Is it really true that we can't update from iPhone packager to 2.6?

Question

Hi,
My understanding is that once we have build an app in Iphone Packager we are never able to upgrade to air 2.6...
http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#qa/qa1623/_index.html
Can anyone confirm that there really is no way to do this? Apple suggests that we have to replace our apps under a different name!?!
I can't help but feeling a bit sad about this. Surely I can't ask all my clients to redownload the app (and make up a different name for it) just because I can't update to Air 2.6??
Anyone has any ideas about this?

Answer 1

AIR 2.6 apps won't run on the older devices, and one of the rules with the App Store is that you can't remove devices from the list that the app supports. The instructions on that page are slightly confusing, in that it suggests to remove the old app and then upload the new one with a new App ID, implying that it would be the same name, but then it also says that if you delete an app from the store you're not allowed to use the same name again.
If you did manage to replace the current app with an AIR 2.6 one without your users having to pay again, you would still then have the problem that customers with older phones would not be able to get the update anyway. So one way or another you're going to upset some of your customers.
One option would be to update the app with the old packager purely to present a splash screen telling people about a new version with better performance on later devices. Then some time later put that new version into the store with an introduction price that is very low, and after a few days increase the price to its normal amount, and also update the old app to remove the splash screen.
You could perhaps call the new version "HD", as it would support Retina display. Doing it that way would still leave you with the ability to do bug fix updates with the old packager for users of the old app.