OSX Sandbox: Launch a different executable based on OS version

Question

I have an application in the Mac App Store. I'm trying to support users going back to Snow Leopard but this is becoming increasingly difficult.

Recently I've hit a roadblock due to the iTunesLibrary.framework, this framework must be linked to the main executable and yet doing so will always trigger a crash on load when running in Snow Leopard.

To workaround this problem, I want to compile a version of my app that doesn't use features and frameworks from newer versions of OSX. The problem is, how can I launch the compatibility build automatically?

I'm considering trying to make the main executable point to a shell script, but I don't really like that idea. I've also thought of the main executable being a helper that simply launches the full app and then exits. I expect this would work, but I worry about it getting approved by Apple. Finally, I'm wondering if the app bundle format itself can support this kind of setup, maybe via an advanced used of CFBundleExecutable that I'm unaware of.

Has anyone been down this road, what would you suggest?

Answer 1

Try weak linking the frameworks, more information about Weak Linking and Apple Frameworks here. Then also check in your code for the OS version or - (BOOL)respondsToSelector:(SEL)aSelector of any NSObject to determine what you can call and what not.

To have Snow Leopard as Base SDK you'll need an old Xcode and will have troubles submitting to Mac App Store.