Apple Says That All New Apps Must Support the iPhone X Screen (9to5mac.com) 80
Today, Apple emailed developers to inform them that all new apps that are submitted to the App Store must support the iPhone X's Super Retina display, starting this April. What this means is that developers of new applications must ensure they accommodate the notch and go edge-to-edge on the 5.8-inch OLED screen. 9to5Mac reports: Apple has not set a deadline for when updates to existing apps must support iPhone X natively. From April, all new apps must also be built against the iOS 11 SDK. In recent years, Apple has enforced rules more aggressively when it comes to supporting the latest devices. Apple informed the news in an email today encouraging adoption of the latest iOS 11 features like Core ML, SiriKit and ARKit. Requiring compilation with the iOS 11 SDK does not necessarily mean the apps must support new features. It ensures that new app developers are using the latest Apple development tools, which helps prevent the App Store as a whole from going stale, and may encourage adoption of cutting edge features. The rules don't mean that much until Apple requires updates to also support iPhone X and the iOS 11 SDK, as updates represent the majority of the App Store. Most developers making new apps already target iPhone X as a top priority.
support my DAMN balls (Score:1, Insightful)
while u suck them
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If you can't sell it... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:If you can't sell it... (Score:5, Funny)
All those developers will have to buy one to test, that will in itself tripple the sales..
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I'd like Apple to re-imbursr me for that wasted screen real estate.
I'd like to see you come up with a dollar value for that, that doesn't result in people laughing at your face when you get up in court and say it.
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<drevil>One meeeeeeeeelion dollars!</drevil>
Re: If you can't sell it... (Score:4, Informative)
No. That's exactly what they want to avoid.
There are "safe zones" on each edge. You aren't supposed to put content in the safe zones. You can obtain the size of the safe zones using an SDK call. Or I presume if you use auto-layout, it's just taken care of for you.
I write hybrid apps that use a WKWebview for UI. UI/WKWebview provides CSS constants for the safe zones:
safe-area-inset-top
safe-area-inset-bottom
safe-area-inset-left
safe-area-inset-right
The values will be appropriate for the device the app is running on.
Presumably this is usable by web sites so that they look nice on iPhone X as well.
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And that's totally what happens for applications that support the iPhone X display and "notch" today. Nope, not even close.
Don't be an idiot.
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That's not the problem, Apple explicitly tells you how to take the notch and rounded corners into account so the app looks good on any device.
A bigger problem is that it's now impossible to code for older devices. I still have friends and family with older iPads running iOS 6. I made sure all my apps remained compatible, which means using an older version of xCode. But now Apple is simply making it completely impossible to support older devices, period.
I know some people will say that coding for older devic
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I still have friends and family with older iPads running iOS 6.
Seriously? If you try to support iOS 6 today, you are just massively hurting yourself. It's stupid. If you want to be nice, support iOS 9. That supports everything from iPhone 4s and iPad 2 upwards.
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Can you give me one good reason why a simple game that does not need any fancy new capabilities of new hardware, should not be able to run on older devices? Any reason why a perfectly working 7 year first generation iPad must be trashed? (Other than "Apple must make money")
I know I'm "stupid" because I jump through all those hoops to keep my software compatible even though Apple intentionally makes it a pain to do so, and even though it hardly makes me any more money (the latter being all that matters, righ
No you do not have to buy one to test (Score:1)
All those developers will have to buy one to test
You can use the iOS simulator just fine to test both layout and FaceID auth (if used by the app).
Flog that dead horse (Score:4, Informative)
Actually iPhone X sales turned out to be Xceedingly good [marketwatch.com].
So what was that you were saying again? Oh that's right, just like most Apple Haters you are about three years out of date with reality and are just posting to make yourself look like an idiot.
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Apple hater, gees, don't like a product and you are evil, WTF. Here is an example of why Apple Corp can be a bunch of fuck ups. Old battery slow down the phone, without informing the user, it's so fucking stupid. Smart move, halve the screen resolution to hugely reduce processing requirements, it's just a bloody setting, full res, at high charge, halve res at low charge or the end user can choose in they know they need to extend their battery life, run at half res for that period. Now that's smart, just slo
False (Score:2)
Apple claim to be a high end product but they make that claim without the durability and reliability of other high end products on the market
Totally untrue, the iPad 2 I bought at launch is still being used daily, as is my mid 2010 17" MacBook Pro (and THAT took a header from about four feet not a concrete floor with just a small dent in the corner and no repair needed).
