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The Apps are Too Damn Big

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Re: The Apps are Too Damn Big

#51

Post by smashing »

tolmasky wrote: post #41
stephengillie wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How many developers are willing to create and upload 3 different versions of their app? I seem to remember reading a thread here on HN complaining about that... Would Apple allow an app maker to release their app for only newer iPads and iPhones, and not for the older devices? (I have no idea...)

It would require no extra work on the developer's part. The 4 binaries could just be bundled in a "super" bundle and still even look like one thing and keep the ".app" extension. So we could actually keep everything as it is (code and resource wise), then when you hit compile, it simply makes 4 copies: 1 for iPhone (non-retina) which includes the .xibs for iPhone and non-HD images, one for iPhone HD (same but with HD…

I suspect that the real problem is that some people download every app that interests them with the words FREE and LITE in the title.

Re: The Apps are Too Damn Big

#52

Post by daniel_iversen »

It does seem to me like this "space issue" is a very annoying an unethical way for Apple to automatically and slowly force people into buying newer devices with more storage (for whom the old 16GB versions were enough), and it comes as a surprise for most who start running out of space on their device and can't do anything about it. Also (and this is not Apple's fault) the new hi res photos and recorded videos contribute a lot too.

Re: The Apps are Too Damn Big

#55

Post by olalonde »

tolmasky wrote: post #50
masklinn wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You can kind of do this today by shipping a separate iPad and iPhone app (you can't separate non-HD and HD) And it's bloody inconvenient for the user who has to buy and keep half a dozen identical applications.

Right that's the whole point of my post. I'm saying its technically possible to separate them - Apple should then do the presentation work of showing them as the same on the store and pretending they're one app.

I never owned an iDevice so I'm not sure the analogy stands but I believe the Ubuntu Software Center does something similar to what you're describing. You get the same 'app store' whatever version of Ubuntu you are running but when you install an 'app' it silently downloads the package targeted at your Ubuntu version.

Re: The Apps are Too Damn Big

#56

Post by statictype »

stephengillie wrote: post #37
tolmasky wrote: post #30

I don't understand why "universal binaries" exist at all on iOS. On desktops where the app space is more "free" it has a purpose, but it's not like users are regularly moving apps from one iDevice to another -- so what on earth is the point of having three different things altogether? The much more intelligent solution would have been to simply allow developers to upload 3 different binaries, but only present it as o…

How many developers are willing to create and upload 3 different versions of their app? I seem to remember reading a thread here on HN complaining about that... Would Apple allow an app maker to release their app for only newer iPads and iPhones, and not for the older devices? (I have no idea...)

Apple has historically not given the slightest fuck about what is an inconvenience for developers. Even more so when what's good for users is the opposite of what's convenient for developers. And in this case (if they ever do decide to enforce multiple binaries) that would be a good thing.

Re: The Apps are Too Damn Big

#57

Post by gurkendoktor »

I agree with all the cynics saying that Apple doesn't care. Even if app sales go down because of full devices - please keep in mind how their profits are split between hardware and software/services.

I would go even further: They wouldn't even change it if it were free and easy to do. If they filtered out Retina graphics for non-Retina devices, the old iPad could hold more apps than the new one! If you upgraded to the new iPad, you would have to trim down your collection. It just doesn't make any business sense for them.

I guess everyone with a jailbreak will rejoice, this sounds like something a Perl one-liner could fix over ssh. And it could remove the builtin apps while they're at it. I am honestly jealous.

Re: The Apps are Too Damn Big

#58

Post by keeperofdakeys »

olalonde wrote: post #55
tolmasky wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right that's the whole point of my post. I'm saying its technically possible to separate them - Apple should then do the presentation work of showing them as the same on the store and pretending they're one app.

I never owned an iDevice so I'm not sure the analogy stands but I believe the Ubuntu Software Center does something similar to what you're describing. You get the same 'app store' whatever version of Ubuntu you are running but when you install an 'app' it silently downloads the package targeted at your Ubuntu version.

Google Play supports this, which is mainly used for tablet vs phone, but could be used for different ARM architectures.. http://developer.android.com/guide/market/publishing/multipl...

Re: The Apps are Too Damn Big

#59

Post by virtualritz »

A lot of graphics on these devices are vectors (Inkscape SVG, Illustrator, etc.). A possible solution would be a cache on the device where each app has a slot. The app can store data in this cache (i.e. images rendered on-demand into bitmaps). The total size of this cache would be limited (user adjustable, maybe). When the cache runs out of space, data from least used apps gets purged. That means, when I want to run my least used RPG on my iPad 3, after maybe a month of not using it or so, maybe I have to wait 1-2mins for it to turn all the graphics back into bitmaps. But i'd never run out of space for games that use assets that can somehow be described more lightweight that using bitmaps.
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