.
Meanwhile i think its maybe because it is deployed to use firmware update 2.2.
Well, i´ll know for sure when i get a 1st gen iPod.
Do you deploy your games to 2.2?
No, since it works with 2.0, I figure the broader the potential install base, the better.
Hmm…i develop on my first gen iPod Touch and I too have a complaint about my game not working on a customer’s first gen iPod Touch…this is very interesting…
Oh, wow, that makes it even more mysterious.
At least now i can exclude another possible reason: i talked on with the customer and he has the latest firmware (2.2) so that possible reason for it not working is out of the way.
Well, i´ll buy a 1st gen iPod touch now on weekend so i can test things on it myself.
It sounds to me like what happened was you had it set to restrict the app to 2nd gen devices, and the customer made the purchase through iTunes (which didn’t know what type of device he had). Then later when he went to synch his iPod with iTunes, it discovered that it was incompatible.
I do know firsthand, however, that this cannot happen when buying from the on-device AppStore. The “$X.XX” button simply doesn’t appear on the app page.
Nevertheless, it’s always good to develop and test on a 1st gen iPod to make sure the worst case is tested.
Worst case actually is the iPhone 2.5G, the first generation iTouch is higher up in the “feeding order”
You think? I had heard that the iPod was slower in real-world tests. It’d be interesting to know for sure.
i heard that performance wise slowest is first gen iPod touch, higher up is the first iPhone, then comes the newer iPhone and then the newest iPod touch performs best.
While also the newest (3g) iPhone could in theory perform as good as the newest iPod Touch (cause they have the same chips and the only difference is that the iPhone 3g is capped down more so maybe they´ll change that with a firmware update, who knows)
thanks for this very informative post that helped a lot clearing the mystery up some.
Reading it i talked again with the customer and indeed he has bought the app on his pc and now can´t install it on his device.
So it really seems to be the case that he could download it because no “is device supported” check happened but now he can´t install it because now on his device he gets that check. I´d have guessed that if someone already bought an app the device would try to let it install anyway (maybe bring a message: “app is not officially supported on this device, install anyway?”), but well, obviously not
I´ll get a 1st gen iPod touch on weekend now as planned and will then see if i have to change something in the app itself or if all i have to do is really just change the supported devices option in iTunes connect
man, this mail by that customer made my day:
"G’day again,
glad I can help. Thanks again for all the effort you’re going to, it’s this type of dedication that gets you a respectable customer and fan base, and I will surely pass on the good word and positive reviews of this program based on the work that you put into this app.
cheers!"
awesome, gives me hope that if i go on improving and extending my game with time it can maybe actually do well, motivates me to keep on coding through the night now
You shouldn’t have to change anything in the game. You should only need to change the setting in iTunes Connect. Night Divine - another Unity app - went through the same ordeal (as far as it not being buyable on my iPod 1st gen because of that setting) and that fixed it. I’d flip that switch as soon as possible so Apple can get it updated ASAP.
BTW, I just tried to purchase Stunt Man Bob through the on-device AppStore, and for me, the $0.99 button did appear, but when I tapped it, it said that it was only compatible with the iPhone. Not iPhone and iPod 2nd gen, mind you (which is what it states in iTunes), but just the iPhone. Just thought you’d want to know that.
regarding your previous suggestion i changed the supported devices to iPhone and iPod touch now.
So couldn´t you download it now?
Also: Can some people here with iPod touch 1st gen download it and give me feedback on how it runs while i´m waiting for my iPod touch 1st gen? (I can hook you up with a coupon code via pm).
It worked!
By the way, how are you doing your text? Is it all prerendered in a texture, or are you using a texture font and building the words at run-time?
oh, nice
Does it run ok or is it slow on a 1st gen iPod?