Skip to Content

App Store approvals and the tablet: why it matters

by Erica Sadun Jan 12th 2010 at 12:30PM


When iTunes Connect returned after its Christmas break, developers noticed that things had changed quite a bit on the App Store approval front. Applications that had formerly taken ten to fourteen days to work through review were now getting processed in a couple of days or less. The upshot? Happier developers, better bug releases for users, and a healthier App Store ecosystem.

There's another consequence of the new, speedier approvals: the tablet. With the device due to ship March/April (late Q1, early Q2), and no announced 4.0 SDK, developers were left wondering how they'd have the time to bring their software up to date. Under the old review process even a single procedural rejection, which are quite common for small GUI details, would have exhausted nearly all of February in non-productive "wait mode".

With the enhanced review system in place, it's likely that developers will be able to spend those extra weeks refactoring their software, allowing it to ship in a timely fashion once the actual device appears on-scene. Apple is expected to push their SDK to developers within two weeks of their late January product announcement, probably by 15 February. Assuming a 2 April product launch, that leaves nearly six weeks to update and test software.

Not that developers are waiting. Many devs are already working on resolution independent versions of their applications. They are tasking their designers to re-imagine screens, to test hand-held cardboard prototypes, and otherwise start the process of scaling their products to new dimensions.

It should be noted that some of the App Store heavyweights have suddenly become quite tight-lipped in recent days, refusing to talk in any specifics about how their upgrade process is proceeding. The rest of us will have to get by on guess work, at least until the product announcement at the end of this month.

Without specific leaks regarding hardware changes (for example, will there really be a front facing video camera? and if so, will expanded Image Picker/Media Player classes support access?), it's hard to pin down exactly what new features can be leveraged in third party software. But it's a fairly safe bet that nearly all features available on the current iPod touch line will be in play on the new tablet. And that alone is enough to hedge some safe business bets about pushing forward with large screen development.

It's still too early for most of us to start playing -- those tight-lipped folk have a bit of the wild "Apple will kill me if I speak" look around their eyes -- but it's not too early to begin planning and working. Even without specifics, there are ways to move forward on the development front. Carpe diem. There's not much time left before the yet-unannounced tablet ships.

View Tags

Related Stories

Categories

iPod Family Odds and ends Other Events Developer iPhone App Store SDK

When iTunes Connect returned after its Christmas break, developers noticed that things had changed quite a bit on the App Store approval...
 

Add a Comment

Sign in »
*0 / 3000 Character Maximum

18 Comments

Filter by:
Jon

"With the device due to ship March/April (late Q1, early Q2)"

Er... what? We don't even know a tablet exists yet (and even if Apple had one in its labs that's no guarantee it'll ever be released), let alone when it's shipping.

And on the topic of application signing, Apple already strongly recommends developers use code signing with 10.5+ applications so it is likely that they will mandate it in a future version of OS X. This is not, however, to be confused with App Store code signing, as code signing an OS X application does not require you to go through Apple.

January 17 2010 at 5:10 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
chipotlecoyote

It's quite a logical leap to start with "Apple controls what you can put on devices running embedded OS X" and conclude "Therefore, Apple wants to control what you can put on Mac computers." Yeah, just like Sony controls what you can put on the PlayStation, and liked that so much they've locked down what you can put on Sony computers! Oh, wait. They don't do that, because IT WOULD KILL THEIR COMPUTER LINE DEAD. If even Sony understands this basic fact of the marketplace, you don't think Apple understands it? Really?

Personally, I don't see Apple saying: "Hey, after a quarter-century of letting you put anything you want on your computers, we're going to make it impossible for you to run any application that isn't digitally signed by Apple. If you rely on some piece of software that we haven't signed yet, or we refuse to sign, well, guess it sucks to be you!"

January 12 2010 at 6:54 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Julien

Erica, you say : «test hand-held cardboard prototypes»

Don't you think it's even better to get your hand on an existing small tabletPC and load a clickable mockup of your app?

That way, you could what works, and what doesn't in term of space and finger access.

It's that easy: http://ils.sont.la/post/kids-love-mac-tablet-user-testing-a-rumor

Even if you have adjustment to make once the real design is known, even if the weight and form factor is not exactly the same, I feel it's a easy way to get a few weeks of general tablet experimentations before you have access to a real Apple Tablet.

What do you think?

January 12 2010 at 5:56 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
klitorisaurus

Let me preface by saying that this may in fact be a dumb question, but all I hear is tablet talk. Have there been any leaks/rumors about a new iPhone this summer? I'm assuming there will be one, given Apple's history... I'm just looking for confirmation. My 3G is literally taped together inside and I'm not sure how much longer it'll hold up!

January 12 2010 at 3:35 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to klitorisaurus's comment
TIm

It is assumed that the iPhone has a yearly cycle and will see a new revision in the summer. With all the rumors focusing on the tablet these days there hasn't been much focus on new iPhone features though .. faster, maybe Verizion version, flash camera, front camera to name a few.
A new OS 4. is also expected (actually to be beta annouced at that January media event too) and new hardware would go along with that most likely.

T.

January 12 2010 at 4:08 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
klitorisaurus

Thanks!

January 12 2010 at 5:39 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jason

I feel as if the current perception is that the tablet will be regulated by Apple/iTunes App Store type approval process. Does this bum anyone out? I mean, I suppose I get it from the iPhone standpoint, but on a tablet computer? Is OS X 10.7 gonna have the same restrictions too?

As a software developer I don't want to have to be approved by apple to write software for my hardware (including the iphone). Does that mean all developers will have to pay the $100/year tax to Apple to make their systems better and so that they can take 30% of the revenue?

I hate jumping into the hype to begin with but I really hope that if this device does come out soon, it will NOT be regulated by the app store. That would just be terrible.

-J

January 12 2010 at 1:42 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
3 replies to Jason's comment
aph3x

Please, please don't let this be a giant iPhone/iTouch. I'd much rather see a machine using the full OS X operating system vs a mobile operating system. I've grown to hate how limited the iPhone is.

January 12 2010 at 1:32 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to aph3x's comment
jtb

The iPhone OS already *is* a full OS X system. It's just optimized for a device its size.

January 12 2010 at 1:44 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
aph3x

Let me restate that then so people better understand what I meant:

I'd rather see the device running Snow Leopard vs. iPhone OS

January 12 2010 at 2:00 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
zs

I wonder whether customers who have bought your app for the iPhone / iPod Touch will be able to download it for free again for the tablet. And if you have a data-input-and-storage app (mine is a diary-like product), what should be the best way to communicate between the iphone app and the tablet app. Wifi synching over bonjour? That's not a trivial effort.

Your thoughts?

January 12 2010 at 1:27 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
ecobore

of course there's a front facing camera, there is on a macbook, so goes without saying! There will be a back-facing one too, guaranteed! I suspect there is going to be some fancy two handed multi touch interoperability too.

January 12 2010 at 1:22 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
john.youngberg

*off topic*

If this thing really looks like that I am going to cry. The giant iPhone / iPod idea is so ugly.

January 12 2010 at 1:21 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
phermas

*Allegedly
There fixed it for you.

January 12 2010 at 1:11 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Buy an ad here

Hot Apps on TUAW

Tweets

© 2012 AOL Inc. All Rights Reserved.