I have an existing iPhone app and it seems that a significant proportion of my users these days are running it on iPad (I can tell because a lot of the emails I get from users have a “sent from my iPad” signature).
I am now implementing the iPad version and I’m doing it from the same code base, which is convenient to do. But when I’m done, I wonder if I should actually release it as a universal app. I could instead upload it as a separate, brand new iPad-only app.
If I make it universal:
- ✓ My existing iPad users will be delighted when they update and suddenly see iPad support.
- ✓ I benefit from existing ranking/traffic to my app, won’t have to build it up from scratch.
- ✗ My iPhone users will see an update for nothing.
- ✗ User ratings might get confusing as the two versions are quite different
If I make them two separate apps:
- ✓ I can set different pricing for iPhone and iPad
- ✗ Existing users of my iPhone app who are on iPad won’t know there’s a new version for them. And if they discover it, having to migrate their data will annoy them. As will paying once more for it.
Am I missing any other tradeoffs that may help decide which route to take? Does anyone have experience to share from taking either route?
I saw an interesting blog post (below) where it shows that you dilute your download rank on iTunes if you have separate apps.
http://www.cocoanetics.com/2011/05/to-universal-or-not/