iPhone SDK Details, First Look

[EvanLugh]

Finally got the download link.. 1hr 27 minutes remaining though.
Now my work productivity has gone from low to 6-feet under. Thanks

if people are waiting for link

http://adcdownload.apple.com/iphone/iphone_sdk/iphone_sdk.dmg

 

[Epocrates1]

Epocrates

Did you see the latest news from Apple this morning? Epocrates, Inc. was one of only five companies, including Salesforce.com, AOL, EA and Sega, to be highlighted by Steve Jobs during the iPhone Software Roadmap media briefing. Visit: http://www.epocrates.com/iphone/compatibility/.

 

[Arcus]

Boooo on 10.5 only. Thats very Microsoft-esque

 

[mrod]

Developing free apps: $99 per year.. ka-ching!

I'm not sure that anyone else has noticed.. the $99 cost for the standard publication of applications for the iPhone/iPod Touch will be an annual charge.

That's right.. if you write a nice little useful, free application such as, say, a terminal with ssh capability, which will benefit all sysadmin kind, it will cost you, the developer, $99 per year for others to use it.

The alternative is to charge the people to download it. Hmm.. Doesn't seem as such a good deal for Open Source software developers or those porting open source apps to the platform.

The only recourse would be to have a foundation acting as a virtual developer under the scheme, paid for by dontaion. However, this is probably already banned by the licensing agreement.

This is likely to kill any small (hobbyist) developer community at birth.

 

[ibrainch]

Clarification

So I'm not a developer/programmer, so I won't be able to play around with any new apps for my iPhone until June - I can live with that. What I want to know is that since all you developers are getting the SDK today, how soon will we get to see the types of apps you are developing? Will we start seeing as soon as this week or next the awesome stuff that is being developed (understandably in youtube videos or screenshots and the like)? If this is the case, I have a feeling people will just be salivating and dying for the June release. It is going to be unbelievable. Is it just me or is this just going to make the iPhone (which was already the most amazing consumer electronics device ever) the greatest must-have gadget of all time! Even greater than the iPod. Is there anyone out there that is even thinking about getting a blackberry, treo, nokia, or palm device when you can do so much more on an iPhone? Maybe I am overly excited as I bought my iPhone the day they came out, but I REALLY can't imagine life without my iPhone - if you made me choose between losing my Macbook Pro or my iPhone, I would definitely choose to keep the iPhone. Sorry for gushing, but I just think today's announcements were unbelievable and really can't wait to see all the great apps that will be developed over the next few weeks/months.

 

[Mr.Texor]

I'm not seeing any refutation or confirmation of the iLounge rumor to the effect that the SDK cannot access external hardware via the docking port.

Anyone seen anything on that?

since apple has a "Made for iPod" initiative for hardware, I bet they wont allow access to external hardware via the docking port easily. According to engadget :

Q: Will there be a dock-connector API?
A: The answer given was unclear, looks like you still have to work through the Made for iPhone program, but it's difficult to tell whether there's integration between the SDK and external hardware beyond what's already out there.

Most likely to create hardware, companies would have to use the Made for ipod initiative. This will unfortunately not allow homebrew hardware to work with the iphone/ipod touch

 

[Arcus]

I'm not sure that anyone else has noticed.. the $99 cost for the standard publication of applications for the iPhone/iPod Touch will be an annual charge.

That's right.. if you write a nice little useful, free application such as, say, a terminal with ssh capability, which will benefit all sysadmin kind, it will cost you, the developer, $99 per year for others to use it.

The alternative is to charge the people to download it. Hmm.. Doesn't seem as such a good deal for Open Source software developers or those porting open source apps to the platform.

The only recourse would be to have a foundation acting as a virtual developer under the scheme, paid for by dontaion. However, this is probably already banned by the licensing agreement.

This is likely to kill any small (hobbyist) developer community at birth.

Double boo.

 

[Mr.Texor]

I'm not sure that anyone else has noticed.. the $99 cost for the standard publication of applications for the iPhone/iPod Touch will be an annual charge.

Can you please provide a link that says so. Everything I've read says that the $99 is for a certificate you would use to sign your apps. Therefore, it's a one time only payment.

