

Ask HN: iPad can run my existing apps, so what about app distribution rights? - sh1mmer

If Apple is letting people run apps they bought for their iPhone/iPod touch on their iPad does that mean they could release other platforms which users would automatically get their apps for without giving the developers any more money?<p>For example, could they release an "app emulator" for Mac which let you play your games on the desktop, etc. Most licenses either explicitly license to a person, or a device. Does this mean all apps are licensed to people?<p>Any thoughts/ideas about how the app store licensing actually works?
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jmount
The deal has always been the iTunes store APP runs on all devices synced to
the iTunes account. So a single user can already be running it on a flotilla
of iPhones and iPod Touches.

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jacquesm
This is a similar issue to Journalists writing stuff they retained copyright
on and then saw re-used for other media.

Personally, if I were an iPhone developer (which I'm not) I wouldn't have much
a problem with it, and I'd do my best to release an iPad version with some
extra bells and whistles that only works on the iPad, then give users that buy
both a discount.

Everybody wins like that.

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allenbrunson
Why would this be a problem? If your app costs a certain amount, Apple gives
you your 70 percent cut when anybody buys it, regardless of what device it
runs on.

So the fact that iPhone apps will now run on the iPad as well seems like a
good thing for developers.

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wmf
The issue is: If one customer has an iPhone and an iPad, do they have to buy
two copies of an app or can they buy one copy and install it twice? Do app
developers have any choice about this?

IIRC in the past Apple retroactively changed the terms on music after it had
been sold (usually for the better, so customers didn't complain).

~~~
allenbrunson
Based on my experience with the iPhone and Apple, both as a developer and a
customer, I'd bet a lot of money that a person who has bought an app for their
iPhone will also be able to run it on their iPad without paying for it again.

Right now, I'm paying for two iPhones on one AT&T account, one for me, one for
a friend. If I buy an app from the app store, it will run on both phones
without me having to pay for it twice.