Electronics by their very nature are inherently going to suffer a bit compared to newer models after some time has passed. But Apple truly
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The difference is the batteries Apple uses are WAY BETTER than replaceable batteries, I did not miss that at all moving away from flip phones because I had to replace the damn things every six months and lets be honest - NO ONE wants to carry a spare battery with them. But if you did feel so inclined the infinite variety of the external phone charger is vastly preferable to the fixed size and capacity of the replaceable battery. Apple would not go back to them because the world has moved on to the better idea, the sealed battery - going the other way is low end in every possible respect.
Yeah, literally none of that sentence is true, is it? An iphone with easily removable batteries could literally have the same battery cells as is does now, just with an extra mm here and there for things like the removable back and for the battery contact pins.
Being removable doesn't change anything about the battery, and I never had to replace a phone's battery after 6 months even back when the used NiHM.
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...Actually iPhone X sales turned out to be Xceedingly good ...
The article you cite seems to say that it was more the iPhoneX's exceedingly high price, and not sales volume, that buoyed the revenue.
Wow, can't stop with the self-inflicted blows... (Score:1)
You just can't wait to prove what an idiot you are, can you? You just keep have to go back and make mistake after mistake that 10 seconds on Google would have corrected you on before you put on the clown mask once more.
"The iPhone X "surpassed our expectations and has been our top-selling iPhone every week since it shipped in November""
Said the SECOND LINK [variety.com] in my own Google search...
Re: Wow, can't stop with the self-inflicted blows. (Score:1)
Sometimes it's hard for people to not be cashiers in the face of such wilfully ignorant, or purposefully misleading non-information.
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...You just can't wait to prove what an idiot you are, can you? ...
I read the article you cited. If that makes me an idiot...
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Yeah, because they would NEVER standardize on that size / configuration for future models, and try to do the whole ecosystem a favor by getting the software to work properly on it in advance...
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If you can't sell it, you can at least force developers to pretend that it's relevant.
Who says Apple can't sell the iPhone X? It seems you have been conditioned to count unit sales, because that gives Android phones the lead.
They have been selling millions. That's the units. Every unit sold is at least $999 in revenue. That's billions in revenue, and revenue counts to a company, not unit sales. Apple has to sell three iPhone 5SE to make the same revenue as with one iPhone X. Android phone makers have to sell five $200 phones or ten $100 phones for the same revenue.
Arrogant Apple As Always (Score:5, Interesting)
Apple: Yeah we changed up the screen and we did a bunch of weird stuff without consulting you.
Developers: You're right, that is some weird stuff that you did there for no reason other than "look at me", but whatever, man.
Apple: And we want you to bend over backwards and change your app around to support the stuff that we implemented without asking or telling you.
Developer: Uh... wait, why did you do this in the first place? Is there a real compelling reason or...?
Apple: Because we had some artist say that he thinks it looks better this way. We might change our minds. But we might not.
Developer: Ugh. So I have to do a bunch of work for no real reason? What's your deal anyway?
Apple: No there's definitely a reason: because we have altered the deal. Now get to work, beeyotch.
Developer: (this deal is getting worse all the time...)
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Well, there is a precedent [laughingsquid.com].
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Apple: Yeah we changed up the screen and we did a bunch of weird stuff without consulting you.
Developers: You're right, that is some weird stuff that you did there for no reason other than "look at me", but whatever, man.
Apple: And we want you to bend over backwards and change your app around to support the stuff that we implemented without asking or telling you.
Developer: Uh... wait, why did you do this in the first place? Is there a real compelling reason or...?
Apple: Because we had some artist say that he thinks it looks better this way. We might change our minds. But we might not.
Developer: Ugh. So I have to do a bunch of work for no real reason? What's your deal anyway?
Apple: No there's definitely a reason: because we have altered the deal. Now get to work, beeyotch.
Developer: (this deal is getting worse all the time...)
Pray that I don't alter the deal any further.
It's not strange at all (Score:5, Informative)
Hi, actual IOS developer here?
What Apple is asking people to do is stuff they have been asking people to do since forever - to build using auto layout, or at least respecting margins the system asks for.
