Apple’s New App Design Guidelines Hint at an All-Retina Future

As if the rumored forthcoming second generation iPad mini will be moving to the much anticipated higher resolution Retina Display isn’t enough, Apple’s guidance to app developers may solidify the company’s momentum to standardize on the Retina Display across all its tablet products. Additionally, all iOS apps for iPhone submitted to the App Store for approval must also support the iPhone’s new 16:9 aspect ratio Retina Display resolution beginning May 1.

Starting May 1, new apps and app updates submitted to the App Store must be built for iOS devices with Retina display and iPhone apps must also support the 4-inch display on iPhone 5. Learn about preparing your apps by reviewing the iOS Human Interface Guidelines.

The push towards Retina Display is unsurprising given that the larger 9.7-inch iPad is already headed in that direction. As Apple sells the most current iPad along with the previous generation iPad at a discount side-by-side, when the fifth-generation iPad comes out, the iPad 5 and iPad 4 will both be on the Retina Display resolution. The iPad 4 is currently sold next to the iPad 2–the iPad 4 is a moderate improvement over the iPad 3 and the release of the iPad 4 was mainly to standardize on the new Lightning connector protocol, so it effectively replaced the iPad 3 and that’s the main reason why Apple is selling the iPad 4 and iPad 2 together and not the iPad 4 and iPad 3 today.

And when the iPad mini 2 comes out with a Retina Display, there will be three iPad models sold simultaneously with a Retina Display. Given the already low starting price–compared to the iPad 4–of the the iPad mini today, it’s unclear if Apple will attempt to price down the iPad mini in the future and sell today’s model alongside the iPad mini 2 when that model debuts. If it doesn’t, then the company’s entire tablet range will be moved to Retina Display.

The move to force developers to support the extended length of the iPhone 5’s display is unsurprising. Given the popularity of the 16:9 aspect ratio with Android manufacturers, Apple’s move to continue with this aspect ratio along with its Retina Display resolution will ensure a good multimedia experience where movies, TV shows, and personally recorded 1080p video files are concerned.

Additionally, Apple is also using the May 1 date to make effective an announcement that was made earlier. Starting on this date, any app or app updates that make use of the iOS device’s UDID will not be accepted any longer, according to 9 to 5 Mac. 

Starting May 1, the App Store will no longer accept new apps or app updates that access UDIDs. Please update your apps and servers to associate users with the Vendor or Advertising identifiers introduced in iOS 6. You can find more details in the UIDevice Class Reference.