Apple’s app problem

Writing for iMore, Rene Ritchie on the problems Apple faces as an app developer:

And perhaps that’s where the answer lies — in stopping the impossible. Tough as it is, letting go of the legacy Windows and iPod support would let Apple take iTunes to the cloud and modularize sync and other services on the desktop. Letting customers with old libraries manage them the old way would let Apple Music stream unencumbered. Making things like News system-level projects surfaced consistently across apps would both surprise and delight.

I don’t see killing iPod support as viable, if for no other reason than the iPod shuffle and iPod nano are still current, supported products. That suggests to me that a phase-out roadmap is still a ways off.

And I sincerely doubt that Apple is going to turn its back on Windows iTunes users, given the millions of Windows users who use iPhones and sync their devices to their PCs.

Ritchie describes some clear systemic issues that Apple has to combat going forward, where app design decisions are either being made arbitrarily or in a vacuum, without a clear awareness of how the software will be used long-term. Hopefully better, sustained management will take hold, because the status quo leaves people with a mediocre experience.

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