Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Opening Up iPhone Developer Program
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I agree with this. I want Apple to make sure the application functions, is not illegal and that is about it.
I don't want them making quality judgments. The marketplace will deal with that. I would much rather have 1000 new applications come out a month with 200 of them being quality than having 100 apps coming out a month, with 80 of them being quality, because Apple is taking too much time to approve them.
Developers will build track records, and some people are early adopters and will pay money and share their feedback with those less risk prone.
The fee is $99. Not exactly a killer. On top of that the App Store provides something unique and that is the ability to expose yourself to all the customers of a given product. That has not happened on any other platform until now. Getting people to even know you exist has been the hardest part of being an app developer until now.
Actually you need Visual Studio 2008 Professional which is $799 if you want to use the latest .net technology for Windows Mobile. Standard edition doesn't include mobile device support (it did in earlier versions).
I think Apple has already made changes to their NDA with specific wording regarding the GPL. Of course it is up to the Adium developers to decide whether these changes are sufficient for them, or to ask Apple for an exception to their NDA or for clarification.
I think GPS applications have two problems: The first is that some people think they can get hold of Google Maps data and use that for navigation software. You can't. Google allows end users to use their maps, but systematically using their data with your software is not on. To be able to use street data you have to have a license to use someone's data, and that will cost you (I think Nokia bought or tried to buy a data company recently for about $8 billion).
The second is that using GPS in a car is dangerous. This is software that could lead to massive damage or to death if the software developers don't know what they are doing. Imagine a bug in the software sending you the wrong way up a motorway. Companies like TeleNav or TomTom presumably know what they are doing and have the risks under control. If you or I wrote some car navigation software for the iPhone, it would be complete madness for Apple to allow us to sell it to end customers, because once your or my money is gone, Apple would probably be liable for damages.
Apple makes sure that they know who the developer is. So if an app contains malicious code, someone will likely lose every bit of money and property they have, and probably end up in jail.
I also could imagine that the operating system would keep applications on the iPhone quite separate, so that there would be some degree of security even if you install a malicious application. Apple may or may not have a way to "recall" applications, so it might be possible to disable an application on all iPhones if it turns out to be malicious.
Wow, I didn't know they removed support in Standard. That's even worse
. I've got an educational license for 2005 but that's not valid anymore 
Couldn't an app developer just put a .ipa file on their website and let anyone download it to load into iTunes? I figure that'd be a way to bypass Apple's restrictions. Or are the apps signed to your iTMS account?
I got the email (below), but when I try to activate I get an error message.
Of course support is only active M-F
Anyone been able to activate?
Dick
Error Message:
We are unable to activate your iPhone Developer Program membership because we are unable to successfully verify your identity. Please contact us and reference Enrollment ID# xxxxxxxxxx for further assistance.
email:
Thank you for applying to the iPhone Developer Program. To activate, simply click on the Activation code link below
Activation Code Part Number
iPhone Developer Program xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx D4521G/A
If you need furthur assistance, please contact us.
iPhone Developer Program
I got the same problem too.
Putting an IPA file on a website may or may not be compliant with agreeing to the SDK license; and developer .ipa files won't load unless the device is provisioned with a matching device ID and app ID (actually, they might load, but they'll crash hard on launch). Provisioning is tied to Apple and the developer's (paid) account.
ad hoc sharing might work for up to 100 users, but that requires each user to provide their device ID to the developer for the provisioning.
Stil a ways to go.
The fact is that the current business model Apple is offering up with the iPhone SDK is very good for the small developer and utility writer. It gives such people a chance to make a buck of two on software that is otherwise difficult to generate income off. Lets face it many of these programs that we are seeing at release would not be generating much money at all on other platforms due almost exclusively to theft. The god thing is if something catches on there is a financial incentive for the developer to improve his product.
