It seems that the compatibility >= 12.1.2 requirement for apps that have widgets is mostly unnecessary, since widgets are self-contained and won’t interfere with the app itself.
Right now, because of this compatibility requirement, apps that contain widgets cannot be updated on Homey’s running older firmware versions, so if a new version has to be pushed containing critical (security) updates, those users are left in the cold.
Besides that, Athom themselves have published apps in the app store with compatibility >= 5.0.0and widgets.
Also in addition I can’t push the current update for my Widgey app as I get the following error message: incompatible_with_current_homey_stable_version
This update changes the compatibility from >=12.1.0 to >=12.1.2.
And while for the Homey Pro 2023 12.1.2 is already stable, for the older Homey Pro’s it is not, so I can’t push the apps update even though documentation state we should currently target 12.1.2 for widgets.
It does seem strange, especially as I added a widget to my Weather Underground app before the CLI added that restriction and it appeared to still work fine on my main Homey 2019 that was not up to date (just no widget available)
The response from Athom is it is required as the SDK was changed.
I guess it’s always the way when new features are added that there will be these situations.
And yet apps exist in the app store that work on older firmware/Homey’s and contain widgets. Also, as I explained, this is a PITA if you want to maintain your apps for people that run older firmware versions: from the moment you start including widgets in your app, they cannot upgrade anymore.
