It was only a matter of time till the serious iPhone
SDK rumors started flying, and with Apple's Town Hall event
next Thursday, it's possible some of what we're hearing is right on. If that's the case, prepare to be letdown in a major way. According to iLounge, Apple will be severely restricting access on software for the iPhone and iPod touch, only allowing apps to be downloaded through iTunes, hand-picking which applications will make it to the store, and cutting off developer's access to accessories which interface with the dock connector. Of course, this is just about what we expected from Steve, since he's already
lauded Nokia for its S60 verification scheme. Additionally, the report claims that the SDK we see next week will be an incomplete beta, with the full version rolling out in June to coincide with the WWDC. Thinking of any good reasons to keep
jailbreaking your phone? Yeah, us too.
[Thanks, Omega]
Update: Here comes the
counter-rumor, which has it that only paid-apps are get hand selected by Apple, while free apps would supposedly be open for download. Not clear whether that means free apps simply wouldn't be offered in iTunes, but it's all just hearsay until Apple tells us what's up later this week.
posted February 29th 2008 11:23AM
Do you know why companies and services like Geek Squad exists? Yes, there are completely oblivious people out there and that's the target consumers Apple is trying to protect. You have to remember that Apple has to deal with customer service themselves, in the event that an iPhone bricks for whatever reason. It is unfortunate for us end-users who are more tech-literate and can troubleshoot ourselves, but there are much more illiterate end-users out there.
"Apple will be severely restricting access on software for the ... iPod touch." Um, Why? Oh, Right.
Skype for IPhone? Don't hold your breath but let's hope so.
I WILL be keeping my 1.1.3 right where it is, it's perfect for me, however I do understand a bit why they may do this, look at the Palm phones. They may run great out of the box, (maybe!!!!) but after you start adding 3rd party stuff it starts to crash, become unstable, lock up etc. A lot of the 3rd party apps conflict with one another. I'm not touching or upgrading my iPhone, it's right where I want it!
Faslane
What bullhockey ! Download through iTunes ? Lauding Nokia on their S60 anti-individual software development stance ? For all his smarts, Steve Jobs can sometimes really be dolt ! ( or at minimum allow himself to be swayed dolts within Apple ).
Nothing good can come of this folks.....
Unlock the iPhone, un-shackle it from iTunes to download software, and THEN watch how many of'm you can sell Apple....and sell QUALITY software for them. The "fringe" kookie software will always be around. It's, of course, the fear of "viruses" invading their sweet product that they're afraid of allowing because of their "corporate customer" aspirations.
Get real....if some silly script kiddy tried to mess with the the uber-iCON that the iPhone is by releasing a virus for it ( not bloodly likely ), they'd have a veritable legion of software developers descend upon them like harpies. ( Cue Wagner - Flight of the Valkyries ).
When I first read this, I was pretty ticked. Then I kept reading. Then I kept looking for a 3P app that I REALLY gave 2 &^%$@ about.. and didnt' find one.
I have used the Palm OS phones...
I have used the WM OS phones...
I have used the BB..
I was given an iPhone so I left the BB (favorite of the top 3).
I got ticked that I couldnt' run native apps w/o hacking and went BACK to the BB.
Then... I went back to the iPhone and I can't think of a phone I would want to use other than the iPhone right now. I have access to just about any phone I want if I REALLY want to try it out and I am not leaving the iPhone.
Does it have 3G? Nope.. Do I need this 80% of the time? Nope
Does it have true push BB-like email? Nope Is it dzamn close (within a few minutes) of my BB? Yup. So I have to wait 3 minutes to get my email versus 1 minute.. wow, what a trade off.
I love this thread as I am now at peace about not modding/hacking. I wasn't sure but I am getting over 90% of what I want from my iPhone and while that is not everything it is a MUCH higher % than any other phone I use.
.. lack of stability (yes YOU WM OS) takes points away... A Swiss Army knife that is dull as $%&^ is a *&^%$ Swiss Army Knife IMO.
Folks just need to chill.
Now when that Garmin Nuvi phone comes out.......
I'd love open development just as much as everyone else, but why single out Apple when MICROSOFT, SONY, and NINTENDO have been imposing similar control of their game consoles for years!
The iPhone is a game consonl? Wow, did not know that.
Who cares, everything Apple makes is dorky anyway. Too expensive, poorly made, not durable, not flexible, questionable performance. Why would anyone by a Mac or anything else made by Apple? Stupid name for a company.
Long live the PC, Real DAP's such as Archos and genuine smartphone such as Blackberrys'
Or.. rather than the rumours, you can go directly to the horse's mouth. This is from the Wall Street Journal interview with Jobs 11 Jan 2007 - around the time of the official announcement of the iPhone at MacWorld 2007:
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"We define everything that is on the phone," he said. "You don’t want your phone to be like a PC. The last thing you want is to have loaded three apps on your phone and then you go to make a call and it doesn’t work anymore. These are more like iPods than they are like computers."
