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Apple demoed the iPad with a set of apps specifically designed to take advantage of the larger area. Apple also released the necessary tools, allowing developer

Apple demoed the iPad with a set of apps specifically designed to take advantage of the larger area. Apple also released the necessary tools, allowing developers to follow their lead, long before the iPad was available. I don't believe that the aspect ratio would have matter so much as long as Apple set the proper example. That said, some developers still haven't built interfaces taking advantage of the larger area, despite the different aspect ratio. One popular jailbreak app cough Cydia cough still loads an apologetic PSA almost 9 months after the release

saurik 16y ago
The reason for that PSA is that there is very little third party software that targets it. Most of the jailbreak iPhone developers see the fractional marketshare (it is really really tiny, to be honest: the iPad users are vocal, but they were less than 5% of the userbase last I checked) and therefore don't bother targeting their applications to support that platform. This small marketshare, to be honest, afflicts the device generally: there still isn't an official Facebook application for the device, despite the fact that if you force the current Facebook iPhone application to work as a fullscreen app (which I do on my iPad) it works 100% perfectly: even little funny corner cases render well. And with that app it involves a two-line config file change, with no code modification. If you also said "and, by the way, iPhone applications are first class citizens on this device, but use slightly weird interface components", I seriously doubt you'd see anyone changing their mind on that regard. To whit, I will cite tablet PCs: the difference between a Tablet PC and a normal PC is nearly nothing, except it is also everything. Microsoft's own applications and development tools actually provide a lot of interesting added value on those devices, and when you start getting used to having a magic pen that you can draw onto surfaces and then /full text search/ that handwriting it is kind of difficult to go back. Meanwhile, however, no one other than Microsoft: NO ONE, has ever bothered to pen-enable their applications. Of course, you can say that Apple is amazing, Steve Jobs is a god, their App Store is the second coming, and their marketing is like evil juju that would have cut through development value tradeoffs (and to some extent I believe that: when I go to developer conferences I get into some really weird conversations where people don't seem to have thought through their strategies), but by and large I think you'd see many more "iPad apps" that were just iPhone applications scaled up at 2x or 4x: that black border of shame means something.
- Scarleet 16y ago
  I think the small marketshare is a more agreeable reason that the different screen ratios. If a developer can't be bother to make a "two-line config change" then surely s/he wouldn't have targeted the iPad even if it had the same screen ratio. I don't believe that Steve Job's godhood, nor the Rapture sparked by the iPhone App Store, would have prevented some developers from taking advantage of an iPad with a similar screen ratio to pass off upscaled iPhone apps. However in addition to the carrot of robust iPad development tools, Apple was also wielding the stick of restricted access to the App Store. Don't forget that the period between the iPad's announcement and release was nadir in iOS censorship where Apple banned cross platform development tools. I'm sure Apple could have provided sufficient discouragement to developers if the iPad been the same screen ratio. P.S. The lack of an iPad Facebook app is a poor example, in my opinion, as I'm guessing that the development cost is something Facebook could easily afford. I believe Facebook would probably not rather an iPad app encroach on the website usage and inadvertently end up ceding control of ads and analytics compilation to Apple. Those are some interesting observations about the Windows Tablet PC. I initially assumed they've always received bad reviews simply because the core product wasn't any good but I've recently been surprised to discover passionate adherents of the OneNote app for tablet pcs (while reading up on the One Note app released for the iPhone). Makes one wonder why none of the iPad's new competitors have incorporated a stylus... And yes, I would like you to stick the Cydia iPad disclaimer right next to the iOS 4.2 warning instead of taking up half the screen ;). I am glad though to see some of the innovations from the Rockapp finally seeping into Cydia.

saurik 16y ago

The reason for that PSA is that there is very little third party software that targets it. Most of the jailbreak iPhone developers see the fractional marketshare (it is really really tiny, to be honest: the iPad users are vocal, but they were less than 5% of the userbase last I checked) and therefore don't bother targeting their applications to support that platform. This small marketshare, to be honest, afflicts the device generally: there still isn't an official Facebook application for the device, despite the fact that if you force the current Facebook iPhone application to work as a fullscreen app (which I do on my iPad) it works 100% perfectly: even little funny corner cases render well. And with that app it involves a two-line config file change, with no code modification. If you also said "and, by the way, iPhone applications are first class citizens on this device, but use slightly weird interface components", I seriously doubt you'd see anyone changing their mind on that regard. To whit, I will cite tablet PCs: the difference between a Tablet PC and a normal PC is nearly nothing, except it is also everything. Microsoft's own applications and development tools actually provide a lot of interesting added value on those devices, and when you start getting used to having a magic pen that you can draw onto surfaces and then /full text search/ that handwriting it is kind of difficult to go back. Meanwhile, however, no one other than Microsoft: NO ONE, has ever bothered to pen-enable their applications. Of course, you can say that Apple is amazing, Steve Jobs is a god, their App Store is the second coming, and their marketing is like evil juju that would have cut through development value tradeoffs (and to some extent I believe that: when I go to developer conferences I get into some really weird conversations where people don't seem to have thought through their strategies), but by and large I think you'd see many more "iPad apps" that were just iPhone applications scaled up at 2x or 4x: that black border of shame means something.

Scarleet 16y ago
I think the small marketshare is a more agreeable reason that the different screen ratios. If a developer can't be bother to make a "two-line config change" then surely s/he wouldn't have targeted the iPad even if it had the same screen ratio. I don't believe that Steve Job's godhood, nor the Rapture sparked by the iPhone App Store, would have prevented some developers from taking advantage of an iPad with a similar screen ratio to pass off upscaled iPhone apps. However in addition to the carrot of robust iPad development tools, Apple was also wielding the stick of restricted access to the App Store. Don't forget that the period between the iPad's announcement and release was nadir in iOS censorship where Apple banned cross platform development tools. I'm sure Apple could have provided sufficient discouragement to developers if the iPad been the same screen ratio. P.S. The lack of an iPad Facebook app is a poor example, in my opinion, as I'm guessing that the development cost is something Facebook could easily afford. I believe Facebook would probably not rather an iPad app encroach on the website usage and inadvertently end up ceding control of ads and analytics compilation to Apple. Those are some interesting observations about the Windows Tablet PC. I initially assumed they've always received bad reviews simply because the core product wasn't any good but I've recently been surprised to discover passionate adherents of the OneNote app for tablet pcs (while reading up on the One Note app released for the iPhone). Makes one wonder why none of the iPad's new competitors have incorporated a stylus... And yes, I would like you to stick the Cydia iPad disclaimer right next to the iOS 4.2 warning instead of taking up half the screen ;). I am glad though to see some of the innovations from the Rockapp finally seeping into Cydia.