Apple's iPhone lockdown: apps must be written in one of three languages, Adobe in the hurt locker
By Chris Ziegler 
posted April 8th 2010 10:59PM
posted April 8th 2010 10:59PM
Apple's already got a veritable novella describing things you can't do with the iPhone as a developer -- create apps that execute their own code is the biggie, obviously, blocking technologies Flash and Java in the absence of a loophole -- but it seems they've locked down the ecosystem just a little further today with the release of the iPhone OS 4 beta SDK. Check out this snippet from the developer's agreement:What does that mean, exactly? Well, it means that technologies like Adobe's iPhone compiler in Flash CS5 won't be allowed, simply because the source code of the app that you're writing isn't in a language Apple's comfortable with. The compiler had been seen as a potential boon for Flash devs that had already been blocked out of the iPhone ecosystem for lack of a true Flash player, but Apple's found a way to block even this workaround -- technically you don't need to be using Apple's own tools, but you've got be using one of three variants of a single programming language. It's hard to say why Apple cares, exactly, but we suspect that the company would have to analyze your app pretty closely to detect variances in how the compiler produced your machine code in order to determine that you'd violated the rule.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).
This could be a blow to publishers -- Condé Nast included -- who'd been banking on Adobe Air to lead the digital push, since those guys presumably won't be able to bring their issues to the iPhone (and, more importantly, the iPad) without violating the terms of Apple's agreement. Protectionism is a core element of the iPhone's success, in Apple's view -- but ultimately, this might come out as a decision that's difficult to defend, unnecessarily sours publishers to the platform, and turns Flash devs' heads just a little grayer than they already were.
When I first read the topic I thought: English, French...and what other language?
Well, part of this is forcing developers for iPhones to have to work on a mac. It is a move to sell more of their laptop/desktop computers as well.
The Adobe packager not only allows a developer to create an app for Apple, but a smart developer can compile it for Flash on Android, Flash for the desktop, etc... Code once - distribute many.
So much for "Think Different"
Too little too late for all the "adobe just leave the marriage" bit. They've got kids together. A whole lot of em!
Great idea keep Flash off of my phone. Who needs old useless technology anyway.
@szamot thats my exact reasoning for dumping my iPhone and getting an EVO or HD3 (which i hope is released this year)
@SteveyAyo ... good luck with that, let me know how it goes for you... In the mean time can I send you a string and a couple of cans.. Unfortunately for some of us a phone is a work tool not a toy. Being that as it may I prefer to use what I deem is the best on the market... It is that simple.
Great link that sums up just about every debate on Engadget comment sections.
http://www.collegehumor.com/article:1803025
@Motlee LOL. nice
I'm kind of mad I still can't write anything for iPhones or iPads with Ruby or Python.
I feel like they would definitely have a performance concern with interpreted languages, but... their syntax is just so sexy.
A man can dream, right?
@eipxen Agreed; I love Ruby & Python!
@HighestRanked2 Ignorant troll X 2.
I"m out. Sorry Apple. I've said it a dozen times, I'm moving to winmo or android for my next phone. Apple will continue to be successful, but just without me handing them money.
I don't understand this Flash argument. Personally I think when Adobe bought Macromedia they wrecked Dreamweaver and the rest of them - that was a shame. Now they are crying that Apple is not playing nice. Well screw you Adobe.
So let's say Apple builds this great race track and anyone can come and play as long as they fit requirements set out by the race track. We all bring all Ferrari, and Lambos and Bugatti, oh but wait here comes Adobe on a moped.... Of course they can't play why would we want them to. This is what is happening, they think that by crying they can get enough sympathy vote and Apple will let them in. Sorry guys all sympathy vote is saved for the shitty movies at the Oscars, so you have to find yourself another way.
Anyway, Adobe is a big loser crying foul which is very typical, no one cried when 8 Track died no one will cry when they do. IF you can't compete change your business model, if you can't go home and cry.
Losers always cry about doing their best, while Apple goes home to fuck the prom queen. Get used to it boys.
@szamot The problem is that HTML5 is the moped and Flash/Silverlight/etc.. are the high performance race cars.
Sorry to burst your bubble, but HTML5 does not hold a candle to the feature set and performance of the rich-media plugins. If HTML could do all Flash could do, no one would use it. It gets used because it offers more than just "video playback."
Apple spreads outright lies. They do it in their ads. They do it in their press. They do it over and over. I think they have great hardware designers, good looking products. But the Apple corporate head lies to the consumer.
The big problem is, you are an example of one of the people that has bought into the Flash lie.
If Apple would have offered an open source alternative (let's call it HTML6) that completely replaced the entire Flash featureset AND somehow made it playable on all browsers (instead of HTML5's very minor marketshare), I'd have my development teams switch overnight and we would sell every client on it.
