The App Store Showing Strange Strings — A New iOS Product Or Just A Lazy Bug?

The App Store Showing Strange Strings — A New iOS Product Or Just A Lazy Bug?(techcrunch.com)

12 points by njohnw 15 years ago | 6 comments

jarin 15 years ago |

It seems like it's a localization string identifier, which means it probably stands for a tangible product, and it seems strange that a developer would randomly add and commit that change.

I'm going to guess that it was a mis-merge in the App Store codebase and that Lion will be able to run iOS apps (using the MacBook touchpad or Magic Trackpad for multitouch). I mean, Snow Leopard already runs iOS apps pretty much natively if you have the SDK installed.

avolcano 15 years ago |

As I said in the TechCrunch comments -

If it's anything (it's not, but it's fun to pretend), it could be a sign of integration between the Mac and iOS App Stores. Even if one isn't actually being rolled into each other (which I would assume they wouldn't be unless iTunes was redesigned), it could just be saying "this is also available as a Mac app," possibly with a link to the Mac App Store page.

rev087 15 years ago |

We already have Universal apps that run on both iPhones/iPod touches and iPads. It would make sense if Apple was to add Mac apps to the deal.

delinka 15 years ago | |

Current 'universal' apps all run on ARM CPUs. But I suppose they could change the toolchain to create fat binaries with Intel-speak inside.

rev087 15 years ago | | |

I have no experience in submitting Apps to the App Store, so I might be talking rubbish. But one could simply submit two binaries - or linking to the Mac App Store version, as suggested in another comment.

It`s like a bundle; pay once, run everywhere. Cultured Code`s Things for instance could sell such a bundle with a discount.

gte910h 15 years ago | | |

Some people do that already for libraries that work on the simulator and device. It's a bit of a pain in the ass to do manually, but it's not something that would take apple long at all to add to the toolchain.