14 DAY TRIAL // Starting next month, Apple developers selling iOS apps will be required to turn off any functionality associated with UDID access / fetching, while every new binary submitted to the App Store will require native iPhone 5 graphics.
One of two announcements published by the Cupertino giant states, “Starting May 1, the App Store will no longer accept new apps or app updates that access UDIDs.”
Developers are urged to update their apps and servers “to associate users with the Vendor or Advertising identifiers introduced in iOS 6.”
Those interested in making the switch can find more details in the UIDevice Class Reference.
Also posted on the News and Announcement section for developers is a warning that developers are now compelled to create apps that run natively on four-inch devices, like the iPhone 5 and iPod touch 5th-generation.
“Starting May 1, new apps and app updates submitted to the App Store must be built for iOS devices with Retina display and iPhone apps must also support the 4-inch display on iPhone 5.”
To prepare applications for these new rules, developers are told to review the iOS Human Interface Guidelines.
A Wall Street Journal report may shed more light on this new initiative to unify interfaces for all devices. According to the newspaper, Apple’s new Human Interface Chief Jonathan Ive is hard at work on revamping iOS from a visual standpoint.
The level of collaboration between the engineering teams has increased, the paper says, and discussions between Ive and Human Interface Lead Greg Christie are described as “pleasant and cordial.”
Apple has also updated its Podcasts app, removing a number of skeuomorphic UI elements. Skeuomorphism is said to be one big graphical roadblock in iOS, and Jonathan Ive has been tasked with finding a suitable replacement.