FAQ on the anticipated iPhone software development kit

A couple of days ago, Steve Jobs wrote that Apple plans to introduce an iPhone (and P.S., also iPod touch) SDK by February. Concerns about viruses, malware, and privacy attacks will take time to address. Steve also confirms what iPhone programmers already found out through the back door: the iPhone really is the "best mobile platform ever for developers." The phrase "sweet solution" is notably and happily omitted from his letter.

Since this announcement, I've been bombarded with questions, so I thought I'd put up a post to address some of the more common ones.

Is the iPhone more susceptible to viruses than a Mac? Only in that everything on the iPhone runs as root, giving iPhone programs full access to your entire unit. A virus on your Mac is far more dangerous in terms of sustaining data loss than your iPhone; malware running with your user rights on your Mac can do everything you could do, including destroying everything in your Home folder.

Are privacy attacks a big concern? Yes, absolutely. Your iPhone contains a lot of personal information including your call history, your SMS messages, and your address book. Keeping these private is something you should worry about — not just in terms of third party programming, but with the applications already on your phone. You may want to use some of the already-existing features including passcodes (Settings > General > Passcode Lock) to keep your private information private.

Will the proposed Apple SDK build the kinds of programs you can download now from Installer? Yes. The applications being built today by third-party developers use Apple's on-board frameworks and ARM-based code. There is no difference between these third-party apps and Apple's native apps as far as the iPhone is concerned. The SDK will add documentation and better Xcode support into the arena so we'll no longer have to reverse-engineer the classes.

Can I get a head start? The iPhone-dev project hosts an open source toolchain at Google Code, a good place to start for anyone interested in exploring the current iPhone and iPod touch capabilities.

So this is good news, right? You betcha. This is great news. The iPhone and touch platforms really are amazing. An open and supported SDK means iPhone user will have access to more functionality and more flexibility on their iPhones, and that Apple will sell more units in a market where sophisticated users expect extensibility for their smart phones. One of my favorite bloggers whimsically adds, "this is good news for people who want their iPhone to trim their toenails and stun attackers".

Could a rogue iPhone actually take down the cell network? I really doubt it, dudes. However, IANATE (I am not a telecom engineer). Others, more qualified, call this warning simple FUD.