Guys, as a developer, I just took a look at the API diff and "what's new in iPhone OS 4" docs, and I saw some gems Steve didn't talk about !
For instance, Grand Central Dispatch is now integrated to iPhone OS 4 (!!!!!!!), and UIKit is now "thread safe"... those two tips make me think that the next iPhone will probably be MULTICORE!
Another interesting point in the doc, is the description of the new framework, accelerate :
"The Accelerate framework (Accelerate.framework) contains interfaces for performing math, big-number, and DSP calculations, among others. The advantage of using this framework over writing your own versions of these libraries is that it is optimized for the different hardware configurations present in iPhone OS?based devices. Therefore, you can write your code once and be assured that it runs efficiently on all devices."
I don't know you, but the word "DSP" is flashing red before my eyes!
Now that Apple master their own CPU production, I bet that the next A4 evolution that will ship with the new iPhone will be multicore and will get a DSP or the equivalent to the MMX addon the x86 have!
Mmmm... Apple has a history of developing ASIC DSPs. I wonder if the current iPad A4 has this capability.
Just think of a Motion or Logic app with a multitouch interface...
not a "game changer"? iAd is not something very new and different in the portable universe? not a vanguard for HTML5 and another nail in Flash's coffin? iBooks spreading synched readers across the entire Apple portable product line is not new and different (who else does)?
and while the Game Center is certainly not a new and different concept for the industry, Apple's portable device implementation may take it one step beyond anything now. but even more significant, it marks Apple's first serious effort to establish an Apple-branded presence in the social web, with new head-to-head competition with Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo, and a major expansion of Apple ambitions as a game platform ...
plus a hundred other things ... but, hey, no big deal, right?
unless you have rock-steady kung-fu grip action, i wouldn't want to be on a video chat with anyone on an iPad or iPhone. Talk about Blair Witch effect!!! Sure they could put some kind of steady software on there as well, i supposed...
First, you would probably put the iPhone or iPad in a dock or case in an upright position.
Second, with a powerful enough, integrated, CPU, GPU and DSP you could do some image stabilization.
Devs have always been getting revenue from ads, iAd is designed for APPLE to get 40% of the ad revenue.
Presumably developers can still use AdMob if they prefer.
BTW AdMob also takes a share of the revenue from ads. I'm not certain what the split is but I wouldn't be surprised if it is the same 60 40 as with iAd.
personally i'll be happy to download this update, but the point i'm trying to make is that apple is not "thinking different" in any way. they've started their photocopiers and pulled every new feature from google's cookbook. [yes, the UI is superior and ohh so simple] the only exception is iAd...
i'm not sure that iAd is even going to be that great for developers - how much ad revenue do developers share with apple now? 40% or 0%?
if i create a weather app and a chess app [for example], will apple tell me that i can't advertise one inside the other because it's not relevant content?
will i be forced to show approved iAds [no doubt disney / pixar and apple merchandise will be heavily favored in iAds.] will i be advertising for a competitor's app inside mine - one that costs more, giving apple a larger revenue stream?
personally i'll be happy to download this update, but the point i'm trying to make is that apple is not "thinking different" in any way. they've started their photocopiers and pulled every new feature from google's cookbook. [yes, the UI is superior and ohh so simple] the only exception is iAd...
You've ignored Apples how Apple implemented the new features, especially multitasking. The way they implemented things differs, and that can can lead to a completely different user experience.
Quote:
i'm not sure that iAd is even going to be that great for developers - how much ad revenue do developers share with apple now? 40% or 0%?
I think Apple would get 0%, but you are asking the wrong question. How much does Admob (and others) get from developers from hosting the ads displayed in the apps? Secondly, how much more would iAd placements be worth to people wishing to advertise on the iPhone?
Quote:
if i create a weather app and a chess app [for example], will apple tell me that i can't advertise one inside the other because it's not relevant content?
will i be forced to show approved iAds [no doubt disney / pixar and apple merchandise will be heavily favored in iAds.] will i be advertising for a competitor's app inside mine - one that costs more, giving apple a larger revenue stream?
Now you are getting into the rants based on mere speculation that I have no time for.
Does anyone know if Folders will only be compatible with 3GS iPhones & up or will it work with
1st gen as well?
It looks as if 4.0 won't be available for 1st gen iPhone/iPod Touch at all. At least there are no download links for these two devices in the Dev Center...
So the thing that seems to be missing from my perspective is document management. But maybe this is already there with 3.2? I might be confused.
What I would really like to see is a common directory for document storage that all apps can access so that each individual app doesn't have to roll its own solution to document storage and transfer. I guess I've heard that Pages, Numbers, and Keynote use something like this, but I haven't bought those apps for my iPad, so I don't know how it works or if other developers can access it. I also don't know how robust it is -- is this common storage area an HFS+ file system with folders and metadata? Or is it something significantly less sophisticated?
I would really like to be able to put 500 PDFs on my iPad and be able to easily organize them and access them from multiple apps. I really hope this is possible...
