Thanks everyone for sharing your feedback on this topic. I’d like to address a couple of points before closing this thread.
License and distribution. While building and developing Blender for iPadOS and iOS does not pose direct challenges to Blender license, distributing the software on the App Store falls more into a grey area.
I am aware of the licensing and distribution challenges involved, but these issues cannot be resolved within the scope of this thread. I have sought legal counsel on this topic in the past, and had conversations with Apple on this topic. It is worth noting that such discussions often involve a chicken-and-egg dilemma, as meaningful conversations about distribution logistics typically require a tangible prototype or proof of concept.
All other distribution channels of Blender remain available, and Blender Foundation follows and enforces the GPL as closely as possible.
Free software values are at the core of the Blender project, while keeping some practical aspects in mind.
Prioritization over Android. Some early community contributions made it possible to kickstart the ios branch before an Android one. There are plans to look into Android later this year. If any developer is interested in helping on that, join the conversation on DevTalk. As mentioned in the blogpost, most development efforts so far have been directed at improving pen input in a platform-independent way.
Prioritization over other projects. It’s clear that more attention must be paid to how the Blender roadmap is presented. Past, ongoing and future projects should be more visible, and more strongly correlated to their requirements and costs. This is something the team is currently working on, and that will be shared soon.
Thanks,
Francesco Siddi
Blender Foundation