Developers Setting Expectations Ahead of Mac App Store Launch

[grady2007]

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Do we really need angry birds on every mac platform? Maybe it would be cool shooting birds with a Magic Trackpad. Hmmmm.

 

[Stella]

Firemint Announced this shortly after Apple announced the Mac App Store, they said they will be available on or shortly after the Store Opens.

Its already available on Steam ; been on there for a while now.

They have a new blog post today: http://www.realmacsoftware.com/blog/

If I'm reading between the lines properly, I believe they will offer slimmer apps at lower prices.

I hope 'slimmer' doesn't mean dumbed down limited 'lite' versions. As long as developers keep offering full editions, all is good - especially in the case of Rapid Weaver.

You can't expect prices to drop drastically and keep the same quality / functionality. Full time professional developers don't like working for peanuts. The OSX user base is fairly limited when comparing against windows and iOS.

 

[Cynicalone]

10.6.6 is required for the Mac App Store
Mac App Store will also be available through Software Update

Well that answers that then. I had heard the rumors .6 was required but wasn't sure.

I suppose we will see the update today or tomorrow then. Unless of course they shove the whole thing out the door on the 6th.

One thing I wouldn't mind getting from the store would be gadgets similar to what Windows 7 has. I know people might hate that idea but I kinda like them.

 

[Mister Snitch]

Agreed, I think it's a genius idea on their part and can't wait to see what's available on the 6th.

Absolutely. This is huge, huge, huge for the Mac platform. Mac apps for a buck or two, prescreened for problems and easily downloaded from a convenient location? Load up.

 

[Merthyrboy]

I wonder if EA will port all of their games over that they just had a sale on. May need to tweak the driving games a bit. Might be a bit awkward otherwise not having a way to steer on a racing game.

 

[Mattsasa]

Absolutely. This is huge, huge, huge for the Mac platform. Mac apps for a buck or two, prescreened for problems and easily downloaded from a convenient location? Load up.

its the future for mac and windows, hopefully apple will get rid of optical drives in the macbooks soon!

 

[Stella]

Absolutely. This is huge, huge, huge for the Mac platform. Mac apps for a buck or two, prescreened for problems and easily downloaded from a convenient location? Load up.

These applications will still contain bugs.. but the approval process will screen for certain types of bugs. It won't catch them all!

 

[Cynicalone]

I wonder if EA will port all of their games over that they just had a sale on. May need to tweak the driving games a bit. Might be a bit awkward otherwise not having a way to steer on a racing game.

Or they could give you the option to use an iOS device as a controller. Imagine the possibilities then.

 

[Cougarcat]

I suppose we will see the update today or tomorrow then. Unless of course they shove the whole thing out the door on the 6th.

One thing I wouldn't mind getting from the store would be gadgets similar to what Windows 7 has. I know people might hate that idea but I kinda like them.

It'll probably all come out at the same time on the 6th. 10.6.6 is pretty much exclusively App Store support.

You can run Dashboard apps on the desktop with this tweak.

 

[majicDave]

Or they could give you the option to use an iOS device as a controller. Imagine the possibilities then.

At launch, Chopper 2 for Mac will be able to use any iPhone or iPod Touch as a controller over wifi.

 

[Cynicalone]

You can run Dashboard apps on the desktop with this tweak.

That is pretty nice trick.

 

[MarkNY]

It'll be interesting to see if DRM works for Mac apps. It failed for music, but worked spectacularly for iOS. The success of DRM software is one of the unheralded stories associated with iOS: small developers are actually making money.

 

[Mattsasa]

Or they could give you the option to use an iOS device as a controller. Imagine the possibilities then.

oh GOD please no! not when you already have a mouse and keyboard in front of you!

 

[whatever]

I wonder if there will ever be enhanced connectivity between iOS devices and their respective Mac App Store apps? For games, for example, I would love to be able to use my iPhone as either a secondary screen (to equip items, perhaps), a private screen for multiplayer games (that would hide some crucial information from your friends), or as a controller. That alone would entice me to buy a ton of apps!

That's already possible today.

Adobe actually demoed some cool stuff last year.

And there is an App which allows an iPad to be used as secondary monitor for a Mac.

And of course the first and best example of this is Apple's own Remote Control App.

 

[Eso]

This is retarded.