Apple is providing all the items on my wish list except central storage. To share between apps, I've had to upload to iDisk and download to the other app. I currently keep 2 or 3 copies of several files on my iPhone because of the lack of a central storage location. Working from iDisk all the time is a solution, but too slow.
The multi-tasking stuff was a big let down. No 3G support is just bizarre, as an iPhone 3G can multi-task when jail broken, and no support for IM clients or twitter clients either. Just odd, and reeks of a bungled, half baked solution.
The big focus on ads was downright bizarre as well. That's really just what we all want, an ad every 30 seconds. Thanks Steve, thanks a lot.
All in all I'm very unimpressed with OS 4.0 from what was announced today. I really thought they would do a lot more.
That's what amazed me most. This isn't even coming out for a few months, and already it leaves Android in the lead.
Palm has been dead for months. This will have no affect on Palm one way or the other.
But I expect Google to use this opportunity to pull further ahead by June. And then again in the fall. And again next spring.
Damn. I expected to be wowed, and all I saw was the inclusion of previously-missing basic stuff, some of which not even implemented very well.
Yeah but a rush-to-be-first plan of attack is not a good idea.
Apple has spent a long time developing APIs to allow ALL programmers access to the features. They test them out first with their own applications and then release them to the public later. EVER developer has the same level of access and so it's up to them as to whether or not to use those features. Android is splintered because of different hardware platforms where it's been the hardware manufacturers saying what can be supported or not. In iPhone OS only multitasking isn't supported by 1st and 2nd Gen iPhones due to hardware limits which is something Android has not got.
However, some other features are locked down because the APIs aren't necessarily cooked properly and need a bit more time and so will be released with other releases of the OS be it updates or upgrades.
Apple rarely comes out with something new they just do the same things as everyone else just more planned and tested which is why "It just works" has become the mantra. From an engineer's perspective this is the CORRECT method not the "let's release it and fix it later" mantra of the rest of the world.
I think it's pretty clear... there are 7 modes of "multitasking", and different modes will involve different levels of battery drain. I'm sure they will encourage developers through the app review process to use the mode that gets the job done for a specific app and no more. For example, they will probably encourage the vast majority of developers to use rapid app switching rather than full multitasking.
There is no option for full multi-tasking at all, just a limited set of fixed background tasks.
If you use twitter, you're out of luck unfortunately. But that's okay, it's not a very popular service.
Comments
From a developer over at MR:
Originally Posted by JulienNantes
Guys, as a developer, I just took a look at the API diff and "what's new in iPhone OS 4" docs, and I saw some gems Steve didn't talk about !
For instance, Grand Central Dispatch is now integrated to iPhone OS 4 (!!!!!!!), and UIKit is now "thread safe"... those two tips make me think that the next iPhone will probably be MULTICORE!
Another interesting point in the doc, is the description of the new framework, accelerate :
"The Accelerate framework (Accelerate.framework) contains interfaces for performing math, big-number, and DSP calculations, among others. The advantage of using this framework over writing your own versions of these libraries is that it is optimized for the different hardware configurations present in iPhone OS?based devices. Therefore, you can write your code once and be assured that it runs efficiently on all devices."
I don't know you, but the word "DSP" is flashing red before my eyes!
Now that Apple master their own CPU production, I bet that the next A4 evolution that will ship with the new iPhone will be multicore and will get a DSP or the equivalent to the MMX addon the x86 have!
Mmmm... Apple has a history of developing ASIC DSPs. I wonder if the current iPad A4 has this capability.
Just think of a Motion or Logic app with a multitouch interface...
.
and while the Game Center is certainly not a new and different concept for the industry, Apple's portable device implementation may take it one step beyond anything now. but even more significant, it marks Apple's first serious effort to establish an Apple-branded presence in the social web, with new head-to-head competition with Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo, and a major expansion of Apple ambitions as a game platform ...
plus a hundred other things ... but, hey, no big deal, right?
unless you have rock-steady kung-fu grip action, i wouldn't want to be on a video chat with anyone on an iPad or iPhone. Talk about Blair Witch effect!!! Sure they could put some kind of steady software on there as well, i supposed...
First, you would probably put the iPhone or iPad in a dock or case in an upright position.
Second, with a powerful enough, integrated, CPU, GPU and DSP you could do some image stabilization.
*
Devs have always been getting revenue from ads, iAd is designed for APPLE to get 40% of the ad revenue.
Presumably developers can still use AdMob if they prefer.
BTW AdMob also takes a share of the revenue from ads. I'm not certain what the split is but I wouldn't be surprised if it is the same 60 40 as with iAd.
i'm not sure that iAd is even going to be that great for developers - how much ad revenue do developers share with apple now? 40% or 0%?
if i create a weather app and a chess app [for example], will apple tell me that i can't advertise one inside the other because it's not relevant content?
will i be forced to show approved iAds [no doubt disney / pixar and apple merchandise will be heavily favored in iAds.] will i be advertising for a competitor's app inside mine - one that costs more, giving apple a larger revenue stream?
i'm not sure that iAd is even going to be that great for developers - how much ad revenue do developers share with apple now? 40% or 0%?
