If you are going to update your app for the iPhone 5...

... don't do what Zynga did with Words With Friends and just add two useless lines of padding.

Comments

[Todd Sherman]

OK, I don't want to defend them but I sure understand. For my game Farkle Dice I am getting requests to fill the screen on the new iPhone. We will most likely do a quick fix like Zynga and simply make the background larger. Why would we do this? Because we are knee deep on working on a new game and taking the time today to add features to Farkle Dice is a lower priority. Later we will take full advantage of the extra area and provide additional information about the game, such as rolling odds or stats about farkling.

Let me identify the main problem. Apple keeps their phone release updates a secret. It puts every developer in a reactive mode. Here is how we react.

1. We see the announcement of a new phone.
2. We buy a new phone at full retail price $$$$$.
3. Then we update our apps and test on the new phone and make sure all is well on the old phones. More $$$$$.

All in all, I bet Zynga will put another update out, I know we plan to take advantage of the extra screen area. If I was Zynga I would put some history in that section or show last chat message.

[Shaun]

Thanks Todd- good to hear a developers point of view.