 

[gnasher729]

Boooo on 10.5 only. Thats very Microsoft-esque

10.5.2 only. And Intel only.

Many posters have complained here that the iPhone SDK is eight days late. One guy said "I seriously hope that Apple fails as a company because they did not keep to their self-imposed deadline" (you wouldn't want me to post what I think about that attitude).

I think it is quite sensible that Apple does everything to get the SDK out as quickly as possible. And that includes making it work on the smallest possible number of different configurations. I expect the SDK to be tested. This way it only needs to be tested on one single configuration.

And I really cannot see what would be "Microsoft-esque" about this. Nor can Microsoft probably

 

[MattInOz]

I'm not sure that anyone else has noticed.. the $99 cost for the standard publication of applications for the iPhone/iPod Touch will be an annual charge.

That's right.. if you write a nice little useful, free application such as, say, a terminal with ssh capability, which will benefit all sysadmin kind, it will cost you, the developer, $99 per year for others to use it.

The alternative is to charge the people to download it. Hmm.. Doesn't seem as such a good deal for Open Source software developers or those porting open source apps to the platform.

The only recourse would be to have a foundation acting as a virtual developer under the scheme, paid for by dontaion. However, this is probably already banned by the licensing agreement.

This is likely to kill any small (hobbyist) developer community at birth.

Haven't had a chance read the the T&C as yet, is that fee per app or per development company. Could we start a co-op as an iPhone forge that sells the apps at a really low fee then use that money just to cover it's own costs i.e. project hosting and developer fee.

 

[GQB]

Installation control?

Another question I'm not seeing answered is, what controls are in place to prevent me from installing an application on unlimited iPhones, touches, etc?

If I download an application to my touch and replace it with a newer model, can I xfer the software to my new device?

Perhaps there will be no control of that, with the assumption of an honors system akin to CD burning.

 

[GQB]

Boooo on 10.5 only. Thats very Microsoft-esque

And Apple should take on the responsibility of adding legacy support for a limited use development tool on older OS versions... why?
You think that back-support would result in no cost to Apple?
Get real.

 

[gnasher729]

I'm not sure that anyone else has noticed.. the $99 cost for the standard publication of applications for the iPhone/iPod Touch will be an annual charge.

That's right.. if you write a nice little useful, free application such as, say, a terminal with ssh capability, which will benefit all sysadmin kind, it will cost you, the developer, $99 per year for others to use it.

The alternative is to charge the people to download it. Hmm.. Doesn't seem as such a good deal for Open Source software developers or those porting open source apps to the platform.

Why wouldn't an open source software developer charge for it? Charging for open source applications is absolutely fine. I am not a sysadmin, but if I was a sysadmin, owned an iPhone that cost at least $399 plus quite a bit of money every month, I wouldn't hesitate one second to pay say $10 for such an application if I find it useful.

One note to open source developers: It is very likely that iPhone apps will be "packages", just like most MacOS X apps. That means you can include the source code _directly_ in the package, with the application, so you don't have to worry about distribution of the source code at all.

 

[Chorus of Apes]

Installer.app

What I want to know is if Devs can create an app with the SDK and distribute it via installer.app on jailbroken iphones. If so, then we should be seeing awesome apps that leverage the SDK way before June, they will just need to be distributed via installer.app. This may also be a way to circumvent the $99 fee (though only folks with jailbroken phones will be able to download those apps). Folks with access to the SDK, is this possible?

 

[w00master]

68k support?

Apple II support?

 

[GQB]

Oh great, we have Apple trying to leverage their monopoly on iPhone development. Rather than making iTunes app distribution attractive enough so developers will want to use it, Apple is forcing it as the only way. While Apple is trying to milk profits this way, it's certainly not good for consumers or developers.

It's also frightening that Apple will censor what kinds of programs are acceptable. This stifles creativity and is a consequence of the first problem. If apps can only be distributed through iTunes, Apple would not want to be seen as responsible for something "obscene." Naturally, if Apple didn't chain their developers to iTunes distribution, a much wider range of apps could be created. So much for freedom...

Its impossible to have a monopoly on your own product. Words have meaning... try understanding them before using them.

