7 ms·

This year, Mac apps are no longer eligible for the Apple Design awards

119 points by mortenjorck 17y ago

TripleD42 17y ago
That's pretty sad because there are still some great mac apps being produced. Pixelmator for instance is a world-class product that deserves recognition.
nailer 17y ago
Perhaps they'd like to avoid awarding something to an OS X app that isn't written using Objective C / Cocoa.
- jarin 17y ago
  Somehow, I don't think an Adobe AIR app is going to beat something using fancy Core Animation stuff.
  - mortenjorck 17y ago
    I wouldn't say it's impossible: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1295052 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1295052 But yes, highly improbable.
    - thwarted 17y ago
      Which may mean it is more deserving of an award.
  - nailer 17y ago
    Really? Why not?
habitue 17y ago
Perhaps they are thinking of dumping their line of computers and going completely portable electronics?
- archgoon 17y ago
  And have people develop applications on windows computers? I don't think so.
  - CamperBob 17y ago
    If you think anyone at Apple gives a rat's behind what hardware platforms are used to develop iPhone OS apps, I... respectfully disagree.
    - cmelbye 17y ago
      Keep in mind that Apple still needs to develop for the platform, and their engineers are going to want a good system to do it on.
    - akadien 17y ago
      Well, they give a rat's ass about the kind of language developers use to develop iPhone apps.
      - CamperBob 17y ago
        That is for a very different reason than anything being discussed here.
- robotron 17y ago
  A little extreme but they do seem to be pushing their consumer electronics at the expense of their computers.
  - gamache 17y ago
    I don't think it's hurting their computer business, except for iPad sales cutting into imaginary MacBook Air sales.
- andr 17y ago
  Apple has a steady market single-digit market share in personal computers - a cash cow. Yet they have a growing, serious, and volatile market share in mobile devices - a star.
rauljara 17y ago
I am really not liking the whole emphasize-iphoneOS-over everything-else direction of apple recently. I like OSX a lot. I really hope they return to giving it the attention it deserves soon.
- symesc 17y ago
  Somewhat ironic that the Mac OS X platform represents the only way to develop for the iPhone OS.
  - CamperBob 17y ago
    True, but I think Apple sees this fact as a fortunate artifact of history, rather than as a sacred cow that must be preserved at all costs. Imagine a world in which Apple never created the Mac, but had instead been formed many years later, with the same people, processes, and design ethic. They'd still have become successful at selling iPhones, iPods, and iPads; nothing about those devices really depends on the Mac legacy, except for the fact that their OS happened to have been developed for the Mac first. In that world, if you walked into Jobs's office today and pitched him on the idea of launching a line of traditional personal computers, he'd say something sarcastic and tell you to GTFO. The idea wouldn't merit five minutes' thought. Hence the company's new name, sans "Computer."
    - pyre 17y ago
      So, Apple is going to push iPhone/iPad development onto Windows/Linux? Or onto iPhones/iPads?
      - CamperBob 17y ago
        Onto whatever makes sense at the time. iPhone OS development will work like game console development does now, where the dev tools are (again, for now) all hosted on Windows. It makes as much sense for Apple to have their own line of proprietary PCs as it does for Sony. Even Sony understands that.
    - deleted 17y ago
sheldonwt 17y ago
Since there's no app store for OSX, why award people who are striving to further the platform? Such broken logic.
- ericd 17y ago
  Only if that's actually the logic they're following. I don't see any indication that it it.
dotBen 17y ago
They simply want Apple Design awards to be given to apps that they have also approved. I tell you, if Jobs could get away with running OSX as an App Store orientated platform that can only run pre-approved apps, he would. :(
- karipatila 17y ago
  Didn't he already say there would be no App Store for desktop apps? Some developer emailed him about that and the reply was "nope".
  - raquo 17y ago
    He also said there wasn't going to be an iPhone while developing it.
    - nudded 17y ago
      What makes you think he would disclose that?
      - raquo 17y ago
        That's what I'm trying to say - he wouldn't disclose the OSX AppStore either if it were true.
  - jasonlotito 17y ago
    Doesn't negate what the parent said. If Jobs could get away with it, he would.
  - vaporstun 17y ago
