I'd settle for Chrome. I know Amazon, despite being "frupid" in so many ways, takes the time to address it. They had a whole framework too: submit url, get screenshot across multiple devices and sizes.
Yes, but having to have iOS 27 means all those devs have iOS 27, which makes backwards compatibility for the dev tools something they can drop more aggressively than features for the general public.
Yeah this caught my eye too. I can't imagine any technical reason why a Mac works but a windows/Linux computer wouldn't work. Tbh this is the side of Apple I dislike the most - restricting things without any good reason.
And especially if you look at small organizations without much funding that use old PCs (or just have crappy IT departments)... it's disappointing. This kind of restriction won't stop a billion dollar LiveNation, but it absolutely could affect the local library or cafe.
I agree, it's just freaking ironic how it was Jobs who said that "if you don't cannibalize your own products, others will"... and then you have such restrictions for eg on iPadOS software that really push you to a Mac for any "proper" compute...
Very likely they might use some common frameworks that are shared between macOS, iOS, and watchOS to design (e.g. SwiftUI) and writing the whole stack for non-Apple platforms simply wouldn't make sense.
Understandable and quite possible, however that seems like a relatively lazy thing for Apple to do.
I'm not entirely sure what's the use case for most of these cards, but I'd hardly be surprised if this kind of decision didn't affect usability and accessibility for a lot of iPhone users, just because their venue guys don't have a mac.
And it's not like apple doesn't have the resources to make this software run across different types of computers. Iirc itunes and bonjour are (still?) very much developed by Apple for windows.
They have the resources. They don’t care. Same reason it doesn’t work on older versions, they don’t care.
Honestly in this case I don’t blame them. This is a niche little app. It’s great it’s available but it’s not going to drive sales. Spending the time and money to make it work on Windows isn’t going to move enough needles to pay for the development time, QA, and support.
Not having to make it work on older versions of macOS also saves time and money. Everyone upgrades eventually. Just wait them out and the users will be ready one day.
> Yeah this caught my eye too. I can't imagine any technical reason why a Mac works but a windows/Linux computer wouldn't work.
Parent meant the macOS version restriction.
Why it's not for Windows/Linux is obvious. Unless it's to give Windows users access to some cross platform service or hardware (like the iPod used to be), it's not Apple's job to make software for other platforms. They're not a company making general business software like Adobe or MS.
This is to interface with macOS only Apple Wallet anyway.
Apple has several web apps, including tv.apple.com, podcasts.apple.com, maps.apple.com, icloud.com, music.apple.com, apps.apple.com, account.apple.com, card.apple.com, privacy.apple.com, reportaproblem.apple.com.... not to mention business oriented ones too.
Ah thanks, I didn't realise Macos 27 is a new version.
Ironically though, I think it's kinda the same thing? Apple software is first class if you follow their rules - including having Apple hardware, being on the latest version, and so on. It's still a nice and pretty walled garden of Eden.
Knowing Apple it’s almost certainly to have verifiable (locally generated) crypto signatures for the QR/Bar codes so people can’t make their own forgeries from screenshots
Apple has a habit of extracting any shared code between apps into an OS lib, and this is actually often easier to develop on internally than hosting shared deps elsewhere because all devs are constantly updating to the latest nightly OS release and therefore constantly getting the latest version of everyone else's libs.
The result is that it's basically impossible to write new code without it having hard dependencies on the newest OS! Kinda sucks for the outside world though.
It’s nice to target the most recent version so you can use all the latest APIs. Most developers would prefer to do that, but it’s usually more important to support users who haven’t upgraded. In this case they may not care too much about people who haven’t upgraded.
rock_artist · · focus · HN ↗
Interesting if this is due to concrete reason or not.
briandw · · focus · HN ↗
NBJack · · focus · HN ↗
Honestly, this "app" is at best an interactive picture template with text and metadata.
The real question is, why is something this simple not just part of Apple's website?
MBCook · · focus · HN ↗
user_7832 · · focus · HN ↗
If browsers changed that much so suddenly, a lot more people would have big problems.
NBJack · · focus · HN ↗
ceejayoz · · focus · HN ↗
eptcyka · · focus · HN ↗
ceejayoz · · focus · HN ↗
user_7832 · · focus · HN ↗
And especially if you look at small organizations without much funding that use old PCs (or just have crappy IT departments)... it's disappointing. This kind of restriction won't stop a billion dollar LiveNation, but it absolutely could affect the local library or cafe.
callc · · focus · HN ↗
A feature, not a bug!
You need to be super up to date to be involved! Have all the devices!
user_7832 · · focus · HN ↗
can16358p · · focus · HN ↗
user_7832 · · focus · HN ↗
I'm not entirely sure what's the use case for most of these cards, but I'd hardly be surprised if this kind of decision didn't affect usability and accessibility for a lot of iPhone users, just because their venue guys don't have a mac.
And it's not like apple doesn't have the resources to make this software run across different types of computers. Iirc itunes and bonjour are (still?) very much developed by Apple for windows.
NamlchakKhandro · · focus · HN ↗
They want you to buy a mac.
This is step one drug dealer tactic
MBCook · · focus · HN ↗
Honestly in this case I don’t blame them. This is a niche little app. It’s great it’s available but it’s not going to drive sales. Spending the time and money to make it work on Windows isn’t going to move enough needles to pay for the development time, QA, and support.
Not having to make it work on older versions of macOS also saves time and money. Everyone upgrades eventually. Just wait them out and the users will be ready one day.
coldtea · · focus · HN ↗
Parent meant the macOS version restriction.
Why it's not for Windows/Linux is obvious. Unless it's to give Windows users access to some cross platform service or hardware (like the iPod used to be), it's not Apple's job to make software for other platforms. They're not a company making general business software like Adobe or MS.
This is to interface with macOS only Apple Wallet anyway.
andrewshadura · · focus · HN ↗
mulderc · · focus · HN ↗
MBCook · · focus · HN ↗
Apple would NEVER EVER do that.
Others already have. But Apple wouldn’t.
juiceland · · focus · HN ↗
user_7832 · · focus · HN ↗
Ah thanks, I didn't realise Macos 27 is a new version.
Ironically though, I think it's kinda the same thing? Apple software is first class if you follow their rules - including having Apple hardware, being on the latest version, and so on. It's still a nice and pretty walled garden of Eden.
GeekyBear · · focus · HN ↗
If you want to create a custom pass for your business, just rent access to a Mac online, if you don't want to buy one.
user_7832 · · focus · HN ↗
> just rent access to a Mac online
The friendly librarian/community centre person sure as hell isn't going to be aware that that's an option.
GeekyBear · · focus · HN ↗
That has never been something Apple does.
AndrewKemendo · · focus · HN ↗
ladberg · · focus · HN ↗
The result is that it's basically impossible to write new code without it having hard dependencies on the newest OS! Kinda sucks for the outside world though.
wat10000 · · focus · HN ↗