Our iPad 6th gen is running iPadOS 17.7.10, and is not eligible for iPadOS 26. The App store (icon white 'A' on blue) offers an update of Netflix, but it produces "This application requires iOS 18.0 or later". No such problem occurs on our iPad Air 2, which is (restricted to) running iOS 15.8.5.
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
Original Title: App requires iOS 18.0 or later
iPad
I don't know if this option is still available but you can try. Some apps—it is apparently up to the developer, not Apple—have an older supported older version of the app available as a hidden download. Prime Video did that for years.
See this: https://appleinsider.com/inside/ios/tips/how-to-get-apps-for-old-iphones-and-ipads
That show asvery old version of "My Purchases" like on my iPad 2, but I tried it with my iPad 5 (OS 16) where "My Purchases" looks very different.
I got the notice and failure to launch on my iPad 5 about Netflix requiring OS 18 as soon as iPadOS 26 dropped last month. However, just now when I when to my purchases, tapped and held the NetFlix icon to get this:
and hit "OPEN" It did! Closed that then opened from the home screen without issue. Give it a try. My iPad is older than yours. Now it works again!
I don't know if this option is still available but you can try. Some apps—it is apparently up to the developer, not Apple—have an older supported older version of the app available as a hidden download. Prime Video did that for years.
See this: https://appleinsider.com/inside/ios/tips/how-to-get-apps-for-old-iphones-and-ipads
That show asvery old version of "My Purchases" like on my iPad 2, but I tried it with my iPad 5 (OS 16) where "My Purchases" looks very different.
I got the notice and failure to launch on my iPad 5 about Netflix requiring OS 18 as soon as iPadOS 26 dropped last month. However, just now when I when to my purchases, tapped and held the NetFlix icon to get this:
and hit "OPEN" It did! Closed that then opened from the home screen without issue. Give it a try. My iPad is older than yours. Now it works again!
tapio50 wrote:
Same issue with our older iPad pro 10.5 which is stuck with ipados 17 and running the latest version. Netflix update to version 17.5.1 refuses to update because ipados is not 18. I am not an expert on the details but maybe the Netflix update has been incorrectly flagged to require ipados 18. On a newer ipad running ipados 18 the latest Netflix version is 18.0.0.
From both a technical and financial cost perspective, maintaining compatibility across a wide range of major OS versions may be uneconomic for an App Developer.
It is very common for App Developers to only support the current and prior on or two major versions of iOS/iPadOS. System calls and associated libraries, upon which commercial Apps often rely, may substantially change with release of a new major version of the host OS. These changes require compatible Apps to be updated to maintain compatibility.
Maintaining backwards compatibility can considerably increase the size and complexity of the Apps's codebase. Changes made to accommodate a new major version may, in some circumstances, cause conflicts, inefficiencies or simple incompatibility with earlier OS versions.
Same issue with our older iPad pro 10.5 which is stuck with ipados 17 and running the latest version. Netflix update to version 17.5.1 refuses to update because ipados is not 18. I am not an expert on the details but maybe the Netflix update has been incorrectly flagged to require ipados 18. On a newer ipad running ipados 18 the latest Netflix version is 18.0.0.
The iPad 6th generation has reached the end-of-life support for Software Updates to the latest iPad operating system, depriving you of new features created many years ago.
Many modern apps are not compatible, limiting the usability of your device.
You are invited to visit an Apple retail store to discuss your iPad upgrade options.
If your iPad is too old for a trade-in, then the only option is to recycle it for free. ♻️
Good luck! 👋🏼😉
I don't think this is a Netflix issue. If the AppStore app on our iPad Air 2 doesn't offer to update Netflix 15.48.1, something was provided to the app to prevent this at the time of the iPad Air 2 EOL. A similar "something" is needed to prevent the AppStore app on our iPad Gen 6 from offering to update Neflix 17.49.0.
If I don't hear anything more on this, I will contact Netflix. Their headquarters in Los Gatos was once within a mile of our home.
I used to own an iPad Air 2 seven years ago.
This seems like a Netflix issue.
Learn ⇢ how to contact an app developer and provide feedback.
I'm puzzled why our iPad Air 2, released in October 2014 and running iOS 15.8.5, is happily getting updates from the App Store, and has never (to my aged memory) had any problems like this, which is happening on our iPad Gen 6, released in March 2018 and running iOS 17.7.10. The Gen 6 App Store app updated 17 other apps today, and has a problem only with Netflix.
Neither my wife nor I care about "modern" iPad apps. Mostly we use these iPads for solitaire and Kindle reading.
If the App Store app on the Gen 6 would just leave Netflix 17.49.0 at that level, like the App Store app on the iPad Air 2 does for Netflix 15.48.1, I think my problem would be solved. How can I ask Apple to do this?
Non-smilin Craig
Allan Jones: I clicked on my initials in the upper right of the initial Apple Store page, and got my Account subpage. But mine has no "My Purchases" link, rather "Apps" and "Purchase History". I cannot get the Purchase History option to show Netflix with either the "This Year" of "Last Year" filters. The Apps option includes a Netflix entry. When I press and hold it, I get a subscreen that shows the "requires 18.0..." note, with an Update button that leads to the same "This app requires iOS 18.0 or later" result. There is also a smaller subscreen with four links "Share", "See...", "Write...", and "Hide". I even tried typing in the second long URL from your post, and reviewed it as correct, but that led to a "no such..." error. The 17.49.0 Netflix that we have on the iPad 6th gen works fine. All I want is to get the App Store to stop offering the update to 18.0.
you can always request and suggest all kinds of things to apple using their feedback channel
but mind you the cost og R&D and Q&A without any direct revenue in return
would likely exceed, providing you and your wife with free ipads for the rest of your life.
App requires iPadOS 18.0 or later on my iPad 6th gen