The iPhone, he insisted, would not look like the rest of the wireless industry.
"These are devices that need to work, and you can’t do that if you load any software on them," he said. "That doesn’t mean there’s not going to be software to buy that you can load on them coming from us. It doesn’t mean we have to write it all, but it means it has to be more of a controlled environment."
---
I can't the quote - I could have sworn it was in the actual MacWorld 2007 Keynote, but it might have been at D5, where Jobs essentially says that there's room for developers to "write applications FOR Apple".
So far, nothing that's happened has given any indication that this attitude has changed. Perhaps we'll be surprised - but I wouldn't be betting the farm on an iPhone SDK that's anything like what Microsoft has for Windows Mobile, nor tools like eVC/eVB (which aren't really widely used anymore) or .Net CF on Visual Studio (which, BTW, lets you build safe applications in a managed environment that really can't crash the phone anymore, contrary to what Jobs thinks...)
Apple will test the submitted software, stamp it with approve/disapprove, and the approved stuff goes to iTunes.
Not only does this improve the solidity of the iPhone as a whole, but can also help the software developer fine-tune their applications for future use. (If, indeed, this is the process).
I'm not an iPhone user, but I understand the lock-down. There are alternatives (coming), including Android and OpenMoko.
As long as you know what you're getting, I have no issues with their process.
Why so many stories about the iPhone? Here in the UK we are swamped by adverts by O2 for the iPhone. Honest, O2 have run more TV adverts for the iPhone than any other product I can remember and guess what...they've not even sold the 200K target they set for Dec 07!
Ever heard of Palm? Ahhh, never mind. I apologize.
isnt this what kept apple down while windows wiped them out? As far as I can remeber, there was awesome hardware with no software.
Er..if I buy a phone, with my money, my phone, which actually is a computer, then I want to do with it what I want. It's my phone not Apple's. I want choice, I did not pay for a rental of the phone!
This is just too sad. And they say MS is the guy that always locks down their users.
I think I might switch back to my WinMo phone after this. There was never a problem with my WinMo phone in the first place, I just wanted something flashy to show off. Maybe I made the wrong choice...
Man, when will Microsoft ever learn? Oh, this is a story about Apple? This is a great decision!
Call me cynical but sounds like just another Apple money grab.
I don't mind that they are certifying applications to be stable on their system or that they are offering them for download on itunes.
What will really sit badly for me is if all apps are done this way simply for the purpose of obtaining royalties from app developers and restricting the software choices. If they allow open source developers that are 'approved' by Apple's standards to distribute their apps via tunes like podcasts then Apple could be on a winner. I SERIOUS DOUBT IT THO.
Lately all Apple has been about is less to do with what its customers want and all about, WHERE IS THE CASH?!!
Hmm so no GPS add-on for the car. That's unfortunate. Screw you apple.
Sigh... Job, you're still stupid and do not understand why Nokia has succeeded so well. Not allowing freewares and open source developers like this is stupid.
Here is my guess (and i wonder, why i have not seen this one frequently in all the roumor boards):
The iPhone SDK is going to be a special iPhone variant of Adobe AIR (look at the coincidence: announced for end of february, WebKit based, meant to deploy sandboxed applikations locally...).
They are going to include some iPhone special features like an 'onTilt()' or 'onSwipe()' eventhandlers and methods like 'getGeoLocation()' plus application-local filestore. But there won't be any low level network api because allowing you to create your own VOIP client is not really apples idea of a good time.
For low level networking or general filesystem access you will need binary plugins into AIR which Apple will guard very closely - probably including a costly source review followed by a costly digital signature by apple. This will effectively only be available to the big players.
want to bet?
okay well to all of you guys calling the jailbreak apps "ridiculous" I have this to say:
1. They are apps developed and offered for free.
2. Many of them are betas or prototypes still under development.
3. You are wrong.
I have the greatest apps on my phone. You just need to learn where to look. Get more sources. I have 3d games on my iPhone. And many useful apps like themes. My phone looks like its running vista. I can control my PC through my iPhone. I can edit files, view microsoft Xcel files, right microsoft word documents, share files with other iPhones or desktops, gba emulator, nes emulator, play guitar hero 3, an actual IMimg client that alerts me when i have an IM and shows up like an Sms alert, Multimedia Text messaging, and even a safri pluggin that lets me download any fileon the web.I can go on forever. I'm not beeing rude or anything so I hope no one is offended. I'm just saying if you were dissappointed with your jailbreak, look again. You can find great sources online. Google is a wonderful place. Just find GOOD ssources and I guarantee you that you will fall in love with your iPhone.