Compared to our measurements, we have received like a zillion inquiries lately that asked us when an iPad version of Ulysses will be available. First things first, here’s the answer: We have no clue…
This does not sound too promising, I guess, but let me explain. We are having major technical and/or legal problems. All of Ulysses can easily be realized on the iPhone — except one part: Ulysses’ heart. Semantic text editing.
Today I was skimming through a bunch of iPhone mockups on my desktop and rediscovered some old app concepts. They’re mostly minimal in nature, and if we had the time and resources we would just code them up and try to release them on the App Store for free.
Well, we have neither, so I decided to share some of these ideas on this blog rather than trying to catch a new coder and convince him to create non-profit two-minute distractions. ;)
So here I go, first up: The Good Vibe.
The above is a screenshot of a recent build of Ulysses Mobile. The semantic editing depicted here works just as it does in the desktop version — paragraphs get colored automatically based on a prefix.
Problem: It’s a hack. So take it as a proof-of-concept.
We’re quite exited, however.
(it works! it works!)
When I started work on Ulysses Mobile, I wanted to create a stand-alone writing application for the iPhone/iPod touch. It may have had basic compatibility features with its bigger desktop brother, but I didn’t think of a 1:1 port of Ulysses 2.0 to the small screen.
I wanted to create a writing application tailored to the iPhone, and not just an iPhone conversion of a desktop app.
Of course, I also thought it couldn’t be done anyway. Filters, multiple notes, projects, bookmarks, full-fledged semantic editing with markers and stuff — impossible. Add syncing to the mix alongside Ulysses’ (desktop) system of keeping open and saved versions of each document, and you have an untamable beast of complexity; and uselessness.
See, while I strongly believe people want to write larger texts on the iPhone, I also believe nobody wants to wade through 20 different screens just to annotate a certain part of a chapter on his ride home.
One thing to keep in mind when designing an interface for the iPhone: Physical size vs. pixel accuracy.
For the desktop, you can pretty much design an interface based on what you see in Photoshop. If you can barely position your cursor over a button, or if the text is too small to read at 100%, that element really is too small, mind you. If it works at 100%, however, it mostly works for everybody else, even for those crazy types with their 30″ screens.
For the iPhone, however, what you see in Photoshop is almost two times larger than what you will get on the actual device. And to make matter worse, not all fingers are as small, tiny and accurate as that black’n'white arrow pointer we all know and love.
In other words: That iPhone is one damn small device!
Slide to Play says, Apple will be opening up some sort of “Premium Area” in the Games’ section on the AppStore.
I’m not buying it (haha), but if it’s real, it’s certain to stir up some heated debate. After all, it wasn’t EA or Konami or SEGA who made the AppStore into what it is right now — it was the likes of Demiforce and ngcomo, IIRC…
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