But that didn't happen. And this is just a dick move to prevent developers from using a cross-platform compiler to develop apps for the iPhone, Android, and WinPho7 platforms simultaneously using one codebase. Basically, it is a "if you want to play with me, I'm going to make it hard to play with anyone else"
@Anatidae So how exactly do we switch from Flash? Wait until HTML5 becomes good enough or until some HTML6 appears? This will happen after years and years, because everybody is using Flash.
But many don't like it. So how do we switch?
@Anatidae What it boils down to is this: With Microsoft's Silverlight nipping at Adobe's heels with its ability to easily integrate video and audio and manipulate graphics, Adobe needs to reevaluate its strategy in the War for the web if it wants to gain ground. But historical evidence suggests it won't.
Therefore, Flash is unlikely to ever "win" the war of the Web application. The technology will continue to maintain its entrenched position at the apex of Adobe's hill, while the rest of the combatants go around them and continue to pick up more troops.
..perhaps that's said better than I could but it is just that. Instead of trying to win developers they are sitting and crying about it. Who wants to play with a cry baby...? Not me.
@Atkins Well I think that when Apple sells about million or 2 of these iPads people will take notice and start switching in a hurry.I don't think any large company can take either iphone/ipad/ipod for granted not with 100 million units out in the field in the users hands. Of course it is hard to give up the comfort of your high horse like Adobe but much like every other Empire, eventually they all fall.
@HighestRanked2
apple is a greedy corporation...
@HighestRanked2 Yes, Apple is promoting open standards that's exactly why developers can develop iPhone applications on Windows and Linux. Yeah exactly they can't, as far as I'm concerned Adobe was promoting more of an open standard by allowing people who don't own Macs to develop for the iPhone. You talk about Flash dying but you have to realize that HTML 5 has a long way to go before it kicks out Flash.
@xconan There are not-greedy corporations?
@MatthewA "HTML 5 has a long way to go before it kicks out Flash"
And it will be much longer if nobody does nothing. I don't want to wait.
@HighestRanked2, oh, will you please STFU and stop spreading that FUD. Adobe Flash is as proprietary as Sun Java is - yes, there is a corporation behind it, but almost everything about it is open-source. Are you saying that Android is also proprietary because it's based on Java that just does not execute in Sun's VM but in Dalvik VM?
Sounds like Apple is becoming more closed as time goes on. The more I read positive news about Web OS the more I'm inclined to dump my iPhone next summer & pick it up. Granted, Palm could be bankrupt by then...but if Apple keeps tightening the leash on their developers Andriod and Web OS would definitely benefit.
@HighestRanked2 Have you ever even installed XCode? It's a piece of crap compared to...notepad... Seriously, MonoDevelop is far and away a superior tool. MonoTouch adheres to all of Apple's guidelines, APIs, etc. There's ZERO reason for this other than the fact that it's just a pissing contest with Adobe...and everyone else (MonoTouch, Unity3D, etc.) are just caught in the crossfire.
@GiorgioG WHO THE F CARES?
I mean seriously.....are you a Flash developer? then stop whining because you are just trolling.
No one actually cares. All we care about is that our phones work and we have quality apps.
It's interesting that Apple seems to be picking fights with *everyone* lately.
@phoomp Well, it's more like doing what they've been saying. Apple (Jobs) has their own vision and philosophy, and obviously they think Adobe is lazy and they want to distance the iPhone platform from Adobe as much as possible, so they're taking action, especially considering Adobe is badmouthing them too. I was actually surprised that this policy wasn't enforced from the get go. It's silicon valley's soap opera.
@phoomp
A happy Apple ecosystem seems to consist of nothing but Apple -- Apple hardware, Apple software, Apple development tools, Apple advertising, Apple store, etc. Very different from the Microsoft and Google empires. Apple's vision of how things should be is kind of disturbing to me, personally.
Why Engadget do you keep saying "Your comment was submitted.
An e-mail has been sent to confirm your e-mail address, as well as a password for you to use if you comment regularly. Click on the link within the e-mail to activate your comment and password."
Yet i have no emails from ya?!?...
@rlynd3 -- and yet i can post this ^ ?!?
I'm a huge fan Apple products, however, I believe they are asking for an anti-trust investigation in banning the use of Adobe's Flash-IPA converter tool and related development technologies. This isn't just spitting in the face of Adobe but all of the developers out there who don't have time in their busy work schedules to master Objective C just for one platform - there is nothing wrong with such code translators. My company (like many) has been building an iPhone/iPad app for months now in Flash for exportation with the Flash-to-ipa converter tool and, all of sudden, Apple renders it void out of spite towards Adobe. This would be like the US government banning the use of foreign language and interpreters in the US and only allowing citizens who speak native-level English to remain in the nation. Can you imagine the backlash? If a tech giant like Microsoft tried this on their platform, the courts would be all over this. Apple is taking it's ego too far in this decision and, for the first time, I hope someone steps in and slams them in court over their App Store approval practices (Adobe Converter Bans, Google Voice delay, Opera Mini delay, Web Albums HD pinch functionality, and many more). I don't understand how Apple has avoided litigation thus far.
