Opinion: iPhone fragmentation confuses customers - the App Store needs a rethink

Back when the App Store first burrowed its way into iTunes, it was sleek and outstandingly easy to use. You could be sure that any app you’d buy would automatically work on your device and the only fragmentation, between the iPhone and iPod touch, was immediately obvious - apps that use the camera, GPS, compass or microphone would be busted or restricted on the MP3 player.

But now, with several more devices on the market, some with high resolution screens and gyroscopes, some with extra memory and some that are tablets, the App Store’s aging layout is starting to feel more clunky and confusing every day.

Particularly baffling is EA’s latest game, released today. Unlike Flight Control and Carcassonne, which bundle graphics for both old devices and the brand new iPhone 4 into one universal app, NCAA Football 2010 was released as two apps - one for iPhone 3GS and another for iPhone 4.

EA is totally within its rights to double up on apps and, with the increased budget for new graphics, the developer understandably wants to ask an extra buck for the higher resolution visuals.

But that doesn’t stop the two downloads confusing users. “iPhone 3G and 3GS does not work!!!” yells one commenter. “my iPod says it isn’t compatible”, moans another, “will not work with my 3G” cries one more.

Sure, EA says “Just for iPhone 4” in the description, and the requirements says “compatible with iPhone 4”, but in an App Store that’s been so easy to use, with downloads guaranteed to work on your gadget for the past two years, its a bit of a shock to suddenly see such harsh fragmentation, and confusion.

Oh, and to add insult to injury, EA decided to use the ‘HD’ moniker to signify the game is just for iPhone 4. I know it’s an unwritten rule, but I think the App Store community has efficiently banded together and worked out that HD means iPad. Just another point of confusion.

We saw the first inkling of this earlier in the year with Espgaluda II, the bullet hell shmup from Cave that demanded the extra memory from the 3GS and most recent iPod touch. Despite a relatively clear message (as clear as you can get with Apple’s increasingly confusing fleet of mobile devices - the third-generation iPods are individually fractured by memory between the 8GB and 16/32GB versions) about which gadgets will and won’t run the app, the comments are filled with people unable to play the game, and demanding refunds.

Luckily, there are plenty of ways to solve this. A more understandable, visual score card of devices to show which ones will and won’t run the app would be a nice start. Or the ability to tell your iTunes account exactly what gadgets you own, so the App Store will stop you from downloading unusable apps, or hide them from view entirely.

Really, the ball is now in Apple’s court. Because even with Espgaluda II’s very clear “###IMPORTANT####” message, people are still confused. And relying on the userbase to denote their games with tags like ‘HD’ or ‘XL’ certainly isn’t working when a publisher as huge as EA diverges from the norm.

I’m not even considering how the developers must be feeling. The thoughts of making game assets three times over (iPhone, iPhone 4, iPad) must already start to feel like they’re slipping into the scary world of millions of mobiles.

I certainly wouldn’t want to dissuade developers from making device specific games, though. The gyroscope of the iPhone 4 holds plenty of unique opportunities for designers, as does its meaty 512MB of memory. And the iPad is only just warming up with new gaming opportunities.

But before we get ahead of ourselves with new games, genres, and experiences, we really need to sort out the App Store, and reduce the confusion.