What did Apple announce Thursday, in a nutshell?
That it was releasing a Software Development Kit, or SDK, for the iPhone. The SDK is a set of tools that lets independent programmers and software companies design, write, and test software that runs on the iPhone. Right now there's a beta version for developers, but a final version of the iPhone software that supports the installation of new programs written by independent programmers is due in late June.
As a part of the announcement, Apple introduced a new iPhone program, App Store, through which you'll be able to purchase, download, and update iPhone software. That will be available as part of the new iPhone Software 2.0 update in late June. That's when you'll be able to add third-party apps to your iPhone for the first time, at least via official channels.
Will Mac software run on the iPhone?
No, but since iPhone software is developed using the same development tools as Mac software, it’s possible that developers will be able to re-use some of their code to make iPhone versions of their programs. But the entire user-interface layer of the iPhone, dubbed “Cocoa Touch,” is completely different from the Mac’s Cocoa interface layer, owing to the iPhone’s finger-based interface.
Could someone post a free program on the App Store and then force users to pay for a registration code to make it functional, thereby bypassing Apple's 30% cut on App Store sales?
It seems unlikely that Apple would put up with those type of shenenigans. Doing so would basically let Apple pay for your marketing and bandwidth costs, and deprive them any money they’d get from selling the software. It may be specifically forbidden as a term of being an iPhone developer.
Will shareware not be an option on the iPhone?
As we said above, we assume Apple won’t let you sell a “free” program that requires an unlock code. However, there are some other scenarios we expect to see. First, donationware: People will probably sell “free” programs that request that you make a donation if you want to keep the project going. We don’t think Apple will have any problem with that, since the donation would be voluntary. Second, it’s possible that you’ll see two versions of various iPhone programs: a free “lite” version that’s a good advertisement for a more feature-rich for-pay version.
Then there are programs such as the Iconfactory’s Twitterrific, a Mac program that is free, but contains ads. For an “upgrade” fee, users can shut off the ads. Whether Apple would allow this to be handled within the program or there would need to be two separate versions of an iPhone version of Twitterrific remains to be seen.
What kinds of programs will be allowed, and what won’t?
Mainstream programs such as games, Internet tools, productivity tools, and the like should be fair game for the iPhone. What’s unclear is if there are portions of the iPhone that are locked off, forbidden locations that no approved third-party program can enter. We know that third-party software can’t access the Dock connector, which means companies can’t create software that requires specific hardware add-ons. Will the iPhone’s UNIX subsystem be accessible? What will the access to the EDGE cellular network be? We just don’t know.
Is someone at Apple going to decide which programs are approved and which ones aren’t? Won’t that take a lot of time?
Apple executives were deliberately vague on this point Thursday, but some of what they said may give an indication of Apple’s future policies. It seems unlikely to us that someone at Apple will thoroughly test each product that goes up on the Store—it could become a gigantic bottleneck that could overwhelm Apple and frustrate developers. It’s more likely that Apple will ask developers to follow certain development guidelines and fill out data about what their programs actually do. Since each iPhone program will be digitally signed by its creator, this gives Apple the ability to “turn off the spigot,” as Steve Jobs put it, and revoke programs that don’t meet its standards. But we’re sure that iPhone software will be given at least a cursory examination by someone at Apple before it’s placed on the App Store, with special attention paid to new developers....more
