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Today we take a look at the new iOS 8 size classes that were introduced to the world at WWDC, and what they might mean for the future. All indications are that larger iPhones are coming this fall, and there are other rumors of a split-screen iPad. If iPhone windows get bigger, and iPad windows get smaller, will the line between the two devices start to blur? What might that mean for developers who sell separate iPhone and iPad versions of their apps? Will all apps be expected to be Universal? We consider those questions and more in today’s discussion.
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Today we’re talking about iCloud Drive and the advent of a filesystem on iOS. We discuss whether the benefits of introducing a filesystem to iOS users is worth the complications that it brings, compare notes on our plans for supporting iCloud Drive, and express a healthy dose of skepticism about Apple’s ability to flawlessly launch a new web service. We consider our long-term ability to charge customers for syncing in this world of free and cheap cloud services, then we close by reading the tea leaves and sharing our opinion of what exactly Apple’s loosening of sandbox restrictions means for the future of iOS.
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The universal experience of all independent developers is that there’s never enough time. Today we take a look at how we plan to use our limited time between now and when iOS 8 is released to the general public. What iOS 8 technologies are absolutely critical to implement immediately? Which ones can wait? How do you balance adding new features with the need to do maintenance tasks that might not be noticed by customers? We discuss all of this as well our plans for Swift adoption in this week’s episode.

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Today we’re continuing our conversation with David Smith. We start by discussing David’s recent talk at the NSNorth conference in which he encouraged the audience to engage with our community of developers. David then turns the tables by asking us a question. Specifically, he wants to know how we handle the risk and uncertainty of having most of our revenue tied up in a single product. This evolves into a discussion of the importance of being a “student of the App Store,” business models that align well with Apple’s goals, and our personal definitions of success.
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We asked David Smith to join us today because he’s found a different path to success in the App Store. Instead of concentrating his efforts on one or two apps as Charles and Joe have done, David has a diverse portfolio of over 70 apps that support him in aggregate. In our conversation, we talk to David about where he draws inspiration for these apps, how he manages to keep them updated, his experience with advertising, and the results of the many pricing experiments that he’s conducted in the App Store. Come back next week for part two of our conversation with David.
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