What you need to know
- Apple's Todd Benjamin has spoken to CNET about the launch of Mac Catalyst.
- Benjamin praised the "amazing" achievements of developers using Catalyst.
- He says Apple is planning to bring additional resources and support.
Apple's Todd Benjamin, macOS product marketing director, has praised the achievements of developer's using Mac Catalyst since its release. In an interview with CNET via MacRumors Benjamin spoke about the launch of Apple's new developer feature, which lets developers quickly port iPad apps to Mac.
Speaking about the thinking behind Catalyst Benjamin said:
"Our vision for Mac Catalyst was always to make it easier for any iPad app developer, big or small, to bring their app to the Mac... This allows them to leverage one codebase and one development team. Mac Catalyst gives iPad app developers a huge head start and for many, an opportunity to expand their reach onto the Mac platform that they may not have had before. Not only is this great for developers, but it's also great for Mac users, who benefit with access to a whole new selection of great app experiences from iPad's vibrant ecosystem."
Whilst the launch hasn't been plain sailing (highly touted Asphalt 9, which was shown at WWDC remains delayed until later this year), Benjamin says that Apple is taking feedback on board and is looking ahead to improving the experience:
"For many of the early Mac Catalyst developers, it was their first time ever developing an app for the Mac, and it's amazing what they've been able to achieve in such a short time... We're learning a ton from these early adopters, and are planning additional resources and support to help them create amazing Mac experiences with Mac Catalyst."
The news comes following mixed reports about the success of Catalyst's launch. CNET notes the triump of Post-It, who were able to get their iPad app running on Mac using Catalyst in less than a day. However PCalc dev James Thomson, speaking to Bloomberg, told Mark Gurman that moving his app to macOS would be a fairly mammoth undertaking, and just wasn't worth the time. That report noted that Thomson was not alone in this experience, and that whilst some useful apps were being created using the feature, Catalyst was going to have to rapidly evolve to be successful.
