App Developers Benefit From The New 100MB Cellular Download Limit

If you are having trouble keeping your app under the 50 MB size limit for over-the-air downloads, the launch of iOS 7 also brings with it some much needed breathing room. Let's take a quick look at why this is important.

People can now download your app while they are away from WiFi, if your app can weigh in at 100 MB or less. This makes it much more likely that they will download your app on an impulse.

If they have to wait until they are on WiFi to download it, chances are very good that they will forget. Even though iOS 7 introduced the Wish List feature so people can save an app for download later, you should not count on that and work to eliminate as many download barriers as possible.

With developers creating universal apps and graphics that look amazing on the Retina display, the download size of an app can ballon quickly. This is especially true for games. For example, Riven is one of the largest apps on the App Store. At a huge 1.09 GB, it will be a long, long time before you can download it via cellular.

As with all limit increases, the apps that stand to benefit the most are the ones that are on the "bubble." Developers that were struggling to keep their apps under 50 MB, and had to resort to downloading assets at runtime, are now free to include those assets, possibly leading to a more streamlined development process.

By the same token, developers who have apps that are just over the 100 MB limit now have an incentive to get their apps under the limit. If you are a developer who wants to reduce your file size, check out our tips for reducing the size of your app.

Conclusion

The increased download limit will help more developers benefit from impulse app downloads. If you have an app that is between 50 MB and slightly over 100 MB, it is time to examine how you can get it under the limit. In case you are interested, the higher limit also affects iTunes, videos, books and music.

Is 100 MB a good limit or do you think it should be higher? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Photo Credit: Cell Tower by razor512 via Flickr CC