Are apps going to get more bloated because of Iphone 5 and iOS 6?

[rikschennink]

I have the feeling my app will run just fine on the iPhone 5 with or without black bars, no more assets needed just some interface positioning and scaling, but that logic was added for the iPad already.

I am more concerned about naming. My app is universal universal, for me (and I guess for the consumer) that implies it will run on all devices. Now with the iPhone five universal is no longer universal, there is some sort of universal++ mode where (as I just read some replies above this one) you add a certain splash screen and pooof you're in iPhone 5 screen mode without black bars.. How is this going to impact consumer expectation when buying a universal app?

[mr.Ugly]

universal means iphone and ipad optimized.. not the support of different resolutions..

if your iphone app supported sd and retina on the iphone it was still not "universal" .. the same applies to the widescreen i5.. its just another screen dimension to support on iphone..

[Devcade]

Originally Posted by rikschennink

I have the feeling my app will run just fine on the iPhone 5 with or without black bars, no more assets needed just some interface positioning and scaling, but that logic was added for the iPad already.

I am more concerned about naming. My app is universal universal, for me (and I guess for the consumer) that implies it will run on all devices. Now with the iPhone five universal is no longer universal, there is some sort of universal++ mode where (as I just read some replies above this one) you add a certain splash screen and pooof you're in iPhone 5 screen mode without black bars.. How is this going to impact consumer expectation when buying a universal app?

An iPhone 5 is still an iPhone. But now, there is iPhone 3.5" and iPhone 4".

I don't think lacking support for iPhone 4" will remove your Universal status on the AppStore,
since you already support iPhone 3.5". It's just not 100% perfect now.

In other words, the screen is just another component of the iPhone, just like the camera or gyro.
The larger screen will not be utilized until your app is updated.

And whether or not you will see the words "Compatible with iPhone 5" in your AppStore description,
remains to be seen. I haven't seen any apps with this desciption.

[Connector]

Originally Posted by rikschennink

I have the feeling my app will run just fine on the iPhone 5 with or without black bars, no more assets needed just some interface positioning and scaling, but that logic was added for the iPad already.

I am more concerned about naming. My app is universal universal, for me (and I guess for the consumer) that implies it will run on all devices. Now with the iPhone five universal is no longer universal, there is some sort of universal++ mode where (as I just read some replies above this one) you add a certain splash screen and pooof you're in iPhone 5 screen mode without black bars.. How is this going to impact consumer expectation when buying a universal app?

You're right, that is very interesting. I suppose since the definition of universal means it runs both on the iphone and ipad, some might interpret either way whether it should support the iphone 5.

Almost seems like the black bars is kind of like the 2x function, so I could see some iphone 5 users getting mad that a game isn't iphone 5 mode compatible if it reads as universal. It would be interesting if any users would give one star reviews because of it, since it is bound to happen.

I guess it would be cool I guess to have a universal+ classification especially in the itunes descrition, but it's getting really confusing with all the different versions of retina, hd, and ipads & iphones, that a normal consumer would get confused.

One could almost say that a universal+ classification should also require a game to be ipad retina, since it basically is the same thing as iphone 5 mode compatibility.

That's why I hate the stupid name new ipad. It makes it even harder to figure out what apps are compatible with it. Many apps now say ipad compatible, but that doesn't tell you jack about the graphics capability and whether they are ipad retina.

Just wish Apple would have numbered the iphones and ipads in sequence, then it would be easy for developers to state what devices their games are compatible with, and which graphic screens are supported.

[MrBlue]

Originally Posted by Connector

Almost seems like the black bars is kind of like the 2x function, so I could see some iphone 5 users getting mad that a game isn't iphone 5 mode compatible if it reads as universal. It would be interesting if any users would give one star reviews because of it, since it is bound to happen.

I guess it would be cool I guess to have a universal+ classification especially in the itunes descrition, but it's getting really confusing with all the different versions of retina, hd, and ipads & iphones, that a normal consumer would get confused.

iTunesConnect already has a new slot for new screenshots with the new aspect ratio. I'm sure it'll be easy to tell if an app is optimized for iPhone 5 or not when the device ships with the new iOS.

[Devcade]

Originally Posted by Connector

I guess it would be cool I guess to have a universal+ classification especially in the itunes descrition, but it's getting really confusing with all the different versions of retina, hd, and ipads & iphones, that a normal consumer would get confused.

The iPad Mini is coming too, sometime before December. But, I think the aspect ratio is the same, so there won't be
any compatibility trickery involved.

[Zenout]

There's no need for a "+" on the end of [Universal], it would just add confusion. I created a thread today without said symbol - my game will work on anything GL2...which is everything from 3GS up - What I would like is for more players to desire extra stuff on the more capable devices, as instead of this I have aimed to make my game look equally cool on all devices...which was fun!

[rikschennink]

Originally Posted by Devcade

An iPhone 5 is still an iPhone. But now, there is iPhone 3.5" and iPhone 4".

I don't think lacking support for iPhone 4" will remove your Universal status on the AppStore,
since you already support iPhone 3.5". It's just not 100% perfect now.

I'm not concerned about my universal status, more concerned with the customers expectations of it. And..

Originally Posted by Devcade

The iPad Mini is coming too, sometime before December. But, I think the aspect ratio is the same, so there won't be
any compatibility trickery involved.

...thats exactly what bothers me, IF an iPad mini is coming will it fall under the Universal umbrella? If so, a lot of devs will need to add support for it asap. If not what does universal mean, it's just an empty term then.

[Connector]

Originally Posted by rikschennink

I'm not concerned about my universal status, more concerned with the customers expectations of it. And..

...thats exactly what bothers me, IF an iPad mini is coming will it fall under the Universal umbrella? If so, a lot of devs will need to add support for it asap. If not what does universal mean, it's just an empty term then.

Yeah, it will be interesting what universal will mean after the iphone 5 and ipad mini come out.

Guess at a minimum, they could define it as being able to run in iphone 1 and ipad 1 resolutions. This would mean that iphone 5 mode would not be required for it to be universal. This would also mean that an app wouldn't have to be retina iphone or new ipad retina either.

Or they could mean universal would be required to support iphone 5 and the ipad mini. This would mean, I think in theory, that games then would run retina on the iphone 5 since it would be full screen with the higher resolution, but it would be weird cause they might not have to support iphone 4 retina.

And of course this leaves out the new ipad retina totally.

Or they could mean that universal means iphone 5 support, iphone retina support, ipad mini support, and new ipad support. But I doubt it if they would do this cause some games don't run well in retina. But too bad this wouldn't be the definition of universal. Also, as apps became dated, this would force Apple to declare apps not universal anymore, which would create a nightmare.

So I guess this really just leaves the minimum definition, runs on native iphone 1 and ipad 1 resolutions and will function properly on all devices.

Or maybe one of you could come up with a better definition of universal. I really wish Apple would just solve this by having a required spec sheet on every app, that specifies exactly which iphones it will work on, whether it is retina or not, and whether iphone 5 and the mini ipad will be supported.

That's why they gotta do away with this new ipad name idiocracy, can you imagine an app saying it runs on the ipad, ipad 2, new ipad, newer ipad, most recent ipad or just ipad.

Figure they won't use a universal+ classification for the new iphone 5, but they gotta do something I hope.