Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Computing
  3. News

Apple reportedly prepares a universal app framework between iOS and MacOS

By

Apple companies header
Josh Edelson/Getty Images
In recent years, Microsoft has pushed its Universal Windows Platform in an effort to make it easier for developers to reach the breadth of its ecosystem with the same software. Now, it seems that Apple is planning a similar program covering both iOS and MacOS.

As it stands, the Mac’s App Store is an offshoot of the storefront used on iPads and iPhones, providing a different selection of apps in a familiar setting. Going forward, Apple wants to give developers the ability to create software that supports both touchscreen interfaces and the mouse and keyboard.

Recommended Videos

Currently, anyone looking to release a project across MacOS and iOS has to design two completely apps that cater to each platform’s unique traits. Apple wants to remove this constraint and could have the necessary framework in place early next year, according to Bloomberg.

Related

This would provide a significant boost to the Mac App Store, which is typically underserved when compared to its iOS equivalent. If developers were able to issue the same updates across the board, there would be no reason for MacOS apps to lag behind their mobile counterparts.

Apple is targeting the next versions of iOS and MacOS for the rollout of this new initiative, which has been dubbed “Marzipan” internally. It could be announced at WWDC 2018 in June, but at this point the company’s plans are malleable enough that this timeline could be altered, or the entire project could be scrapped entirely.

The most obvious benefit here is the fact that MacOS could potentially gain access to a wide variety of apps that are currently only available on iOS. It’s easy to see why this is an attractive concept, but the execution of such an idea is of the utmost importance.

Many Universal Windows Platform apps have been criticized because they feel like mobile software running on hardware that it was never designed to support. The key here will be Apple’s efforts to translate touch interfaces to the mouse and keyboard — if interacting with the software feels awkward, users won’t be interested, and developers will have no reason to take advantage of the program.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Brad Jones
Brad Jones
Contributor
Brad is an English-born writer currently splitting his time between Edinburgh and Pennsylvania. You can find him on Twitter…
iMac 27-inch: Everything we know about Apple’s larger, more powerful iMac
Apple iMac Pro News

When Apple killed off the iMac Pro and then completely removed the 27-inch iMac from its online store, we thought that was the end of the road for the larger all-in-one computer. Right now, Apple only sells one size of iMac: the smaller 24-inch version. But what about that gaping hole in the iMac lineup previously occupied by the 27-inch model?

It could be that Apple decides to leave this device dead and buried and instead hopes that the Mac Studio and Studio Display scratch that itch -- that's certainly what sources at 9to5Mac have contended. But there are tantalizing clues that Apple is considering offering a larger iMac with a greater level of performance than the 24-inch iMac. Regardless of whether this is branded an iMac Pro or an iMac, here's everything we know about the next high-end all-in-one from Apple.
Price and release date

Read more
Have an iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch? You need to update it right now
iPhone 14 Pro Max against a red background.

If you own an Apple product — be in the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, or a Mac — you should update it immediately. Why? Apple has begun rolling out updates to all of its devices with fixes for a serious security vulnerability.

The security vulnerability is known as CVE-2023-32434, and it has to do with the kernel privileges of Apple devices. Per Apple's website, the vulnerability allows third-party apps to "execute arbitrary code." In other words, if a bad actor knows how to exploit this vulnerability, they could potentially gain access to your Apple device and wreck havoc.

Read more
Apple may soon eliminate the notch from your Mac and iPhone
An Apple MacBook laptop with the macOS Ventura background wallpaper and the notch seen at the top of the display.

So many Apple devices have the divisive notch cutout these days that the feature has almost become its own brand, yet it continues to stir disapproving glances and attempts to hide it wherever it's seen. Apple could now be on the brink of eliminating it for good.

That’s because the company recently filed a patent in Europe outlining how future Apple devices, from Macs to iPhones, could do away with the notch once and for all, giving you a borderless experience that’s unbroken around the screen. It’s a grand idea, and Apple thinks it knows how to make it work.

Read more