Porting an iPhone app to an iPad - one app or plug?

Question

I have an iPhone app that I am going to change for the iPad.

My problem: the application is designed to work on iPhone OS 2.0, and if I do it for the iPad, I will have to develop it for OS 3.2.

I can’t change the version of the iPhone because I risk some of my users with older versions of the iPhone that cannot run the application.

Obviously, I can create a hybrid application that can run on iPad / iPhone OS 3.2 and iPhone / iPhone OS 2.0, but it will be hell for support, with many changes to the API call, etc.

What is the best approach: hybrid version or separate code plug for iPad?

Answer 1

Install the base SDK on your iPhone 3.2. Set your target deployment level for iPhone 2.0. Use UseibilityMacros when you call the iPhone 3.2 API. Then create a different interface code for the iPad and create a universal app. This is the best of all worlds. Except that you will not receive a new purchase if the person has an iPhone and has already purchased your application. If you are more interested in making more money because of the iPad version (maybe the iPad version has much more functionality?) Then you need to fork your code so you can set a different price for the iPad application. If I understand correctly, you can always keep the plug in the same xcode project so that you can still use common models and controllers, and when you build, just choose for what purpose you need to build. Thus, you, as a developer, get the best of both worlds.

Depending on admob statistics: iPhone OS statistics , if your customers are only iPhone, then people are not at 3.0 <3%. This is a fairly small number for me, they can easily be updated for free, so I will not store your application only for them. Perhaps your application may convince a few more people to upgrade. Now, if your application supports iPod Touch, your target market is still 32% 2.X

Answer 2

1) Write down the code, but ...

2) Create a universal application.

Basically, create a new version that will only support OS3.2 here. This single version can contain both an updated application for the iPhone and a new application for the iPad, making it easy to create them in the future in the future, as well as reuse view controllers and models. That's exactly what Apple would like you to do. Check out the docs for universal apps.

Answer 3

Enter your code. You probably want the new user interface or new graphic code to fit the big screen, so you really are looking at a “new” application that uses a lot of your existing classes.

Answer 4

Does your application have a subscription component (which gives you money after the initial purchase) or a service contract?

If the answer is no, I would think about moving everything to 3.2 - do you really want to go back to transferring changes? Users who still use OS 2.0 (perhaps a small minority, even including jailbreakers like 3.1, have been hacked for a long time) do not need to upgrade to the new version. The expectation of iPhone apps is that new versions will be free, not that new versions will be free and will always work in the old operating system.

As a user who constantly updates my OS, I would really be upset if you spent a lot of time supporting users who are not being upgraded; I feel that your time will be better spent adding new features.