    I think this was very misinterpreted. The question was, "There's a rumor saying there will be a Mac App Store and no software without authorization from Apple will run on Mac OS X. Is that true?" link - http://www.macstories.net/news/steve-jobs-no-mac-app-store/ http://www.macstories.net/news/steve-jobs-no-mac-app-store/ His response was "Nope." And everyone appeared to be in a frenzy saying "No app store for OS X" when in reality that does not actually shoot down the possibility. Since the question takes the conjunctive form, his nope could be to either one of those statements. Everyone assumed it meant no app store for OS X, but it could just as well mean that there will not be a requirement of Apple authorization to run apps on OS X. A minor technicality, I'm sure, but I would not be the least bit surprised to see an App store on OS X, just not the authoritarian, single point of app installing beast that is the iPhone/iPad app store.
pxlpshr 17y ago
The second coming of jumping the shark. I really don't like the deemphasis of OSX in favor of iPhone OS. The iPhone is great for mobility because it strips computing down to the core, but it has a LOOONNGG way to go before it can toe up with OSX or Windows when it comes to productivity, IMO. ps. I'm a mac fanboy at heart, but i try to remain objective about consumer technology for the "masses". Outside of the tech ecosphere, the world is a very different place. http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2010/01/windows-7-growing-faster-than-vista-overtakes-mac-os.ars http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2010/01/windows-7-grow...
jsz0 17y ago
Makes sense to me. There's just not much exciting innovative stuff happening on the desktop these days. Good apps get marginally better all the time but is that worthy of an award?
warwick 17y ago
I can't help wondering if all the regular app reviewers have been pulled to help with iPhone and iPad app reviews. The Apple Downloads section hasn't been updated in weeks, and now this. As a Mac developer, this feels like a major blow. Sure, I understand that the iPhone OS stuff is the new shiny and the spotlight is going to be on it, but lately it feels like Apple is just coasting on the Mac side. It makes me seriously question if I'm writing apps for the right platform. If it's time to reevaluate platforms, then it's time to take a look at all the possibilities again, not just the ones made by Apple. The iPad looks great, but then again, so does the web.
- squidsoup 17y ago
  Given that you're a Cocoa developer, you may find Cappuccino interesting if you decide to start targetting the web. http://cappuccino.org/ http://cappuccino.org/
anujseth 17y ago
The folks at panic must be pretty bummed about this, transmit 4 was a major contender.
- starkfist 17y ago
  Transmit 4 is awesome, but you can tell a platform is stagnating when one of the coolest applications is an FTP client.
  - jrockway 17y ago
    Actually, you can tell it's awesome when your business is sustained by people buying a $34 wrapper over a few perl scripts.
    - lallysingh 17y ago
      Actually it's a wrapper around a library they licensed for like $500. 15 licenses later and they've made their money back!
      - tlrobinson 17y ago
        Which library?
        datasink 17y ago
        Transmit 4.0 (x86_64) Session Transcript [Version 10.6.3 (Build 10D2094)] (4/28/10 11:48 PM) LibNcFTP 3.2.3 (July 23, 2009) compiled for UNIX
      - jrockway 17y ago
        Very interesting. I had no idea there was a market for libraries.
        onewland 17y ago
        Last company I worked at did nothing but that. I think it's more common in the MS/.NET world. http://accusoft.com/ http://accusoft.com/
icodestuff 17y ago
Seriously not cool. But it IS true, there haven't been a ton of groundbreaking apps on the Mac this year, and I say that as a Mac developer. Still, they could have given an award to best Mac companion app for an iPhone app, and/or best developer tool (Accessorizer FTW). Looks like the scientific computing poster session has been dropped this year too.
drivingmenuts 17y ago
So which iFart app will win?
allwein 17y ago
I'm actually wondering if this indicates the possibility of a small Mac-focused developers conference in Apple's future. There was quite a bit of grumbling last year at WWDC from Mac developers because of the heavy focus on iPhone technologies. I can understand a lessened focus given how popular iPhone and iPad are right now, but the shunning of Mac apps completely from the ADAs makes me think we'll see a Mac-only conference soon.
lzimm 17y ago
sounds like the design awards are just becoming a beauty contest. how many iPhone apps actually feel delightful to use and don't just look pretty?
lovskogen 17y ago
I'm hoping to see desktop apps with the same simplicity that is (forced) on touch apps. Less everything.
koenbok 17y ago
As a two time ADA winner, and having a new app almost ready for this years wwdc we're pretty bummed out about this. As one developer put it, it feels like the end of an era. We love the Mac desktop, but Apples current attitude towards it is very bad for developer morale and will make us definitely think twice on what platform we'll build our next project.

