iPhone SDK comparison chart
So with hardware accelerated 3D graphics, an integrated database API, tightly integrated performance monitoring tools, and a highly specialized version of the Cocoa framework tweaked just for the iPhone and rechristened as Cocoa Touch, the iPhone's just-announced SDK sounds like a winner. But how does it compare to its well-entrenched competitors from Microsoft, Nokia, and the iPhone community itself? Let's have a look.
Apple iPhone SDK | Toolchain | Windows Mobile | S60 | Android | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cost | Free | Free | Free; could be more depending on tools used | Free; could be more depending on tools used | Free |
Wide-scale app availability | June | Now | Now | Now | Depends on device availability |
Native development | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Languages suppoted for native development | Objective-C | Objective-C | C++, C#, VB.NET | C++ | Java |
Digital certificates | Required for distribution | No | Available, required for some phones | Available, required for some phones | No |
Retail support | Full; 30 percent Apple revenue share; free apps allowable | No | Limited | Limited | No, but Android Developer Challenge offers money and publicity |
Platform maturity | Immature | Immature | Mature | Mature | Immature |
First-party support | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Community support | Just getting started! | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent |
App installation method | Direct (App Store), iTunes | Installer.app, custom | Direct, ActiveSync | Direct, PC Suite | Unknown; installation on emulator is not reflective of production devices |
Emulator available | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Remote debugging | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Target device variety | Poor | Poor | Excellent | Good | Poor (that will change, though) |
Touchscreen support | Multi-touch | Multi-touch | Single touch | Umm... soon? | Single touch |
App availability and variety | Poor (that will change, though) | Good | Excellent | Excellent | Poor (that will change, though) |
Underlying architecture | Cocoa Touch / Mac OS X | Mac OS X | Windows | Symbian | Linux |
Flash availability | No | No | Yes | Yes | No |
Java availability | No | In development | Yes | Yes | Yes |