@johnangelo Apple's market share isn't the same as Microsoft's, so no anti-trust.
"This would be like the US government banning the use of foreign language and interpreters in the US and only allowing citizens who speak native-level English to remain in the nation."
Very wrong comparison. Apple doesn't own the whole market (US government governs the whole country), Flash is proprietary and there will soon be viable alternatives (can't even begin to compare it with a foreign language).
Apple on the warpath. Steve Jobs is mad with power now that he's on the verge of selling 100 million iPDAs. This war with Adobe, as opposed to their wars with (Google, Microsoft, Amazon, HTC, etc.), is just seeming borderline psychotic.
Adobe seems to have done nothing but attempt to facilitate delivering more content to iPhone OS users. Jobs seems to want Adobe dead.
@cool8man All those "wars" are just normal business.
"Adobe seems to have done nothing but attempt to facilitate delivering more content to iPhone OS user."
No, they didn't attempt nothing and that is the problem.
@Atkins That is not entirely true, they have been having a hissy fit over Flash for months now, ay, years.... and still no change in their attitude, direction or business model...
@szamot Sorry, didn't get your point, and what is "hissy fit"? Can you rephrase, please? thanks.
$10.01
Almost finished coding.... (reads this article),,, FUCK!!!! how can I write bejeweled tap tap in Objective C????
Putting this in to stop Adobe in their tracks is fine and all, but what does this mean for MonoTouch from Novell, which is already an established commercial platform that is being used for many AppStore apps already. Under the new clause, they would be able to deny any apps compiled via Mono as they use a "compatibility layer" and are not originally written in one of the specified three languages.
And you thought microsoft was evil. looks like apple is going the same root .
Wait, I have a simple question. Why can't adobe just compile into C++ instead of machine code?
I don't recall Microsoft falling to such low levels. Apple (and Steve Jobs) has just shown how evil it really is. I have respect for Bill Gates - he has a passion for not just technology, but also for humanity! He is humble, while Steve Jobs is simply turning out to be something of a Nazi. Seems like world war in the tech world - Allies (Microsoft, Google, Adobe, etc.) vs. the Nazis (Apple). And history shall repeat itself.
I love when people comment on a programming language using all the buzzwords they've picked up on their favorite blogs. HTML5!! Objective C!! Cocoa lol :P
HTML5 offers some cool stuff, but it doesn't change the crap town that is Javascript. Maybe they could re-work JS to actually follow the rules of every other language out there and possible get some F'ing variable typing.. I'm aware that a real OO implementation would be too much to ask for. The language requires you to *trick* it to get the result you wanted (I'm looking at you "closure")
Finally, Since Obj C is built on c, why couldn't we have just kept the standard messaging system instead of this ridiculousness:
[function[ lame message [ with a million (for good measure) [ of these brackets [ am I in [ a magic array or something? ]]]]]]]]]
I really hope this doesn't hurt the chances of something like Phone Gap
@tw12lve clearly you know about as much as a squirrel about software development. There are many real OO languages that don't have variable typing.
WTF does "closures" have to do with tricky JavaScript to do what it wants? That's a powerful feature that has been implemented in almost ever modern (and not so modern) programming language. Get a fucking clue and pipe down. Maybe you are really twelve?
@Everything I say is true lol, no. You're right. JS wouldn't benefit from being worked into a better language. It'd probably make it worse to even have the option to have strong typing. HTML5 is a complete spec and it should replace flash instantly.
By closure, I was referring to JS's bizarre variable scoping and how you have to trick it to hide variables. But again, you're right. We don't seem agree so I'll try to get a fucking clue
I really have to stop reading comments on the web. I'm losing faith in humanity. Like people who can barely think now have a global voice.
There is nothing Flash can do that you won't be able to do with HTML 5. Adobe just wants all you lemming to keep polluting the internet with banner ads and other horrendous garbage so they can sell you garbage dispensers.
How many of you clowns actually payed for Adobe products? I could understand if you where upset because you couldn't use the $699 PS or $699 Flash Pro to create shit.
@Everything I say is true
"There is nothing Flash can do that you won't be able to do with HTML 5. Adobe just wants all you lemming to keep polluting the internet with banner ads and other horrendous garbage so they can sell you garbage dispensers."
People will make HTML5 ads for their "garbage dispensers".
@Everything I say is true
You are talking utter rubbish!
HTML5 will have the video and audio playing capabilities of flash but will not replace all the features. Try doing one of those flashy interactive ad style sites in HTML5. Try writing a game in HTML5.
HTML5s video capabilities are great but to say this will replace things like flash and silverlight is just nonsense. Plus they can't even agree on a video standard for HTML5 yet so it will be years before it becomes popular.
@Everything I say is true, ummm, TCP/IP socket connection?