119 points by mortenjorck 17y ago

That's pretty sad because there are still some great mac apps being produced. Pixelmator for instance is a world-class product that deserves recognition.

nailer 17y ago

Perhaps they'd like to avoid awarding something to an OS X app that isn't written using Objective C / Cocoa.

jarin 17y ago
Somehow, I don't think an Adobe AIR app is going to beat something using fancy Core Animation stuff.
- mortenjorck 17y ago
  I wouldn't say it's impossible: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1295052 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1295052 But yes, highly improbable.
  - thwarted 17y ago
    Which may mean it is more deserving of an award.
- nailer 17y ago
  Really? Why not?

habitue 17y ago

Perhaps they are thinking of dumping their line of computers and going completely portable electronics?

archgoon 17y ago
And have people develop applications on windows computers? I don't think so.
- CamperBob 17y ago
  If you think anyone at Apple gives a rat's behind what hardware platforms are used to develop iPhone OS apps, I... respectfully disagree.
  - cmelbye 17y ago
    Keep in mind that Apple still needs to develop for the platform, and their engineers are going to want a good system to do it on.
  - akadien 17y ago
    Well, they give a rat's ass about the kind of language developers use to develop iPhone apps.
    - CamperBob 17y ago
      That is for a very different reason than anything being discussed here.
robotron 17y ago
A little extreme but they do seem to be pushing their consumer electronics at the expense of their computers.
- gamache 17y ago
  I don't think it's hurting their computer business, except for iPad sales cutting into imaginary MacBook Air sales.
andr 17y ago
Apple has a steady market single-digit market share in personal computers - a cash cow. Yet they have a growing, serious, and volatile market share in mobile devices - a star.

rauljara 17y ago

I am really not liking the whole emphasize-iphoneOS-over everything-else direction of apple recently. I like OSX a lot. I really hope they return to giving it the attention it deserves soon.

symesc 17y ago
Somewhat ironic that the Mac OS X platform represents the only way to develop for the iPhone OS.
- CamperBob 17y ago
  True, but I think Apple sees this fact as a fortunate artifact of history, rather than as a sacred cow that must be preserved at all costs. Imagine a world in which Apple never created the Mac, but had instead been formed many years later, with the same people, processes, and design ethic. They'd still have become successful at selling iPhones, iPods, and iPads; nothing about those devices really depends on the Mac legacy, except for the fact that their OS happened to have been developed for the Mac first. In that world, if you walked into Jobs's office today and pitched him on the idea of launching a line of traditional personal computers, he'd say something sarcastic and tell you to GTFO. The idea wouldn't merit five minutes' thought. Hence the company's new name, sans "Computer."
  - pyre 17y ago
    So, Apple is going to push iPhone/iPad development onto Windows/Linux? Or onto iPhones/iPads?
    - CamperBob 17y ago
      Onto whatever makes sense at the time. iPhone OS development will work like game console development does now, where the dev tools are (again, for now) all hosted on Windows. It makes as much sense for Apple to have their own line of proprietary PCs as it does for Sony. Even Sony understands that.
  - deleted 17y ago

sheldonwt 17y ago

Since there's no app store for OSX, why award people who are striving to further the platform? Such broken logic.

ericd 17y ago
Only if that's actually the logic they're following. I don't see any indication that it it.

dotBen 17y ago

They simply want Apple Design awards to be given to apps that they have also approved. I tell you, if Jobs could get away with running OSX as an App Store orientated platform that can only run pre-approved apps, he would. :(

karipatila 17y ago
Didn't he already say there would be no App Store for desktop apps? Some developer emailed him about that and the reply was "nope".
- raquo 17y ago
  He also said there wasn't going to be an iPhone while developing it.
  - nudded 17y ago
    What makes you think he would disclose that?
    - raquo 17y ago
      That's what I'm trying to say - he wouldn't disclose the OSX AppStore either if it were true.
- jasonlotito 17y ago
  Doesn't negate what the parent said. If Jobs could get away with it, he would.
- vaporstun 17y ago
  I think this was very misinterpreted. The question was, "There's a rumor saying there will be a Mac App Store and no software without authorization from Apple will run on Mac OS X. Is that true?" link - http://www.macstories.net/news/steve-jobs-no-mac-app-store/ http://www.macstories.net/news/steve-jobs-no-mac-app-store/ His response was "Nope." And everyone appeared to be in a frenzy saying "No app store for OS X" when in reality that does not actually shoot down the possibility. Since the question takes the conjunctive form, his nope could be to either one of those statements. Everyone assumed it meant no app store for OS X, but it could just as well mean that there will not be a requirement of Apple authorization to run apps on OS X. A minor technicality, I'm sure, but I would not be the least bit surprised to see an App store on OS X, just not the authoritarian, single point of app installing beast that is the iPhone/iPad app store.