There are a few technical nuances there, but not many. They are just asking developers to build in a. way that respects system margins so that stuff will look OK across many devices.
In practice all the iPhone X is, is a larger bottom and top margin.
It's not a lot of work to adapt for this, unless you've been hard-coding a lot of stuff and in that case - Coding Karma has come to bite your dull metal ass.
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What Apple is asking people to do is stuff they have been asking people to do since forever -
to build using auto layout, or at least respecting margins the system asks for.
You mean like you would do for television with overscan, because the television marketplace is so fragmented, you never know the next time a cookie television manufacturer is going to take away one of your margins, but leave you with the three others.
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Interesting aspect. But moving to a newer SDK also means that the chance/risk of breaking backwards compatibility increases forcing people to upgrade hardware prematurely.
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Interesting aspect. But moving to a newer SDK also means that the chance/risk of breaking backwards compatibility increases forcing people to upgrade hardware prematurely.
The software I write runs on anything from iPhone 4s to iPhone X, and from iPad 2 upwards. No original iPad, no iPhone 4. You can always go on eBay and buy a newer phone.
Discontinued (Score:1)
Re:Discontinued (Score:4, Insightful)
Given Apple sold 77M phones last quarter, I'm sure the failure of the iPhone Z would be loved by practically every other phone manufacturer out there. They'd love to have a phone that fails like the iPhone X.
No, the iPhone X is not discontinued. What it means is that the "cheap iPhone" will be the iPhone 8, when the iPhone 9 is introduced this year. The iPhone X will be discontinued, probably with the introduction of the iPhone X-2 or whatever. Basically, the iPhone X series will not become the "cheap iPhone" line that Apple sells to get people in the door. Like you can buy an iPhone 7 still from Apple - Apple made the iPhone 7 the cheap iPhone, positioning the iPhone 8 as the cutting edge and the iPhone X as the ultimate luxury.
Demand for the iPhone X is softer than expected, likely because in China, the screen is not big enough for a status symbol. If you cannot require 3 hands to just hold it, and 5 hands to use it, it is a useless phone. And yes, I've seen people hold a phone using both hands because it was too big for one of them.
I've seen conversations on it too. "Oh, you got a new iPhone! Cool, how big is the screen?" "5.7" "Oh, that sucks, it's too small".
As for developer support, it's for new apps only - so they can start from scratch with the windowing model properly supported - the old one works just fine but if you're starting anew, it makes sense to add support for it since you're not dealing with legacy code.
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No, that was clickbait lies. Stop being so gullible.
As per the shareholder call two weeks ago, the iPhone X has been the top selling iPhone every week since it was launched.
Fragmentation (Score:2, Insightful)
I try to do the exact opposite (Score:4, Interesting)
I have a couple of niche apps (one is for telescope polar alignment and astrophotography tools, the other, "Xasteria", is for an astronomical weather forecast) and I am trying my best to keep them working with as old phones as possible and make new features available to them. So far I am managing to keep them working for 2012's iOS 6, since that is the minimum you can do with a version of the dev tools that is still accepted to the app store, and they only miss a little visual candy (and a faster-rendering webview which is not crucial for these apps) compared to running them a device with a newer iOS - as I do target iOS 10 devices with newer features. And, while my iOS 6 and iOS 7 users are not that many, they absolutely love it and I do get some messages about how excited they are to get new features on an "ancient" iPhone 3GS!
With the latest Xcode there is no way to support such old devices, so when I am forced to use it I will cut out these users who find a good use for their old devices (when you go in remote dark places perhaps with high humidity, having an old device instead of a new one is an advantage).
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Notch? What Notch? (Score:3)
Seriously, I think more people are talking like the notch is an issue than those of us with the device. Whatever they say.
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, I honestly hadn't put much thought into the notch. I've been using the Iphone 10 since December and find zero issues with the notch.
That's because you don't have to do any extra work to support it. App developers do.
Re: Notch? What Notch? (Score:2)
I used to be a developer but unfortunately was better at managing developers.
I hope they all realize (Score:2)
There's an X11 joke here somewhere... (Score:2)
and look at this, you can ssh a remote X-11 session of popular open source applications to or from your iPhone X, AIN'T THAT COOL!
ba dum Tish...