When Apple released the iPad, iOS developers had a choice.

While touting the ability to run "almost all of the over 140,000 apps on the App Store, including apps already purchased for your iPhone or iPod touch," Apple clearly wanted its tablet to inspire developers to create bigger and better interfaces that took advantage of all 9.7 inches.

For most developers, the decision wasn't a difficult one. Once they saw how terrible all those pixel-doubled iPhone apps looked, the iPad section of the iOS store began to grow in leaps and bounds. The larger screen spawned a whole new class of mobile app, dramatic, bold designs that encouraged the use of all 10 fingers (well, 8 of them, anyway).

But things are a little trickier with the mini. Even tablet-only apps like Paper by FiftyThree--a gorgeous digital sketchbook that just wouldn't work on the iPhone--aren't necessarily constrained on the mini, and any design tweaks aren't as obvious as they were with the original iPad.

Apps like Weather Dial could thrive with the 7.9-inch sweet spot.

"We are certainly looking at the iPad mini and how to make our user experience even better," said Paper CEO and co-founder Georg Petschnigg. "We think its form factor and its increased mobility will let people create more and in more places."

Mike Swanson of Juicy Bits, creator of Layout and Halftone, shares a similar sentiment: "When the mini arrived, I immediately installed and tested all current Juicy Bits apps to make sure that they performed as-expected, especially with the smaller touch targets. We've followed Apple's Human Interface Guidelines, and as a result, the apps perform very well on the smaller device. Thankfully, there's nothing that needs to change in our existing apps, so there has been no impact to future development plans."

So, perhaps we shouldn't be too surprised that Apple hasn't opened an iPad mini section of the App Store yet. After all, the mini was deliberately designed with the same screen resolution as the iPad so as to eliminate any headaches.

And developers, it seems, are quite appreciative. Rather than rush to support a new size, they can take their time with the mini, carefully considering all options before pushing out a specialized version of their app, if there's a need for one at all.

"Apple did a great thing for developers with the iPad mini. They made a more portable device, but kept the aspect ratio and resolution exactly the same as one of their existing supported sizes, said Jamie Hull, product manager for Evernote's web and iOS divisions. "This meant that our redesign worked on the iPad mini from the get-go, without having to completely change the layout."

But if iPad developers aren't jumping at the prospect of mini apps, at least one iPhone developer is. David Elgena, creator of the elegant Weather Dial (formerly WTHR), sees Apple's tiny tablet as something of a godsend.

"Pre-iPad mini, I was running into design issues since it was such a jump in size from the iPhone to the iPad. I kept visualizing people holding the giant iPad with two hands and this gigantic Weather Dial in the middle. It just felt absurd. The iPad mini's new size creates the perfect canvas for apps. Just the right amount of space."

Time will tell, but Elgena may be on to something. The iPad mini won't spur the same app innovations as the full-sized tablet, but there is definitely potential for growth in the space between it and the iPhone.

The mini may be far closer in screen size to the iPad than the iPhone, but there's a certain simpatico it shares with its baby cousin. The ergonomics of the mini lend to a different operation than the iPad; just because things look nice doesn't necessarily mean the experience will be the same.

"A user is going to interact differently with a device they can hold with one hand and a device that often requires two," Elgena said. "Since Weather Dial was originally designed for a one-hand experience on the iPhone, it makes a lot more sense migrating the design to the iPad mini where the user will have a similar experience."