On Benefits of Universal Apps
As Steve Jobs and his crew announced newly improved features of Mac OS X Lion and iOS 5, owners of many popular web applications such as Dropbox and Instapaper saw their new competition. Many newly developed functions overlap with some popular apps or web-based apps, concerning developers about their future. However, this is not necessarily detrimental for some universal apps.
Dropbox was a close friend of iOS, allowing the users to access their files and even upload pictures from their iDevices. Now, iCloud challenges them by integrating many iOS and Mac apps such as their iWorks suite or iTunes. Instapaper, a popular offline reading service, allowed many users to comfortably read offline and distraction free on iDevices, especially iPad, or computers. New Safari Reader and Reading List offers the same function.
Will some users abandon Dropbox and Instapaper completely for iCloud and Reading List? Yes. Is the number of lost users significant? No. Two pairs of examples mentioned above occupy slightly different niche. Both Dropbox and Instapaper are universal apps, offering their service to not only iDevices, but also Android, Windows, and Linux. On the other hand, iCloud and Reading List are confined to a specific platform.
I own a Mac, iPhone, and iPad, which enables me to take advantage of iCloud and Reading List. I have no doubt that they will work flawlessly with sleek interface. However, I am not abandoning Dropbox and Instapaper. Dropbox is accessible on multitude of platforms, making it useful when I don't have access to any of my gadgets. Reading List doesn't work if Safari is not the browser of choice. As a Chrome fan, Instapaper will still be valuable to me. This is what I mean by occupying different niche.
Now, I acknowledge that there are iOS apps that provided advanced camera functions, such as exposure control, effects, and grids, that weren't available to the default camera apps and now is going to be dominated by the default Camera app. These developers face a different challenge of coming up with a new invention to fight Apple.
Dropbox and Instapaper will both still be leaders of its field, even after the debut of iCloud because of their flexibility. They are not confined to one platform. Users of Android, Linux, and Windows who cannot take full advantage of iCloud will still welcome Dropbox and Instapaper. Developers, start working on a copy of your application on a different platform. It will help your app prevail and last for a long time, even through a rough competition.
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