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Just received an email today from my favorite iPad reference app. They experienced issues and have backed out (for now) porting their iPad app to the Mac. That was a big disappointment for me. They already have a Mac app but the functions and layout are not even comparable to the iPad experience... I had high hopes.
 
...anyone that bothered watching the Catalyst WWDC sessions knew that some UI work was required.

Double payment aside, this is another example of hack “journalism”.
 
Apple says makes porting iPad apps to the Mac as easy as checking a box in Xcode.

Enough said

Uh...are there any reports that say it isn't that easy?

The 'problems' described by the developer were stylistic:

MacRumors Article said:
Thomson said the Mac version initially "looked like an iPad app floating on a larger Mac screen," so he had to redesign much of the user interface.

And I'd argue the Macrumors article editorialized a bit in the "had to redesign" the UI. He CHOSE to redesign the UI.
 
Say whaaaat?

If Apple had only made expressedly clear in their Catalyst focused WWDC sessions that Catalyst would only give you an easy entry point for porting your iPad app to macOS, and that this porting process would require a lot of adaptations to the new platform, including UI redesigns.

Oh, wait… they have.



Nonsense.

Apple has made absolutely clear that AppKit will remain the first choice for the development of dedicated Mac apps, and that Catalyst is only a transitional technology simplifying ports of existing apps from iPadOS to macOS. They also made absolutely clear that if you want to start developing a new crossplatform app right now, SwiftUI is the method of choice or at least will be in the long run. This is the future, not Catalyst.
How dare you come in with easily discoverable information that shows how lazy journalists have become?
 
Once again, I am baffled at Netflix' contempt for Mac users. Screw you, too!

How does it reflect "contempt" on the part of Netflix? You can already watch Netflix on any Mac. In fact you can watch Netflix on just about anything that has a screen. Porting the Netflix iOS app to MacOS offers ZERO benefits to Netlifx and its users.
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Apple says makes porting iPad apps to the Mac as easy as checking a box in Xcode.

Enough said

Can you post where Apple states this?

Didn't think so.
 
Except that is not what Apple ever said. They are very clear that to get a good Mac app still requires some work, specifically for the issues raised by the developers quoted. The real question is will this be a small amount of work making it worth doing for some developers, or a large amount of work, making it not worth it.

As for the quote that the future of macOS development is Catalyst, that’s just wrong. The future is SwiftUI. It makes creating UIs for each device easy, with core code running on all the different platforms.

So if I understand, Catalyst allows relatively easy porting of existing iOS projects, but SwiftUI would be the go-to for writing from scratch? Well, that rather makes Catalyst the new Carbon. :)
 
looking very much forward to my next MacBook (Air?) running an iOS / iPad iOS version with a trackpad (not one with just "Accessibility" level use).
iOS13 & macOS Catalina compatibility direction (and issues!) will be resolved in future versions by eliminating the platform compatibility issues, and differences between these versions should only be what is device (hardware) necessitated and useful.
Moore's law for AMD: pls hurry.
 
Except that is not what Apple ever said. They are very clear that to get a good Mac app still requires some work, specifically for the issues raised by the developers quoted. The real question is will this be a small amount of work making it worth doing for some developers, or a large amount of work, making it not worth it.

As for the quote that the future of macOS development is Catalyst, that’s just wrong. The future is SwiftUI. It makes creating UIs for each device easy, with core code running on all the different platforms.
And it's even more complicated than that. Mobile and PC interfaces are different in two fundamental ways:
* very different screen sizes
* different input modes (mouse vs touch)
In may (most?) cases, developing an application that handles both equally well is not a trivial task. The developer basically needs to develop two interfaces (almost two apps) to have both versions behaving natural on two platforms. Two-in-one devices (laptop/tablet) with Windows have existed for many years now and the good solution still does not exist.
 
Mac users being an insignificant fraction of all users, what exactly do you expect? Blame Apple for high hardware prices.

Using that reasoning, one might argue that Netflix might want to attract Mac owners more, since Mac owners might be less likely to "share" passwords or more likely to subscribe to higher priced tiers for 4K streaming.
 
Using that reasoning, one might argue that Netflix might want to attract Mac owners more, since Mac owners might be less likely to "share" passwords or more likely to subscribe to higher priced tiers for 4K streaming.

Majority of people watching Netflix on a Mac already watch it in the browser. Your rationale for why Netflix should be concerned about this is just asinine.
 
