Thoughts on a larger screen iPhone

There is a lot of speculation about a larger 640 x 1136 screen in the next iPhone. This size makes a lot of sense. First, there are certainly marketing benefits to a 4 inch, 16:9 screen that maintains the retina resolution: an extra row of icons, more room for composing emails with the keyboard up, and better for watching movies.

Second, an increase in screen size must to be done in a way that maximizes backwards compatibility with existing apps. When Apple introduced the retina screen, they did it by exactly doubling the resolution. The result was that all standard resolution apps still worked. They didn't take advantage of the higher resolution -- but they worked as well as before. Over time, developers could opt-in to support the higher resolution.

How can Apple maintain a great app experience for users while increasing the screen size? All existing iPhone apps have been designed to work on a 640 x 960 screen. John Gruber points out that all apps should be somewhat flexible for height:

But, keep in mind, iPhone apps are already expected to be at least somewhat flexible in height. Use a well-written app while you’re on a phone call or making a recording with the Voice Memos app, and you get a double-height status bar (green for phone calls, red for recordings). But the double-height status bar doesn’t cover the content of most apps.

The problem with this argument is that apps are expected to adjust their size to become slightly smaller, not significantly bigger. Making apps stretch to fill a larger size could expose all sorts of flaws. For example, images that aren't quite big enough to fill a larger screen will show flaws. And Apple doesn't want to see potentially many apps on their flagship iPhone to show flaws.

There is an alternative to stretching apps. Apple can do nothing. By displaying current apps in a 640 x 960 area centred in the rumoured 640 x 1136 screen, apps will behave the same as on an iPhone 4/4S. And over time, developers can opt-in to support the larger screen size by setting a flag in their apps.

iPad 2 vs Game Consoles

I've had a number of game consoles in my life. The first was the Sega master system in the mid-late 80s. I used to spend a fair amount of time playing games. These days, at best, I'm a casual gamer. And that's where I think the iPad 2 can do real damage. As the saying goes, the best camera is the one you have with you. Likewise, the best gaming device is the one you have with you. Game consoles monopolize the family TV, can't be easily moved, are slow to load, and store data on expensive plastic disks. The iPad, in contrast, fits in your bag, can download games on demand, can create ad-hoc networks for head-to-head gameplay, and every player gets their own screen.

The iPad 2 is faster than the original and has better graphics. As Real Racing HD 2 (above) demonstrates, the new iPad is impressive as a gaming device. The improved performance makes it competitive with game consoles, but the iPad's portability, personal nature, and ease of use make it a winner. Only hard-core gamers will prefer game consoles or dedicated gaming PCs. Casual gamers –– the bulk of the market –– will opt for the iPad.

Color

Color is a new social photography app for iPhone with some serious VC backing. 

Forbes reports:

Every photo you take in Color is stored on the Web and can be seen almost instantly by any nearby phone with Color. You become "bound" to people whose photos you like and both of you can then see each other's Color photos regardless of your location. Lives of friends and nearby strangers start to unfold in real time on your phone. Nguyen showed it to Sequoia Capital's Mike Moritz, backer of Zappos and Google. Within a day he backed Color with $25 million, on top of $9 million for Bain Capital and $7 million from Silicon Valley Bank.

That's a lot of hype to live up to.

A Check-in SDK For iOS Apps

TechCrunch:

The SDK requires pretty simple integration. Once wired, users can check-in to apps in much the same manner they check-in to locations on Foursquare. Check-ins can be pushed out, of course, to Facebook and Twitter.

AppBoy included additional functionality that helps developers reward users in contests. Badges are available for most check-ins during a contest, for timing-based check-ins (for example, the 50th check-in past a certain hour), and for checks-ins closest to specified times.

Sounds like a great way to engage users.

Apple’s iPad Still Has No Competition

TechCrunch:

There’s a saying in hockey: Don’t go to where the puck is, go to where the puck is going to be. Nobody is willing to make a bet on where the market is going to be, so they go to where the market is and, right now, Apple controls the puck.

Until someone decides to step outside of Apple’s shadow, they will never be better than No. 2. That’s where the fight is right now.

It seems HP is in the best position to step outside of Apple's shadow. HP's webOS looks very good and, like Apple, HP controls the hardware and software.

Core Data

This post by Brent Simmon on the limitations of Core Data matches exactly my experience with it. Core Data is great for handling the mundane stuff, but when it comes to batch operations, large datasets, and handling edge cases the layer of abstraction –– treating everything as an object –– gets in the way.

iPhone App Usage

Pinch Media:

For free [iPhone] applications, only about 20 percent of users return to use the app the first day after they download it, and then it quickly drops off from there. By 30 days out, less than 5 percent are using the app. The chart for paid apps shows a slightly steeper fall-off rate. So there is a very brief window of time to capture people’s attention and potential revenues.

Gruber on iPhone UI Design

John Gruber:

I’ll put forth one central, overriding guideline for iPhone UI design:

Figure out the absolute least you need to do to implement the idea, do just that, and then polish the hell out of the experience.