I was really looking forward to downloading the iPad versions of my favorite news apps — AP News and the New York Times. But now, having used them, I've decided I prefer using the iPhone versions on my iPad. Take AP News. The home page has a lot of eye candy, but I don't see what it adds. The iPhone versions, are easier to read, use the space more efficiently, and download more quickly. Part of the problem is that we don't have 3G in this corner of Iowa, so the eye candy comes at a real cost on the slower Edge network. And if you're trying to keep your data downloading to the $15/month for 250MB, then the greater use of graphics means you're using up your allotment more quickly.
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News apps on the iPad — I like the iPhone versions better than iPad versions
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 Jim Karpen holds a Ph.D. in literature and writing, and has a love of gizmos. His doctoral dissertation focused on the revolutionary consequences of digital technologies and anticipated some of the developments taking place in the industry today. Jim has been writing about the Internet and technology since 1994 and has been using Apple's visionary products for decades. Old Comments |
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When I got my iPad I quickly
When I got my iPad I quickly found out that iPad apps are very different from iPhone apps. So much so that I've spent a lot of time just trying to find out if there is an iPad version of all of my iPhone apps. In fact, I am on a mission to exorcize every last of the tiny iPhone apps from my iPad. It's not that iPhone apps are bad (they are terrific!!!), its just that they were designed for a little screen with much lower resolution, and most look confined and silly on the much larger iPad screen.
This may turn out to become an issue for Apple. Just like PC developers have to accommodate all sorts of hardware, Apple developer now will have to accommodate two very different platforms. That means making decisions what to support, and how best to optimize for one platform or the other. Before, app development was more like developing for a game console where the hardware never changes. The analogy is not perfect as the iPhone, too, has changed, but I think it still applies.
So what we'll probably be seeing is apps that are neither fish nor fowl as developers are trying to please both iPhone and iPad customers. Or some of the innovation will migrate to one platform but not the other. Or there will be fewer cool iPhone apps because developers can make more on iPad apps which seem generally more expensive.
It should be interesting to see how this suddenly split app store will develop.