Hey plugin developers! There have been plenty of goodies that have appears in the Plugin Market - it's really awesome and I'm always willing to support your work by purchasing these plugins! I just have a quick query regarding the "iPad compatibility" of these plugins. A good portion only support iPhone devices with limited iPad support (tends to look "ugly" on the iPad). Basically, why is this the case? I've been trying to get my mind around creating iPad XIB files from iPhone XIB files, but I can't seem to figure it out. Is it just as challenging for you plugin developers, hence the reason iPad support (XIB files) is missing? I don't mean to come off as obnoxious, I just really want to understand the reasoning behind it. Typically, when I see a plugin for iOS, I assume that it would work for both devices (iPhone/iPad). Just seems like the latest plugins lack the iPad support whereas previous plugins supported both devices. Does this have to do with the nature of the plugin (i.e. games)? Once again, this is really just a question I've been wondering as I've kinda put off purchasing plugins with just iPhone support at the moment since I can't figure out how to create iPad XIB equivalents. Maybe that would be a great "How To's" guide to create for Buzztouch! Thanks for hearing me out. :) Nicholas

I usually try to make mine iPad compatible as well. It's not really that difficult. If you have a XIB file for iPhone, simply create a new XIB file, call it the same thing but with the ~ipad designation (like "CR_myPlugin~ipad.xib"), and then add in the same elements and connect it up. When I do this, I generally highlight all the fields from the iPhone xib file, copy them to the clipboard, then paste them into the iPad xib file and move them where I need them. Takes only a couple of minutes.

@chris1: Thanks for the tip, Chris! @GraciousWolf_PE: A very interesting question, Nicholas! I'm not a developer... I don't have the answer! But it's something I noticed too! Maybe the answer is: 'I didn't think about it...' But, on our non-developer side, all we can do is NOT put off purchasing plugins, but go on purchasing, test, check their shortages... and give enhancement ideas! On my code-hater side, that's all I can do. And I do, I can tell you! Suggest. Developers want to develop the best plugins in the world. We want the best plugins in the world. It's just a win-win situation. ;-) Cheers Jack

Hey GraciousWolf_PE, I've only got 2 plugins, but just want to chime in on my personal reasoning. Also, I always put "iPhone Only" in my app description, so people don't get confused when they see iOS. My main reason for doing iPhone only is my Xcode and objective C skills are still not up to par with what they should be. I can stumble my way through existing code, modify as I need to in order to achieve the result I usually want, but writing it from scratch is pretty difficult for me. The iPad compatible plugins use different XIB files for the ipad, and although probably a simple task for most coders, I struggle with it. It's not the XIB itself, because it's just like the iphone, but getting everything to automatically stretch and fit the right sizes and places has given me difficulties in the past. I fully intend on going back and releasing updates with ipad XIB files included once I get my head fully around the process. Also, if anyone buys my plugin and creates an XIB for it for ipad for their own use, I'll leave a standing offer on the table for any other plugin of mine free of charge if they want to email me the modified code for me to include in an update. :) I also know a lot of plugin publishers use open source code and simply convert it for use with buzztouch, so it might be more of a matter of them simply converting over what is there and simply not wanting to add the extra files... not sure.

It isn't hard to make a plugin work for iPad as well as the iPhone. Maybe we can cover this in an upcoming developer training. It would be better to make plugins that work for iPads as well as iPhones, as most plugins work on both. Of course it is ok to make plugins for iPhone only, as long as it is clearly marked. I would put it in the shortDescription, so it is easy for the buyer to see.

Guys a real simple way is as follows: 1) Make a duplicate of eg myplugin.xib in the folder where is exists, 2) Change name of duplicate to myplugin~ipad.xib 4) Make sure it shows in your project within xCode, if not copy it in 3) Now in Xcode resize everything starting with main view frame size etc on myplugin~ipad.xib 4) Test and your are done. 5) Watch the plugin downloads rise :) As I said if I am able to do it, anyone can :) KB

Hey everyone, Thanks for the engaging conversation and for providing such insight into the matter! Since I'm not on the developer side of things, I wasn't aware over how "easy" or "hard" creating iPad compatible plugins would be. I suppose part of it, as with anything, depends on the experience of the developer as well, which is perfectly fair! ;) As a non-developer, I've been trying to get the iPad XIB files to work. I've been trying for the past few days to get it working. So I just wanted to inquire whether it may be easier for the plugin developers to develop plugins for iPad devices as well than the average Joe (me being the Joe!). :) Thanks again for the info and I'll keep on trying in the meantime! Nicholas

I haven't seen Rotation, Constraints or Intrinsic Size mentioned in any of this thread... Those are huge factors in really making a iPad view look correct. It's easy to make the iPad view, but iPads almost always allow for rotations and trying to work with with Auto Layouts and Constraints and where your elements move when you rotate the device is a whole new UI learning experience. I still marvel at the NAD Advanced Quiz and how much code he built in to handle Auto Layout with just code. Really an amazing accomplishment.

Yeah - handling rotations is a major pain for sure. Personally I think it's easier to do with code than via interface builder.