Likewise 'censor'... thats a term referring to activity by a government or official regulatory agency. If this forum prevents me from posting because I break the rules, that's not censorship. If the government does, it is.

 

[GQB]

What I want to know is if Devs can create an app with the SDK and distribute it via installer.app on jailbroken iphones. If so, then we should be seeing awesome apps that leverage the SDK way before June, they will just need to be distributed via installer.app. This may also be a way to circumvent the $99 fee (though only folks with jailbroken phones will be able to download those apps). Folks with access to the SDK, is this possible?

I'm sure someone will try, but I wouldn't go near it with a 10 ft pole. It would totally bypass the certification and accountability, which for me is the biggest value-add for the system.

 

[gnasher729]

Yes but will the ARM emulator run on the G4? I bet it is "Rosetta-like" and depends on some features of the Intel chip. Also look at the ability to remotely debug, placing break points in the phone memory and so on and you can see why

Apple already has a compiler that translates PowerPC code to Intel code in Rosetta. Adapting that to translate ARM code to Intel code is not such a big deal. Adapting it to translate ARM code to PowerPC code would be much more difficult. So Apple would have to invest in my estimate at least three times as much work to get the emulator working on both Intel and PowerPC instead of running it on Intel only. Not worth the effort.

 

[gnasher729]

OS 9 SUPPORT?

Yes please. And if someone writes an OS 9 emulator for the iPhone then we can write iPhone software on the iPhone itself!

 

[DaveGee]

What I want to know is if Devs can create an app with the SDK and distribute it via installer.app on jailbroken iphones. If so, then we should be seeing awesome apps that leverage the SDK way before June, they will just need to be distributed via installer.app.

In a perfect world... yes this would be great... In the real world I'd be willing to bet that Apple's SDK will not produce code that will run under any iPhone firmware prior to 2.0.

D

 

[costmo]

Enrollment Status

Anyone else try to sign up for the "for pay" iPhone Developer Program?

When I finally got through enough screens on the server to supply my contact and company information, I received a "While we process your information..." type message and was informed that I will receive notification of my enrollment status (prior to having to supply any payment information).

I was curious if anyone else out there has been through this, and how long it took for them to receive an answer/notification.

Thanks.

 

[TonyHoyle]

Anyone else try to sign up for the "for pay" iPhone Developer Program?

When I finally got through enough screens on the server to supply my contact and company information, I received a "While we process your information..." type message and was informed that I will receive notification of my enrollment status (prior to having to supply any payment information).

I was curious if anyone else out there has been through this, and how long it took for them to receive an answer/notification.

Thanks.

Elsewhere it makes it clear that it's only a limited programme. You have to be picked.

It's also US only - no non-US iphone development allowed.

 

[gnasher729]

argh! i cant wait that long

and does anyone know what this means "WPA2 / 802.1x"

Here is the explanation:

WEP is encryption for wireless networks. It is not a very good encryption and can in fact be broken quite easily.

WPA is much better wireless encryption. It is what you probably should use at home if you have a wireless network. Everyone who wants to join the network needs a password - the same password. WPA is nice and secure, but it doesn't scale to lets say a company network or a university network. Why? Because everyone has the same password. If I want to get on that university network, all I need to do is take $50 and bribe a student.

WPA2 / 802.1x is basically the same encryption, except that everyone who wants to join has a different password. So when you join the university or company network, their server knows it is is you and won't allow you access to anything you shouldn't be able to access.

 

[asdavis10]

I've been amazed at all the "negatives" people have given the posts regarding the iPhone SDK coverage. I guess people will just find fault in anything Apple does. The only way I can see someone feeling negatively about the SDK is if they are still running Tiger or have a PowerPC system. Other than that there is nothing negative about anything regarding the SDK. $99...waiting til June...nothing to complain about.

 

[costmo]

RE: Enrollment Status

Elsewhere it makes it clear that it's only a limited programme. You have to be picked.

It's also US only - no non-US iphone development allowed.

That was understood. I was just curious if anyone else out there had attempted to enroll and would be willing to share their experience regarding how long they had to wait before receiving a notification of their enrollment status.

Thanks.