Whatever ad service you are using is taking a cut. Now developers have the option to have Apple as their ad service.
personally i'll be happy to download this update, but the point i'm trying to make is that apple is not "thinking different" in any way. they've started their photocopiers and pulled every new feature from google's cookbook. [yes, the UI is superior and ohh so simple] the only exception is iAd...
You've ignored Apples how Apple implemented the new features, especially multitasking. The way they implemented things differs, and that can can lead to a completely different user experience.
i'm not sure that iAd is even going to be that great for developers - how much ad revenue do developers share with apple now? 40% or 0%?
I think Apple would get 0%, but you are asking the wrong question. How much does Admob (and others) get from developers from hosting the ads displayed in the apps? Secondly, how much more would iAd placements be worth to people wishing to advertise on the iPhone?
if i create a weather app and a chess app [for example], will apple tell me that i can't advertise one inside the other because it's not relevant content?
will i be forced to show approved iAds [no doubt disney / pixar and apple merchandise will be heavily favored in iAds.] will i be advertising for a competitor's app inside mine - one that costs more, giving apple a larger revenue stream?
Now you are getting into the rants based on mere speculation that I have no time for.
1st gen as well?
Lots of stuff was not mentioned, but Voice Recognition and built-in turn-by-turn navigation come to mind as some of the most glaring omissions.
We're not in 2009 anymore.
Does anyone know if Folders will only be compatible with 3GS iPhones & up or will it work with
1st gen as well?
It looks as if 4.0 won't be available for 1st gen iPhone/iPod Touch at all. At least there are no download links for these two devices in the Dev Center...
So the thing that seems to be missing from my perspective is document management. But maybe this is already there with 3.2? I might be confused.
What I would really like to see is a common directory for document storage that all apps can access so that each individual app doesn't have to roll its own solution to document storage and transfer. I guess I've heard that Pages, Numbers, and Keynote use something like this, but I haven't bought those apps for my iPad, so I don't know how it works or if other developers can access it. I also don't know how robust it is -- is this common storage area an HFS+ file system with folders and metadata? Or is it something significantly less sophisticated?
I would really like to be able to put 500 PDFs on my iPad and be able to easily organize them and access them from multiple apps. I really hope this is possible...
Apple is providing all the items on my wish list except central storage. To share between apps, I've had to upload to iDisk and download to the other app. I currently keep 2 or 3 copies of several files on my iPhone because of the lack of a central storage location. Working from iDisk all the time is a solution, but too slow.
The big focus on ads was downright bizarre as well. That's really just what we all want, an ad every 30 seconds. Thanks Steve, thanks a lot.
All in all I'm very unimpressed with OS 4.0 from what was announced today. I really thought they would do a lot more.
.....
Other minor features highlighted in a slide of iPhone 4.0 enhancements include:
File & delete Mail search results
Search SMS/MMS messages
Web search suggestions
Choose image size in Mail messages
Bluetooth keyboards
CalDav invitations
Larger fonts for Mail, SMS & alerts
Cell data only setting
Spell check
Persistent Wi-Fi
Gift Apps
Birthday calendar
Recent Web searches
Create Playlists
Top Hit in search
5x digital zoom
Nested Playlists
CardDav
Tap to focus video
Upload workouts to Nike+
Places in Photos
iPod Out
Home screen wallpaper
Search SMS/MMS messages
Wake on wireless
What is Wake on wireless? Did they discuss this?
That's what amazed me most. This isn't even coming out for a few months, and already it leaves Android in the lead.
Palm has been dead for months. This will have no affect on Palm one way or the other.
But I expect Google to use this opportunity to pull further ahead by June. And then again in the fall. And again next spring.
Damn. I expected to be wowed, and all I saw was the inclusion of previously-missing basic stuff, some of which not even implemented very well.
Yeah but a rush-to-be-first plan of attack is not a good idea.
Apple has spent a long time developing APIs to allow ALL programmers access to the features. They test them out first with their own applications and then release them to the public later. EVER developer has the same level of access and so it's up to them as to whether or not to use those features. Android is splintered because of different hardware platforms where it's been the hardware manufacturers saying what can be supported or not. In iPhone OS only multitasking isn't supported by 1st and 2nd Gen iPhones due to hardware limits which is something Android has not got.
However, some other features are locked down because the APIs aren't necessarily cooked properly and need a bit more time and so will be released with other releases of the OS be it updates or upgrades.
Apple rarely comes out with something new they just do the same things as everyone else just more planned and tested which is why "It just works" has become the mantra. From an engineer's perspective this is the CORRECT method not the "let's release it and fix it later" mantra of the rest of the world.
I think it's pretty clear... there are 7 modes of "multitasking", and different modes will involve different levels of battery drain. I'm sure they will encourage developers through the app review process to use the mode that gets the job done for a specific app and no more. For example, they will probably encourage the vast majority of developers to use rapid app switching rather than full multitasking.
There is no option for full multi-tasking at all, just a limited set of fixed background tasks.
If you use twitter, you're out of luck unfortunately. But that's okay, it's not a very popular service.