Apple Drops iPhone Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA)

[ddarko]

I think that means unreleased Apple software... like Firmware 2.2.

arn

Nope, that's not what it means. Nowhere does it say it's restricted to only Apple-written unreleased software. It covers ALL unreleased iPhone apps, including apps that are unreleased because Apple refused to approve them.

This revision addresses a common complaint many developers have had; the NDA was so broad it prevented them from talking and sharing ideas and methods to write better software. So this change is a good thing. But this change does not help those developers who write code that Apple decides is too competitive to its own software and does not approve. They're still prevented from talking about why their software wasn't approved. And that's bad.

 

[Starflyer]

Unfortunately this announcement falls under the NDA.

 

[dizzy13]

This is great news and perfect timing for me. Just got accepted into the dev program a couple weeks ago, buying my first macbook after the refresh (hopefully October 14th)...and then it's off to make some kick ass apps that hopefully don't suck

 

[NAG]

Hopefully this also comes with a more clear definition of exactly what is and is not acceptable on the app store.

 

[arn]

Nope, that's not what it means. Nowhere does it say it's restricted to only Apple-written unreleased software. It covers ALL unreleased iPhone apps, including apps that are unreleased because Apple refused to approve them.

I don't think you know that for sure until the new NDA comes out. The way it was worded, I believe it's Apple software and features.

arn

 

[kerryn]

The way I read this is that it is only for release software. Therefore once you have developed you application, had it approved by Apple, and published it you may then discuss it.

But, if your software is unreleased and you are having problem with a particular aspect of it, you may not write on a developer forum seeking help?

Am I missing something here, or is Apple only referring to their unreleased software?

 

[mainstreetmark]

In any event, we'll see a ton of developer-assistance websites popup now. Though it is nice to do everything through Apple, others are now free to create their own tutorials, which I will eagerly await.

This is good news. This should help the economy.

 

[Sbrocket]

Nope, that's not what it means. Nowhere does it say it's restricted to only Apple-written unreleased software. It covers ALL unreleased iPhone apps, including apps that are unreleased because Apple refused to approve them.

This revision addresses a common complaint many developers have had; the NDA was so broad it prevented them from talking and sharing ideas and methods to write better software. So this change is a good thing. But this change does not help those developers who write code that Apple decides is too competitive to its own software and does not approve. They're still prevented from talking about why their software wasn't approved. And that's bad.

I'm not sure you can make that assertion (one way or the other) until you see the full text of the new NDA covering unreleased software.

My reading of it was that Apple wanted to clarify that unreleased software like the 2.2 SDK and such are still under the NDA, to prevent developers from mistaking what they were saying for a carte blanche to publish what they want. This could, of course, be wrong but I think automatically taking the pessimistic view and presenting it as fact (when it clearly isn't) is wrong in any case.

 

[Low]

good news. i guess i'll be buying 4 mac pros and the new mbp to dev for iphone apps, whew! thanks!

 

[slicecom]

I hope this means we'll be seeing a port of Adium for the iPhone soon.

x2 even though I just bought BeeJive, I think the Adium Team could do an even better job than BeeJive at a more reasonable price.

 

[worldburger]

Possible Garbage?

I think the posters who are quick to congratulate Apple might be jumping the gun.

If I understand correctly the lifted NDA is for released software only. I suspect the NDA on unreleased (read: denied software like the podcaster xyz-pdq) will still be in place. That is the one about which I was most disappointed...

 

[momoe]

Nope, that's not what it means. Nowhere does it say it's restricted to only Apple-written unreleased software. It covers ALL unreleased iPhone apps, including apps that are unreleased because Apple refused to approve them.

This revision addresses a common complaint many developers have had; the NDA was so broad it prevented them from talking and sharing ideas and methods to write better software. So this change is a good thing. But this change does not help those developers who write code that Apple decides is too competitive to its own software and does not approve. They're still prevented from talking about why their software wasn't approved. And that's bad.

I agree with your sentiment whole-heartedly. Developers under the NDA SHOULD be allowed to interact - these types of collaborative and creative problem solving efforts are EXACTLY the concepts we are trying to instill into our students to try to make them better global players.

momoe

 

[chrisgeleven]

I think the posters who are quick to congratulate Apple might be jumping the gun.

If I understand correctly the lifted NDA is for released software only. I suspect the NDA on unreleased (read: denied software like the podcaster xyz-pdq) will still be in place. That is the one about which I was most disappointed...

No, the NDA was for the current released version of the iPhone SDK (2.1 at the moment). So everything developed under this SDK can be talked about in the public.

The NDA will still be in effect for anything related to unreleased SDK's (2.2's for example, which will probably have push notifications, will be under NDA still).

 

[sfwalter]

This is great! Now the books can start to be published. I know there are several books ready to go but couldn't be released with the NDA in place.

 

[thecartoonguy]

Finally.....the chains have been released!

The ivory tower has become stained with sadness of the people. Finally Apple has decided to listen to those to support them.

 

[ImperialForces]

Wait... Does this mean that Apple no longer rejects your iPhone application from its store?

 

[slicecom]

Adium has already updated their page in response to this.

http://trac.adiumx.com/wiki/AdiumForiPhone

 

[QuarterSwede]

I hope this means we'll be seeing a port of Adium for the iPhone soon.

Here's to hoping.

 

[kolax]

Haha.

Should we expect to hear more and more stories about rejected App's then? Or does this mean Victor Wang has been fired?

 

[firewood]

Wait... Does this mean that Apple no longer rejects your iPhone application from its store?

No. It means you can publish books and write help forum articles about your SDK developed software before it is (possibly) rejected by the App store.

 

[oneschance]

Wirelessly posted (iphone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5F136 Safari/525.20)

This is great news.

I may be cynical, but I hope they aren't going to use this as a smoke screen for the issues regarding App Store rejection. Once that is cleared up things will be full steam ahead.

Some developers would go to far if you don't set rules and regs. We need to have a standard for balance. I'm talking about content.

 

[chrisgeleven]

Wait... Does this mean that Apple no longer rejects your iPhone application from its store?

No, it means that developers can now talk to each other about developing for the iPhone and share code. Previously this was not allowed by the NDA.

 

[ryanwarsaw]

This is a 180 degree move in the right direction for Apple.

 

[Lepton]

The thing is, people couldn't discuss or publish books about Apple's iPhone OS. So, learning to write for iPhone was limited to getting in the program and learning strictly from Apple's docs. That was a severe limitation.

Though I can write for iPhone already, I couldn't discuss any techniques I used in programming my apps, not because I couldn't talk about my app, released or unreleased, but because talking about my app internals or many features necessarily meant I would have to talk about the OS. So I couldn't disclose a lot of stuff about my apps even if I wanted to.

And this meant there could be no discussion groups on writing for iPhone. This is a major way developers learn. You can't get everything out of dry documents. No one could release their own example apps, talk about techniques, and so on.

All this stuff will be lifted and it means better quality apps for everyone. The limits will be talking about what's in upcoming, unreleased iPhone OS software.

 

[Kelmon]

I offer polite approval for this news but have to also add "about freakin' time". Why the NDA remained in place after the iPhone's release is beyond me, particularly since developers have been complaining about this for months. This is something that should have been addressed on Day #1, not over 3-months later when your company is being bad-mouthed in the press.

Next, we need real guidelines on what is, or is not, acceptable in the App Store and a procedure that will enable developers to determine whether their application idea is suitable before too much has been invested.