Xcode Project Format: what are the differences between 3.1, 3.2, 6.3 and 8.0?

Question

When I open a project in Xcode 9 (or previous versions) and check the File Inspector, there's a section called Project Document, with a combo box named Project Format.
The available options (in Xcode 9) are Xcode 3.1-compatible, Xcode 3.2-compatible, Xcode 6.3-compatible, and Xcode 8.0-compatible:

What are the differences between those formats?

-- UPDATE HISTORY (as of 20 May 2019) --

I originally asked this question when Xcode 6.4 was around.
Xcode 6.4's list included Xcode 3.1-compatible, Xcode 3.2-compatible and Xcode 6.3-compatible, and defaulted to Xcode 3.2-compatible.
Xcode 7 didn't introduce any changes.
Xcode 8 added an Xcode 8.0-compatible item.
Xcode 9 changed the default for new projects to Xcode 8.0-compatible. (8 Oct 2017)
Xcode 10.2 added Xcode 9.3-compatible, Xcode 10.0-compatible (May 2019)

Solution

There does not seem to be any major breaking change in this format change (I tried few of my project, nothing changed in the xml structure itself except the version parameter..).

As far as I remember, there were few project formats before that, some of which actually had major changes, but that is probably not going to happen again because that was in the times of major structural changes to iOS, like from iOS2 to iOS3.

Also, just side note, the default for new projects is still 3.2 so it is very likely that 6.3 is basically for testing and version that they will force later will be -7.

My best guess would be that the new format is there for Swift 2 and the way how modules / dependencies are handled in there, as it for sure requires some additional data to be present in the project. But to be 100% sure we would need information from somebody on the Apple Team.

Hope it helps!

Comments

[Para]

Yes, like I said in my question, I noticed the default is still 3.2, that's why I got curious about the format :) So it looks like there are no major changes, though something is probably happening behind the scenes.

[Jiri Trecak]

I am sure we will know as soon as Swift 2 is stable and released :)

[Para]

Quick update: Xcode 7 and Swift 2 have been officially released, however nothing changed as to the Project Format. We might have to wait for Xcode 8... or maybe there is simply no answer to this question!

[Justin Vallely]

Has anyone seen any changes with the new "Xcode 8.0 compatible" option?

[NiñoScript]

I see none (other than objectVersion = 48, whatever that value means)

[Justin Vallely]

Xcode 8.2.1 still defaults to Xcode 3.2-compatible on new projects.

[Raphael]

Two years later, still nothing changed. Any new speculation, maybe with references?

[iOS dev]

Just revisited this myself with Xcode 10. Aside from incrementing objectVersion and updating compatibilityVersion, it appears a minor change was made where LD_RUNPATH_SEARCH_PATHS is no longer stored as a whitespace separated list, but as a comma separated collection. Still, very minor.