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Why isn't there a native iOS App?
- "Due to Apple restrictions, fusing is only available under macOS!". I'm not prepared to buy a Mac device just to port Galaxy Collection to iOS, so unless I can get hold of one otherwise (and then only for the duration that Apple decide to support it), this is a non-starter.
Outside of the EU (with the UK and others soon to follow I hope), where Apple are currently penalising developers for doing otherwise, the only method of native app distribution is the Apple App Store. Unfortunately this app store has a series of rules which make putting apps on it very difficult.
- To release an app on the App Store you must join the Apple Developer Program, which costs £100 a year, which I find to be very restrictive for hobby projects, and more than I'd be prepared to pay. For comparison, Google Play is £25 one-off, Steam is £100 one-off per game
- It appears that no unofficial/3rd party Star Wars apps have been allowed on the App Store, so it might not be possible to get Galaxy Collection to pass App Store review
- The Apple App Store does not allow apps to use the GPL3 (or in this case APGL3) license, which Galaxy Collection uses to ensure its code is only used in other open source projects
It's likely at some point in the near future that Apple will be forced to properly open up iOS to 3rd app party stores and direct distribution (ie sideloading, downloading directly from websites such as GitHub), where they only notarise the software as on macOS for security and privacy (FRAND). I think it's less likely that the App Store will change significantly any time soon. While this would (partially) fix the distribution issues by allowing me to provide download links and explore other stores, it probably would not fix the macOS build restriction. So from what I can see, I don't think Galaxy Collection is going to be released as a native iOS app anytime soon, if ever...
...however, native apps are hardly the only way to run apps on iOS, or any OS for that matter. Preceding the original iPhone by ~17 years is the world's most prolific software distribution system: the Web. Ironically when the first iPhone launched it was designed to only run web apps, and indeed pioneered them. It didn't take long for management to release that there was a lot more control, lock-in, and ultimately money, to be had from pivoting to prioritising native apps. Nevertheless, and after giving EU users/devs a big middle finger before eventually backing down, iOS does still (just about) support web apps. The install button is hidden such that around 6/10 users do not know how to, but it does exist.
Is the web port of GC perfect? No, unfortunately, for a variety of reasons. In many ways it's the fault of Apple, for providing an objectively poor browser engine and web app experience while preventing anyone else doing a better job, all while holding back the platform as much as they can. A masterpiece in anti-competitive-behaviour. As well as this, the unofficial port of Galaxy Collection's game engine causes some of the issues. I have nothing against the project, it's amazing what a few people have done in their spare time to get it working so well, but given the nature of that support it's not surprising that a few things don't work properly. Some of them I have been able to or have plans to work around at least. And finally there's a couple issues caused by the current state of web platform as a whole, such as keyboard/controller navigation and shortcuts which need looking into more, or browser bugs/differences.
Nonetheless, the experience isn't bad and should only get better with the passage of time. Most of the core game functionality is there, so I'd recommend checking it out if you're interested: https://formularsumo.github.io/Galaxy-Collection-Web/ or taking a look at the GitHub repo to find out more about it: https://github.com/FormularSumo/Galaxy-Collection-Web