As it stands, iOS currently puts a limit on the size of applications you can download over your device’s 3G connection. That limit was once 10 MB, but it currently sits at 20 MB. All rumors point to a Retina display on the next iPad, so we’re looking at double the horizontal and double the vertical resolution. When you’re dealing with assets that are four times the number of pixels, apps that once fit in the 20 MB cap can no longer be downloaded except over Wi-Fi.
Matthew Panzarino at The Next Web points this out:
In order to do so, they will have to include ‘@2x’ graphics. These are image files that have been quadrupled in pixel count in order to display properly on the newer double-resolution iPad 3 screen. If these images were not included, then many of the apps that use custom graphics, like Tweetbot, or Bjango’s Consume 2, would look ‘blurrier’ than they do on the iPad 2. That’s not a huge problem for most developers, as many have actually begun to produce these higher resolution images already, from their original assets. The issue comes when they begin to include them into the apps that they submit to the App Store.
Keep in mind, Apple almost positively doesn’t want to put in caps. Caps make the experience worse for users, and Apple doesn’t like that. The carriers are jerks, however, and inconveniencing customers is one of their favorite pastimes. I’m sure they have some song and dance about how this helps users, but it’s complete nonsense. You pay for your data. You should be in charge of how you use it. Carriers should be dumb pipes that you use for whatever you want, but they hate that. To combat that inevitability, the carriers harass and molest their paying customers as much as possible.
Let’s just hope Apple is able to bump the caps up if not get rid of them entirely. Do you think that will happen? Sound off in the comment section below this post. You don’t even have to make a new account. You can log in with your Facebook and Twitter account, and comment away. Get on it!
Image Credit: wetwebwork