I have to disagree here. I think Apple simply needed something to offer up at launch time. There has been way to much flux in the SDK for anything more than a trivial app to be ready at this point. Unless of course you are wired into Apple and can get exceptional support. I suspect that in a couple of months you will see a number of stable and well thought out apps hit the store.
Dave
As a developer you should be happy that the current round of apps is rather poor, it just means the window of opportunity is still open. In any event I think the reason the apps are so poor right now is that the SKD could barely be considered done/stable/ready for the masses.
Well one of the great aspects of open source is that you get to evaluate an app for free. Apples model here is nothing of the sort. That does not mean however that they don't have a good business model here.
The fact is that the current business model Apple is offering up with the iPhone SDK is very good for the small developer and utility writer. It gives such people a chance to make a buck of two on software that is otherwise difficult to generate income off. Lets face it many of these programs that we are seeing at release would not be generating much money at all on other platforms due almost exclusively to theft. The god thing is if something catches on there is a financial incentive for the developer to improve his product.
I have to disagree here. I think Apple simply needed something to offer up at launch time. There has been way to much flux in the SDK for anything more than a trivial app to be ready at this point. Unless of course you are wired into Apple and can get exceptional support. I suspect that in a couple of months you will see a number of stable and well thought out apps hit the store.
Dave
which is why apple goes through each application before posting it, did you not read the FAQ on the app store?
This is no different from other data. It is in the terms and conditions of the dev program that it is the devs responsibility to make sure they have the legal rights to all data used. Applies to (for example, but not limited to) artwork, video material and music. Map Data would not be any different.
For example you could use open street map data quite easily.
LOL !
I use a navigation device from TomTom with their latest software. Yes, it is better now than it was several years ago. But:
It happened that the device told me to "turn around" on the Autobahn at 160 km/h.... But I am still alive. If your gps tells you to turn right, you drive into a river instead of using the bridge 200 meters away, don't you? No matter how good your gps unit is, you still have to think while you drive!
Christian
The problem is not any restriction on Apple's side - it is an incompatibility (real, or perceived) between Apple's NDA and the GPL.
When you write software using open source components licensed under the GPL, the license says (roughly) that you have to publish the source code for your software. On the other hand, to develop software for the iPhone, you must agree to an NDA which roughly says you cannot publish any Apple trade secrets. If publishing the source code for your software means publishing Apple trade secrets, then this is a no go. There is no workaround for this; you need to agree to the NDA to get the development tools, so _how_ you publish your application doesn't make any difference.
What would make a difference: If Apple changes the NDA to make clear that publishing the source code of an iPhone application does _not_ breach the NDA, or if Apple gave a specific developer (like the Adium team) permission to publish their source code in order to get an iPhone application developed.
You're half right. It -currently- prevents MSN and Skype. However, Apple announced that they have found a good way to get around the battery life limitations implied by apps running in the background by piping in notifications through one conduit (presumably similar to push email). Your app will still not be running, but it can respond to notifications as they arrive.
That will be ready in September, the last I heard. It sounds like the best of both worlds to me.
MSN and Skype can use this to work "in the background".
I am unable to activate because of the error too. Very annoying. I have reported this to Apple but as of yet no reply.
Or, if the Adium codebase were composed exclusively of contributions from a relatively small team of individuals, or else if all contributors to the Adium project have thus far been required to transfer copyright ownership over to the administrator of the project (thus the ownership of the application was not in doubt), and if all copyright holders agreed to a dual-license distribution scheme moving forward, then they could keep the iPhone-specific modifications to the codebase secret under a proprietary license, while continuing to distribute the generic code for all other targets under the GPL.
Yeah, the marketplace and users should decide what are the good apps and what are the bad apps. Just say no to Apple big brother.
If you don't like the stuff at Macy's, you can always shop at a flea market or garage sale. If you don't like the apps that Apple allows in the App Store, you can always buy a Palm Treo/Centro for which you can get a lot more free apps, some good and some of poor quality. You decide.
Macy's isn't going to stock your garage sale junk on their shelves just because you think shoppers should decide.