If I want the app to only run on iPhone, then I’d sniff for it on startup, and present an alert (or, more likely, in my case, a screen), saying “iPhone only.” I own a couple of apps that do exactly that (not ones I wrote). There may be a way to provision the app, so it is not even made available on the App Store, for iPads. I don’t know. I’ve never done that. I think I have a couple of phone apps that have never even been made available for my iPads.

But an app like Clubhouse should run fine on iPad. I can’t think of any technical reason it shouldn’t run on iPad.

I have had dealings with extremely low-cost outsourcing shops, though, and they have a nasty habit of giving us exactly what we asked for; nothing more, nothing less. If the spec said “iPhone Only,” then I could see them turning that checkbox off, as it’s cheaper than writing a sniffer.

If someone does a bad job in one place (especially a highly visible place), then I generally assume that I am seeing the tip of the iceberg, and that they do a bad job, everywhere else. It’s been a fairly good assumption, in my experience.

I just feel that a “major buzz” app, like Clubhouse, should not present that iPhone resolution screen. It’s a perfect example of a brand-wrecking footgun.