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Secret iPad

thinkfractional.blog

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Re: Secret iPad

#31

Post by freehunter »

scarface74 wrote: post #27
freehunter wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There really is no excuse for the lack of "real" software on the iPad (using "real" as in desktop quality). Only a small amount can be blamed on the system itself, appealing to a very niche audience (like XCode). Arbitrary Javascript code written on the iPad can run, as evidenced by Play.js. Arbitrary Python code written on the iPad can run as evidenced by Pythonista. Arbitrary Swift code can run as evidenced by Swif…

So “real software” is just development software?

No. Name desktop class software you want that isn’t available on an iPad and it’s just as valid. Name a profession who can’t do their work on an iPad and it’s just as valid. I just called our development software because this is a software development forum full of software developers.

Hell, why aren’t there more desktop class video games on the iPad? Not because it can’t run them, that’s for sure. The hardware is more than powerful enough.

Re: Secret iPad

#32

Post by jklm »

alasdair_ wrote: post #10
xxpor wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's no money to be made in the app store, for the most part. OTOH, there's plenty to be made in monthly service revenue (and 30% of it isn't taken by apple in most cases).

The money thing is more a power law thing. There is DEFINITELY money to be made in the app store (I worked on an app that made a billion in revenue in seven months from a product with only twelve engineers directly working on it) but it’s almost all going to the winners in a specific category.

Can you share the space your app was in out of curiosity?

Re: Secret iPad

#33

Post by freehunter »

DevKoala wrote: post #9
_bxg1 wrote: post #5

Even now, hearing about this app I think "Wow! That's so novel and cool! ( magical , even)". I've said it before, but I dearly miss the creativity people had in the first few years of iOS. We have much better devices now; we should have better apps! I should be so desensitized by how interesting the new apps are that a skeuomorphic guitar tuner sounds banal and obvious! Instead today's apps are boring. They've been r…

I would guess that there are more great apps published daily than ever before. The issue is probably discovery. Even if you build something great, you are competing for attention, and people who can pay for ads get the most attention.

Honestly, yes. I go through the App Store nearly every single day looking for something interesting and every single day it’s “have you tried Bear yet?” Or Day One, or Calm or Clash of Clans or some cookie cutter “Crossy Road” style nonsense.

Judging by what’s promoted on the App Store, there hasn’t been any new software written for iOS in years. They’ve just been republishing the same iOS Essentials article twice a day since 2015.

Re: Secret iPad

#34

Post by scarface74 »

freehunter wrote: post #31
scarface74 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So “real software” is just development software?

No. Name desktop class software you want that isn’t available on an iPad and it’s just as valid. Name a profession who can’t do their work on an iPad and it’s just as valid. I just called our development software because this is a software development forum full of software developers. Hell, why aren’t there more desktop class video games on the iPad? Not because it can’t run them, that’s for sure. The hardware is mo…

There are no desktop class games because a touch screen and the control doesn’t translate well and people refuse to pay for premium games.

Re: Secret iPad

#35

Post by flycaliguy »

criddell wrote: post #14
_bxg1 wrote: post #5

Even now, hearing about this app I think "Wow! That's so novel and cool! ( magical , even)". I've said it before, but I dearly miss the creativity people had in the first few years of iOS. We have much better devices now; we should have better apps! I should be so desensitized by how interesting the new apps are that a skeuomorphic guitar tuner sounds banal and obvious! Instead today's apps are boring. They've been r…

There are some fantastic iPad apps. Procreate and GoodNotes are two of my favorites. They are also insanely inexpensive. I can't imagine making something as good as Procreate and then only charging $10 for it. If I had an idea for something complex on the iPad I would have serious reservations about developing it. You can't charge reasonable prices for software unless you do it in $0.99 chunks.

I swear procreate was much more expensive than $10 when I bought it. I can’t find evidence of it being reduced, maybe my memory is faulty.

Re: Secret iPad

#36

Post by rchaud »

_bxg1 wrote: post #5

Even now, hearing about this app I think "Wow! That's so novel and cool! ( magical , even)". I've said it before, but I dearly miss the creativity people had in the first few years of iOS. We have much better devices now; we should have better apps! I should be so desensitized by how interesting the new apps are that a skeuomorphic guitar tuner sounds banal and obvious! Instead today's apps are boring. They've been r…

> What in the world happened?

Business incentives changed.

The early iPhone/iPad app ecosystem focused on showcasing creativity. The UI was new and unique, and apps were created to take advantage of the gyroscope for games, or the audio input for apps like the guitar tuner thing in this article.

But that doesn't put food on the table, especially if the land baron is taking a 30% cut for every sale.

Why bother creating complex apps that push device capabilities to their limits, when what the majority of the market wants to do with their phones is tap away at a Candy Crush/Clash of Clans clone, or scroll mindlessly through one of 3 social media apps?

It simply became more lucrative to create clones of products where market demand had been validated, and stuff it full of ads and in-app purchases.

Re: Secret iPad

#37

Post by rchaud »

scarface74 wrote: post #34
freehunter wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. Name desktop class software you want that isn’t available on an iPad and it’s just as valid. Name a profession who can’t do their work on an iPad and it’s just as valid. I just called our development software because this is a software development forum full of software developers. Hell, why aren’t there more desktop class video games on the iPad? Not because it can’t run them, that’s for sure. The hardware is mo…

There are no desktop class games because a touch screen and the control doesn’t translate well and people refuse to pay for premium games.

Gamepads have been available for the iPad since at least 2013.

Re: Secret iPad

#38

Post by frosted-flakes »

chronogram wrote: post #15
criddell wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are some fantastic iPad apps. Procreate and GoodNotes are two of my favorites. They are also insanely inexpensive. I can't imagine making something as good as Procreate and then only charging $10 for it. If I had an idea for something complex on the iPad I would have serious reservations about developing it. You can't charge reasonable prices for software unless you do it in $0.99 chunks.

Procreate is the killer app of the Apple pencil and maybe even the iPad Pro. The pricing is indeed strange. There are people paying $999 for a tablet, $129 for the pencil, just to run a $10 app.

When you put it like that, yeah, mobile app pricing is messed up.

Compare that to desktop programs like Adobe Creative Cloud, which costs more than $500 a year. Or console games, where the console costs about $300 (Switch Lite) and a single game costs almost $100.

(All priced CAD, rounded.)

Re: Secret iPad

#39

Post by scarface74 »

rchaud wrote: post #37
scarface74 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are no desktop class games because a touch screen and the control doesn’t translate well and people refuse to pay for premium games.

Gamepads have been available for the iPad since at least 2013.

We have over three decades of evidence in the console market that a game can’t be successful if it requires a non bundled accessory.

Re: Secret iPad

#40

Post by nine_k »

freehunter wrote: post #31
scarface74 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So “real software” is just development software?

No. Name desktop class software you want that isn’t available on an iPad and it’s just as valid. Name a profession who can’t do their work on an iPad and it’s just as valid. I just called our development software because this is a software development forum full of software developers. Hell, why aren’t there more desktop class video games on the iPad? Not because it can’t run them, that’s for sure. The hardware is mo…

Have you looked at the state of sound-processing and music-making apps? Drawing and painting apps? Animation apps? Those areas look somehow mature to me.

Yes, no good IDE because the target audience is wielding MBPs anyway.

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