Make iphone app ipad compatible - iphone

Question

I have an iPhone/iPod app that I hired a contractor to make. Now I am asking same contractor to support iPad, and the contractor is quoting a ridiculously high price (the BD guy is). I think they know that since they have developed the app, they have some leverage and want to maximize their profit.
Some questions:
Is adding support for iPad mostly a UI job?
Is any coding needed except detecting device type?
Looking at their images/ folder, I can see that for every graphic, they have already made a "2x" version which is double in size. Could it be that they have already created the necessary artwork, as I have told them from the start that iPad support will likely follow the iPhone version?
If I were to use a different contractor now, as it is likely we will not come to a middle ground since we are so far apart in price, what are the things a different contractor would need to do the port?
In particular, I'm wondering if I need to fight to get the raw Photoshop files which contain the graphics, so they can be recreated for iPad, or will going by the eye be good enough? I personally don't mind if the artwork is slightly different.
This certainly makes me think twice about using contractors in the future.

Answer 1

Well here are some answer from my experience:
Yes mostly it just about changing the look of your app. But people are expecting a different user experience on the iPad, so not all view should be full screen for instance.
No most iPhone code will run fine on the iPad, if you are using stuff like UIImagePickerViewController then you need to change the way it is displayed.
NO the #x2 are for retina device NOT for iPad.
Source code and design would do I for me.
Having the original PSD would be nice, but you can do with out.
Just keep in mind that you just can scale up most applications and expect them to become fully excepted by users.

Answer 2

This really depends on the app but there are some differences for iphone and ipad.
Yes, it is mostly an UI job, and depending on screen content, porting one screen can be trivial (just checking if the autoresize functions do their job right), or though - making one from scratch. If your application has lots of complicated screens, I get why the price may be high.
Also - there are some differences in what controllers are available on each device, mostly the popovers or action sheets - that may require different code for each device.
As for the graphics - the 2x resources are actually for the retina capable devices (4th and 5th gen) - most people use them for the iPad too, but as the screen dimensions are not exactly the same, they get warped slightly. In most cases thats ok, but for really high quality, a separate set of graphics may be required.

Answer 3

Take these as generic answers, the complexity of the actual app may affect these answers quite a bit;
1) If the app isn't using any specific functionality on the iPhone that isn't always available on the iPad (GPS for example, or specific camera resolutions for image processing), then yes, it's mostly a UI job. That doesn't mean it's necessarily quick and easy, you may want to change the layout radically for the iPad (that, of course, is up to you though)
2) Most code except UI possibly related code mentioned above should not need much change. Exceptions if any are mostly related to different hardware on different models and depends on the complexity of the application.
3) 2x images are not for iPad, they're for the retina display on iPhone4 and later.
4) Almost impossible to answer without seeing the code or even the app, sorry. If it's a fairly simple application, everything needed should be contained in the XCode project.
5) Up to you, if you want a quick "fix" you may want to resize the 2x images from retina resolution to iPad resolution in Photoshop and use anti aliasing to make them look ok. Your judgement call though. Just check that your deal with the contractor does not give him all the rights to the artwork or you may get into trouble changing/reusing it.

Answer 4

It is. You'll require separate nibs for iPad UI, if you don't want different UI logic, so it's possible to use same view controllers.
View controllers will require logic branches if UI is different. It's mostly checks for user interface idiom though.
#2x versions are for retina display. They will be useful when iPad 3 with retina hits the shelves. Right now, low-res images will be enough for iPad UI.
Different contractor will require the complete code of your project along with all resources...
...so yes, get all the PSDs as well.

Answer 5

First off, I have well over a decade as a professional software engineer working for many clients both small and blue-chip, with broad experience of a variety languages/devices. With that said:
Please remember that the ipad version will need testing on ipad 1, ipad 2 and in a couple of weeks time on an ipad3. Testing takes time. The new version will also need to be tested again on all iphones too.
Also, you mention that this app is a game. The original code might have been coded in such a way as assuming certain screen resolution, and maybe even have hard-coded values throughout the code relating to screen positions etc. Particularly if the coder was not aware of a future ipad requirement. Also supporting ipad 3 might not be an insignificant task if it has x2 graphics depending upon original code and the game engine used (if there is one).
Some apps will cost the same to create an ipad version as the original iphone app.
If your original agreement didn't include IPR over the source you might have difficulty getting it. Some agencies and contractors default to providing source to clients, others charge extra for provision of the source.
Lastly, the contractor might have originally coded the iphone app at a loss, i.e. they might have quoted you and been paid for 3 days work when they actually spent 10 days on it. In which case they might be assuming the worst for the ipad version too.
There are a lot of questions to ask and be answered before you can say they are "trying to rob".