iPhone SDK comparison chart
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| 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 |
