My Rant About Something That Doesn’t Exist Yet
The days until the announcement of the new iPhone are now minimal, yet geeks everywhere are still scrounging for every possible bit of info they can get. Steve Jobs is sitting in his house giggling with joy in his bed while he plays with his iPhone 4000 and rehearses his keynote lines. Asia is “leaking” fake photos of Apple devices for page hits and personal recognition.
But I’m sitting here worried. Not about the device itself, as I know it’s going to be the coolest of beans. But I’m worried about something in particular that only a designer would worry about; the new iPhone is rumored to have a higher res screen. While this sounds awesome to a consumer, it’s hell for the whole of app development.
When the iPad was announced, it was fine and dandy creating two sizes of an app for two different screens. The iPad has a lot more possibility. In fact, I’m writing this on an iPad now, which is much more comfortable than an iPhone.
Which is exactly my point: there’s good reason to create an optimized version of an app for the iPad’s screen. So much more can be done with it. However, creating an app for the same sized screen but higher resolution has no advantages but looking prettier. Which, as a designer, isn’t bad. But it is. That’s now three screens you’re optimizing your app for. If you’re making an iPad-only app, then you have nothing to worry about. But an iPhone app? If you’re serious about cooking up a big seller, you’d better hope you have the new artwork to support it. Imagine, game developers, creating two versions of the same game. Not only are you optimizing it, but you’re also having two of each image which quickly bulks up the size of the app itself.
I also feel like I’m starting to worry Apple is straying away from one of the beauties of iPhone apps: an application you know that will work on any iPhone. Now, while I imagine it still will, and will just follow the iPad’s pixel-doubling magic tricks, the fact that for consumers there’s now so many different compatibility requirements is troubling. And for developers, keeping up with this demand is difficult. An app not having an “HD” sticker slapped onto it is reason enough for a consumer to complain and give it a one-star rating followed by a five-star bribe. It’s easy enough for a consumer to tell you to update to the new higher-resolution, but when you’re on the other side and created artwork for a 480x320 screen and now have to recreate it, that’s a mess and headache.
It’s not that I’m not excited for the possibilities. I’m just not excited for the demand and the unnecessary, extra work. Which isn’t lazy, really. It’s just frustrating.