pxlpshr 17y ago

The second coming of jumping the shark. I really don't like the deemphasis of OSX in favor of iPhone OS. The iPhone is great for mobility because it strips computing down to the core, but it has a LOOONNGG way to go before it can toe up with OSX or Windows when it comes to productivity, IMO. ps. I'm a mac fanboy at heart, but i try to remain objective about consumer technology for the "masses". Outside of the tech ecosphere, the world is a very different place. http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2010/01/windows-7-growing-faster-than-vista-overtakes-mac-os.ars http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2010/01/windows-7-grow...

jsz0 17y ago

Makes sense to me. There's just not much exciting innovative stuff happening on the desktop these days. Good apps get marginally better all the time but is that worthy of an award?

warwick 17y ago

I can't help wondering if all the regular app reviewers have been pulled to help with iPhone and iPad app reviews. The Apple Downloads section hasn't been updated in weeks, and now this. As a Mac developer, this feels like a major blow. Sure, I understand that the iPhone OS stuff is the new shiny and the spotlight is going to be on it, but lately it feels like Apple is just coasting on the Mac side. It makes me seriously question if I'm writing apps for the right platform. If it's time to reevaluate platforms, then it's time to take a look at all the possibilities again, not just the ones made by Apple. The iPad looks great, but then again, so does the web.

squidsoup 17y ago
Given that you're a Cocoa developer, you may find Cappuccino interesting if you decide to start targetting the web. http://cappuccino.org/ http://cappuccino.org/

anujseth 17y ago

The folks at panic must be pretty bummed about this, transmit 4 was a major contender.

starkfist 17y ago
Transmit 4 is awesome, but you can tell a platform is stagnating when one of the coolest applications is an FTP client.
- jrockway 17y ago
  Actually, you can tell it's awesome when your business is sustained by people buying a $34 wrapper over a few perl scripts.
  - lallysingh 17y ago
    Actually it's a wrapper around a library they licensed for like $500. 15 licenses later and they've made their money back!
    - tlrobinson 17y ago
      Which library?
      - datasink 17y ago
        Transmit 4.0 (x86_64) Session Transcript [Version 10.6.3 (Build 10D2094)] (4/28/10 11:48 PM) LibNcFTP 3.2.3 (July 23, 2009) compiled for UNIX
    - jrockway 17y ago
      Very interesting. I had no idea there was a market for libraries.
      - onewland 17y ago
        Last company I worked at did nothing but that. I think it's more common in the MS/.NET world. http://accusoft.com/ http://accusoft.com/

icodestuff 17y ago

Seriously not cool. But it IS true, there haven't been a ton of groundbreaking apps on the Mac this year, and I say that as a Mac developer. Still, they could have given an award to best Mac companion app for an iPhone app, and/or best developer tool (Accessorizer FTW). Looks like the scientific computing poster session has been dropped this year too.

drivingmenuts 17y ago

So which iFart app will win?

allwein 17y ago

I'm actually wondering if this indicates the possibility of a small Mac-focused developers conference in Apple's future. There was quite a bit of grumbling last year at WWDC from Mac developers because of the heavy focus on iPhone technologies. I can understand a lessened focus given how popular iPhone and iPad are right now, but the shunning of Mac apps completely from the ADAs makes me think we'll see a Mac-only conference soon.

lzimm 17y ago

sounds like the design awards are just becoming a beauty contest. how many iPhone apps actually feel delightful to use and don't just look pretty?

lovskogen 17y ago

I'm hoping to see desktop apps with the same simplicity that is (forced) on touch apps. Less everything.

koenbok 17y ago

As a two time ADA winner, and having a new app almost ready for this years wwdc we're pretty bummed out about this. As one developer put it, it feels like the end of an era. We love the Mac desktop, but Apples current attitude towards it is very bad for developer morale and will make us definitely think twice on what platform we'll build our next project.