question about updating old iPhone and iPad versions into one new universal build...

MelodyCats

Apologies in advance if this is a bit long but just trying to make everything clear. (possibly for myself too..)

So I have a bunch of iOS apps out - some have been out for over 6 years now - each app has a seperate iPhone and iPad version as I'd started building them before universal was common. so for example 'myApp' on iPhone and 'myApp HD' for iPad...

obviously having one universal build is far better - I've now redone all the apps as they needed refreshing and adapted them to fit on all device sizes so they can work as universal apps.

Now I've updated 'myApp' for iPhone as a universal app and 'myApp HD' for iPad also as a universal app - no problem except the thing is I now effectively have 2 identical apps on the store... ideally I could just remove one of them as the other is now redundant but they're paid apps, so if I were to just remove the old iPhone version for example - those who had already purchased it wouldn't be able to get the other version without paying for it again and vice versa...

So anyway, (after this ramble) I guess my question is - has anyone else done this? Do you think its a problem having 2 apps that are essentially the same or is it likely apple will crack down on similar versions....

Before updating to universal if you searched for 'myApp' on the iPhone only 1 version would appear in the search now both do.
If I was to update all my apps this way it would create a lot of duplicates.
I'm wondering if I shouldn't just keep them as seperate iPhone and iPad apps even though they could be universal if that makes sense.

bob loblaw

good question. i’d guess if an ios universal build is submitted it would overwrite both individual builds, and as long as the only thing that’s different is the screen adjustment rules, it should be ok (ie if all points where you reference saved data are the same).

i couldn’t say 100% though.

i know that when i published my first app i had just an iphone build that worked on ipad. i made and submitted a universal build that overwrite those and worked fine with the update.

RowdyPants

@MusicBoutique Interesting, and I'm guessing a fairly common problem for developers starting with the separate versions approach.

I think it just depends on the goal. If you're trying to tighten up product offerings I would remove one from the store completely and universalize the other. If you want to be an extra awesome developer I might offer a goodie (in the form of an in-app unlock, etc) to customers who previously owned the now discontinued product.

You could release one final version (of the discontinued version) that includes a message or code or instructions about receiving the benefit in the upcoming universal version. There might a better way of transitioning than that but the goal would be to honor/keep/reward those players who purchased from you previously. You might could use AppFormative to setup user tracking/logging and then check against purchasers of the new universal version.

MelodyCats

Thanks @bob loblaw yeah the overwriting old version with universal works fine its mainly the problem of what you then do with the 2 versions of the app you now have...

Thanks @RowdyPants - yeah that could be an interesting way to go about it - I guess you could use promo codes but then there's only a limited number.

I think in the long run if I dont remove at least one version it will cause problems down the road. It's one of these - 'can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs' situations.

I'm thinking maybe that if for one of the versions, I could deselect all the countries its available in - effectively making it 'developer removed' but not completely deleted.
I'd need to look into it, but I'm assuming I could continue to update that older version for the existing customers even though its technically offline if that makes any sense...
Of course they'd still be some complaints from people who had deleted the app from their device and were unable to re-install it again but that might be more manageable.

After a few years making apps, I'm trying to weigh decisions a bit more carefully than when I started out because you realise that some things that seem trivial can become headaches later on.