With the announcement of the new iPhone OS 4.0, Apple modified its iPhone Developer Program License Agreement to:
3.3.1 — Applications may only use Documented APIs in the manner prescribed by Apple and must not use or call any private APIs. Applications must be originally written in Objective-C, C, C++, or JavaScript as executed by the iPhone OS WebKit engine, and only code written in C, C++, and Objective-C may compile and directly link against the Documented APIs (e.g., Applications that link to Documented APIs through an intermediary translation or compatibility layer or tool are prohibited).
Here’s what it means — if you’re developing apps for the iPhone/iPod touch or the iPad, you need to use a very limited set of tools to create applications.
Apple is also effectively restricting tools like Adobe’s Flash CS5 and a handful of other development environments. Currently, developers can use any tool they like to create an iPhone compatible app. That includes Flash CS5. Create once, deploy everywhere.
This is a significant mistake and a frustrating one. But, this isn’t the first time Apple has done this:
- Songs: If you purchase a no copy-restricted song on iTunes, it’s still in a format that can only be played on a handful of devices. Now, if you purchase a song from Amazon’s MP3 store, it’s in MP3 format and can be played on almost all music devices.
- Movies/TV: Purchase a movie from the iTunes store? You can only play it on Apple devices. Purchase a movie from Amazon? You can play it on a number of different devices, including the XBOX.
- Books: Purchase an e-book from Apple? You can only read it on the Apple iPhone or the iPad. Purchase an e-book from Amazon? You can read it on the iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, Kindle and PC/Mac computers.
Apple is absolutely and completely on the wrong side of the developer community. They might be able to restrict Flash on their devices. However, blocking developer tools is a fatal mistake.
If Microsoft isn’t even allowed to install their browser in EU versions, how can Apple restrict development tools? As a consumer and a content creator, I’m glad I don’t have a significant investment — hardware or software in the company.
