Apple has finally made plans to combine the iPad, iPhone, and Mac apps to bring platform-independence to the apps. In 2018, the apps may start working on all the Apple devices equally well so as to provide the users a steady experience irrespective of the Apple device they are using.
As reported by Bloomberg,
“Starting as early as next year, software developers will be able to design a single application that works with a touchscreen or mouse and trackpad depending on whether it’s running on the iPhone and iPad operating system or on Mac hardware, according to people familiar with the matter.”
Currently, the apps developed for macOS are way more outdated than the apps developed for iOS. Interestingly, the company also focuses on the iOS apps, neglecting the macOS at the same time. The iOS App Store was revamped this year but the Mac App Store has not been touched since 2014. Also, the apps for iPad and iPhone are regularly updated with the latest features while the apps for Mac aren’t. That’s why Bloomberg called the Mac App Store a ghost town with very limited and rarely updated programs.
As of now, it is not clear if the two app stores will be merged together or not, but this plan of app unification is definitely a delight for the app developers who have to design two different apps as per the operating system the app will be used on. On the other hand, this will bring big smiles to the faces of Mac users who are forced to use substandard apps.
Just like UWP apps from Microsoft, the availability of a single app for all machines will help the users get new features and updates at the same time. The rumors are high that the next version of macOS, that might be numbered as 10.14, will be capable of running apps originally developed for iOS devices.
Well, we appreciate this "one app for all devices" plan of Apple. This will smooth the experience of users having iPhones/iPads as well as a Mac machine.