What exactly is wrong with the website? Why does everyone need everything to be an app? You're on a computer! Use the website!
So what if he’s on a computer? This mindset is laughable and so stuck in its old way.

It doesn’t hurt to have a website or an app. I would prefer a Netflix app so it can be easily accessible from the dock, get notifications that is the same on an iPad, download offline content, etc. This is just one scenario for one app, there’s so many potential for other apps.

I mean what difference does it make now to use a website or app on an iPad with iOS 13? Because you wanna differentiate a Mac and an iPad?? They’re both computers regardless! Both can use websites, and let me remind you, if you have already forgotten: macOS has apps too. All websites should/can have apps. At least you can have access to both and be able to have the service saved, downloaded, and installed on your device, and make use of what macOS has to offer.

There is nothing wrong with having apps on the Mac! Personally, I don’t like having everything be relied on Safari, but plenty of services such as Netflix, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter should have an app for macOS.
 
Majority of people watching Netflix on a Mac already watch it in the browser. Your rationale for why Netflix should be concerned about this is just asinine.
On Windows, the Netflix app offers functionality that is not offered in any web browser apart from Microsoft Edge: the ability to play 4K Ultra HD streams.

Alan Gordon’s point was that if Netflix were to release a Mac app that supported 4K streaming (something not supported via Safari), some Mac users would subscribe to Netflix’s premium Ultra HD plan.

And Gordon is entirely right. I watch Netflix on an iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2019) that has all the hardware needed to play 5K 10-bit HDR video, but currently Netflix limits me to 1080p, so I subscribe to their mid-tier HD plan instead.

Before you dismiss other folks’ reasoning as “asinine,” you might want to take the trouble to know what you’re talking about.
 
Having an iPad app look like "an iPad app floating on a larger Mac screen" doesn't surprise me. Apple may have overpromised, but I think of it this way: You check a checkbox and your iPad app magically runs on macOS, for free, meaning without extra effort on your part. The basic conversions are done for you. Now, in most cases, you can (and probably need to) make other changes to optimize the look and feel.

I'm not surprised that only a limited set of apps turn out perfectly suited for macOS after the automatic conversion, and Apple will make adjustments to Mac Catalyst so that it'll meet the hype for more and more types of apps. I guess that makes me an optimistic realist.

while not ideal long-term, what exactly is wrong with a fully functional iPad app “floating“ on my Mac? Seems like a great first step... and a way to quickly enable lots of apps.
 
On Windows, the Netflix app offers functionality that is not offered in any web browser apart from Microsoft Edge: the ability to play 4K Ultra HD streams.

Alan Gordon’s point was that if Netflix were to release a Mac app that supported 4K streaming (something not supported via Safari), some Mac users would subscribe to Netflix’s premium Ultra HD plan.

And Gordon is entirely right. I watch Netflix on an iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2019) that has all the hardware needed to play 5K 10-bit HDR video, but currently Netflix limits me to 1080p, so I subscribe to their mid-tier HD plan instead.

Before you dismiss other folks’ reasoning as “asinine,” you might want to take the trouble to know what you’re talking about.

Congrats on being part of the elite few that claims they would pay for 4K because of a Mac app
 
plenty of services such as Netflix, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter should have an app for macOS.

The UX changes going from mobile to desktop. It’s simply a waste of resources for companies to invest in native apps when the product is fully functional from mobile/web.

Many companies such as Slack are pivoting to using Electron to do a one app for all environments approach, but there are limitations
 

Slack for iOS is native. Slack for Mac, looks like it’s written using MacGap. You can’t run code complied it MacGap else where. But I will give this to you as it’s primarily HTML/JS. But i doubt its the same code running everywhere, like a JAVA program. I am sure there is specific work done for Mac.
 
But how will we live with[out?] PCCalc and Lightsout?
Who said you must live without PCalc for Mac?

And I'd argue the Macrumors article editorialized a bit in the "had to redesign" the UI. He CHOSE to redesign the UI.
Not necessarily. Apple has dropped some not too subtle hints that they might reject lazy "floating iPad apps" which haven't seen any proper adaptation to the Mac.

while not ideal long-term, what exactly is wrong with a fully functional iPad app “floating“ on my Mac? Seems like a great first step... and a way to quickly enable lots of apps.
Crappy apps which aren't properly tuned to the different sensibilities of desktop apps. iPad apps require a completely different UI spacing, as they are intended to be used with an average user's fat fingers, and they often are adapted to input methods which simply won't work with a mouse.
 
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