A new iPhone is coming and devout iPhone followers are stretching their fingers in preparation for a bigger screen. Is this fragmentation worrying iOS developers? No
And that’s great news because it’ll make it easy to run Apple’s existing suite of applications.
The insight comes from a poll conducted by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster. At last week’s World Wide Developers Conference, Munster asked 100 developers to rate how difficult it would be to program apps to run on two different sized screens.
On a scale of one to ten, PCWorld report the average rating was 3.4, suggesting developers could easily accommodate a larger iPhone or an iPad Mini.
“Given the relative ease expected by developers for utilizing potential new iOS screen sizes, we believe the introduction of new screen sizes would not affect the success or availability of the apps on iOS,” Munster noted to investors.
Munster’s research revealed a rise in iOS developers programming apps for Android. This year more than half of WWDC developers programed apps for the rivalling OS, marking a significant rise from last year’s 47%.
The 55 developers who programed apps for both operating systems favoured Apple’s iOS for two reasons: “ease of development and future revenue growth.”
“We believe Apple’s loyal developer base will continue to develop cutting edge apps for iOS that will draw in new customers, helping to fuel continued growth in iOS device sales,” wrote Munster.
A rise in developers programmed applications for Microsoft’s Windows Phone (14%, up 1% compared to 2011), while BlackBerry endured a steep decline, from 36% in 2011 to 9% in 2012.
“The importance of a strong developer base is crucial to the success of a mobile operating system and therefore the success of a phone or tablet as well,” Munster wrote.
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The current iPhone has a 3.5 inch screen with a 3:2 aspect ratio. The new iPhone is rumoured to have a 4 inch retina display with a 16:9 aspect ratio, only requiring older apps to be letterboxed.
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