The Mac App store isn't meant for iOS ports.

 

[Mattsasa]

This is retarded.

The Mac App store isn't meant for iOS ports.

Agreed

However, the ios app store IS meant for mac ports

 

[Stella]

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I've been thinking.. Wonder if we'll get this sort of thing... Take Rapid Weaver as an example:

Here's RW lite for $10.. Visit our website and you can upgrade to the full version for $ xxx...

 

[Fraaaa]

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It seems like the update feature is simply Apple's Software Update feature with third party software allowed access.

it would be nice if third party software not offered in the app store could use this. Some larger software packages might not be practical to offer through the app store but if the developer could get approval to use the update system to check that would be great. All software updates checked in one place!

They are going to be full screen apps, and you'll open them from the launchpad.

 

[Fraaaa]

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Call of Duty 6, 7, 8 for Mac!!!
Swtor, Guild Wars 2 for Mac!!!
Crysis 2 for Mac!!!
Mass Effect 3!!!
.....Halo Reach for Mac??

Lol, would be sweet though.

I guess I should just be happy with
Starcraft II, Diablo III, Civ V, Portal 2

What are you talking about?

 

[Popeye206]

These lucky developers are going to make a killing. It pays to be first. I bet apps costing over $49 will be much cheaper as they will go for volume sales.

I agree. I think what we'll see in the long run is cheaper applications and more of them. Unfortunately, I think we'll see more "junk" applications too.

I think this is a brilliant move by Apple. It's going to attract developers like crazy. I hope it does not attract hackers and viruses too. But again... one of the nice things about Apple's gated walls. Harder for that to happen.

 

[whatever]

This is retarded.

The Mac App store isn't meant for iOS ports.

LOL, they won't be direct ports.

What Apple did was make it easy to create and distribute new and exciting OS X apps.

The development tools that iOS developers are using are the same exact tools that OS X developers have been using for years. However, there was little motivation for these iOS developers to create full fledge OS X apps, because they did not have an easy way to sell them and now they do!

What Apple has down is border line brilliant, they used iOS as a way to get people excited about developing their own apps and now with the Mac App Store they can take it to the next level.

 

[Eso]

LOL, they won't be direct ports.

What Apple did was make it easy to create and distribute new and exciting OS X apps.

The development tools that iOS developers are using are the same exact tools that OS X developers have been using for years. However, there was little motivation for these iOS developers to create full fledge OS X apps, because they did not have an easy way to sell them and now they do!

What Apple has down is border line brilliant, they used iOS as a way to get people excited about developing their own apps and now with the Mac App Store they can take it to the next level.

To me, the Mac App store is meant for all the professional mac applications that already exist, not for indie iOS developers to make the move to OS X.

 

[saving107]

It'll be interesting to see if DRM works for Mac apps. It failed for music, but worked spectacularly for iOS. The success of DRM software is one of the unheralded stories associated with iOS: small developers are actually making money.

Apple claims their is no limit on how many computers you can install a paid App on, I'm sure you will have to authorize every computer using your Apple ID, but it will be interesting to see if I can buy Pages, Numbers and then install this on my cousin's computer (we generally go 50/50 on iWork and iLife, so I would like to continue to do the same, considering that the disk version doesn't require a serial number during installation).

 

[paradox00]

I wonder if EA will port all of their games over that they just had a sale on. May need to tweak the driving games a bit. Might be a bit awkward otherwise not having a way to steer on a racing game.

Tilt steering is possible on macbooks since they have accelerometers (otherwise known as a hard drive drop sensors). But of course they'd add other ways of steering.

It will be interesting to see what new apps this results in, especially considering anything can already be ported to osx if the developer wants to put the effort into it. Of course the app store should allow for greater sales volume.

 

[Northgrove]

Apple's plan is becoming clearer.

Everyone thought the Mac app store was just a way to better sell Mac apps. But it's really not. (Acorn or iLife will be fine with or without this store.)

No, this is an attempt to bring some of the iOS developers over to the Mac...someplace they would not have thought to tread before this.

Looks like it's gonna work.

And since Apple is going to intentionally make it easy to port apps from iOS, this should benefit the end-users too, by giving them good prices. (the points raised in this article at least) Apple is clearly trying to get more users into their ecosystem this way, but I'm not complaining if I'm getting a good deal out of it.