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Steve Jobs Announces 3rd Party SDK for iPhone for February 2008
- Thread starter bretm
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Simple. They were NEVER sure when it would be ready. If you've been reading what Jobs has said for EVER... they've been working to figure out a secure way to do it. This has been repeated ad nauseum. Basically, if you create an application, there will be a digital signature that goes back to you or your company, letting people know that YOU are the one responsible for it. This can ONLY be a positive thing taken on the whole. I really can't wait. I suspect everyone creating iPhone apps now, will be getting ADC accounts (or using the ones they clearly already have) and preparing for the launch day. I'm sure Apple will have all the pieces together by then (I'm sure they've been just a TAD busy in the last few months). I'm looking forward to how this all comes together, and happy that the MAJOR security issues 3rd party apps have been skirting will be settled.
Right now, the gatekeepers for 3rd party apps aren't really going to have much to tell you if someone slips them an innocuous app that trojans your phone, spreads like a plague, as the developer closes up shop ad vanishes. Right now... there's an aweful lot of trust out there, and trust alone... well, its not scalable, especially when its broken.
~ CB
This is MASSIVE...
1) Right now the minds of a million talented and creative third party application developers are thinking 'mmh...what app shall I do?"
I'm betting even Microsoft will have a version of Office for iphone by August 2008! Even they won't be able to ignore the application needs of 100 million iphone/ipod users!
2) There will be a fixed price model on iTunes ;
$0.99 for widgets
$4.99 for simple apps/games
$9.99 for full size productivity apps
3) Apple has just done for the applications industry what they did for the music industry. iTunes will guarantee incredible visibility, no piracy and sales in the millions for each and every app...
The next gold rush has just been announced!!
1) Right now the minds of a million talented and creative third party application developers are thinking 'mmh...what app shall I do?"
I'm betting even Microsoft will have a version of Office for iphone by August 2008! Even they won't be able to ignore the application needs of 100 million iphone/ipod users!
2) There will be a fixed price model on iTunes ;
$0.99 for widgets
$4.99 for simple apps/games
$9.99 for full size productivity apps
3) Apple has just done for the applications industry what they did for the music industry. iTunes will guarantee incredible visibility, no piracy and sales in the millions for each and every app...
The next gold rush has just been announced!!
Pundits are fools for the most part.
Wrong more times then that Xserve Supercomputer in Virgina can count.
That's lovely that you don't want to do that. Others do. If you want to be angry at people for expecting their hacked phone to work with the update that's certainly understandable. It was stupid on their part, I would agree. But if you're seriously angry at people for simply hacking their phone to begin with then you have some anger management issues to work out.
Dude, take it easy with the anger, ok. Jesus.
Obviously?
Ooo you sure burned me there. It seems that plenty of people with iPhones wanted 3rd party apps. I don't think I have to have an iPhone to think an SDK is a good idea. Obviosuly I'm wrong though.
Oh, stop. No one's going to require you to BUY anything... and Apple certainly isn't going to sell everyone's applications through iTunes. That's just crazy talk. Think about the refunds they'd have to offer for bad developers. --Anyway, iTunes will certainly be used to "sync" apps to the phone after they've been downloaded into the proper place.
~ CB
A Good Step
Although I don't own an iPhone, and probably won't for a while and I won't see any direct benefit, I think this is a smart move. One they should have thought about before, but it follows Apple's basic MO. It seems Apple is learning from the mistakes of Microsoft when it comes to security and some from IBM along the lines of "you can't get this anywhere else so it's our way or nothing" mentality. It will be more difficult for Apple to stay stable as they continue to grow, but at least they are willing to adjust even in small ways
Although I don't own an iPhone, and probably won't for a while and I won't see any direct benefit, I think this is a smart move. One they should have thought about before, but it follows Apple's basic MO. It seems Apple is learning from the mistakes of Microsoft when it comes to security and some from IBM along the lines of "you can't get this anywhere else so it's our way or nothing" mentality. It will be more difficult for Apple to stay stable as they continue to grow, but at least they are willing to adjust even in small ways
Why didn't he say this at first?
For a long time, people in the know have been saying that something like this is coming. Why didn't Apple announce it would arrive? Could it be that they thought it would dampen sales now, as people waited for the newer software? Maybe.
I think it's revealing that there will be some kind of signature on the software, so it will be a kind of "made for iPod" program at least. Maybe sold through iTunes? Third-party developers are going to love that.
I think that Apple will then also have to comply with the law, and allow phones to be unlocked and still upgraded. Once they've got legitimate and secure apps, they'll have no more excuses for "whoopsies" like 1.1.1.
On the other hand, I think they're absolutely right that sheer hacking of the phone, ingenious though it is, depends on finding system flaws to 'get root.' Once a benign hacker gets root so he's got root privileges, anybody can do that, and that's NOT good for the iPhone. I read where one of the recent adaptations to 1.1.1 depends on sending a malformed TIFF and causing a buffer overrun. That's hacking, friends, and Apple is under an obligation to close that hole, and then people would howl and scream because their apps would break.
All in all, though, this is very good news. iPhone users get the apps, 3rd party developers get their chance to make money, everybody's happy.
For a long time, people in the know have been saying that something like this is coming. Why didn't Apple announce it would arrive? Could it be that they thought it would dampen sales now, as people waited for the newer software? Maybe.
I think it's revealing that there will be some kind of signature on the software, so it will be a kind of "made for iPod" program at least. Maybe sold through iTunes? Third-party developers are going to love that.
I think that Apple will then also have to comply with the law, and allow phones to be unlocked and still upgraded. Once they've got legitimate and secure apps, they'll have no more excuses for "whoopsies" like 1.1.1.
On the other hand, I think they're absolutely right that sheer hacking of the phone, ingenious though it is, depends on finding system flaws to 'get root.' Once a benign hacker gets root so he's got root privileges, anybody can do that, and that's NOT good for the iPhone. I read where one of the recent adaptations to 1.1.1 depends on sending a malformed TIFF and causing a buffer overrun. That's hacking, friends, and Apple is under an obligation to close that hole, and then people would howl and scream because their apps would break.
All in all, though, this is very good news. iPhone users get the apps, 3rd party developers get their chance to make money, everybody's happy.
Well this isn't Burger King! Seems like many people want everything NOW! Instant gratification and impatience abound. Did ya ever hear patience is a virtue? It really is and good things are worth waiting for! This will be an amazing thing for the iPhone and iPod Touch and any other devices Apple may have up their sleave!
WTG Apple, I for one will wait patiently and look forward to this developement.
We ALL win! And now for station identification!!!!!
I wouldn't be to sure about that. It's very possible Stevo will require iTunes to remain the only portal by which to purchase and install approved 3rd party apps.
So... does this make the iPod Touch the Newton replacement we've all been waiting for?
I guess the iPhone and touch will get feature parity now - if you can write apps for both it seems silly not having mail etc. on the touch too!
That's true and apple should make these apps available now. Afterall they are the creators, no 3rd party to hold this up! How about STEVE?
I think the prices you just listed are insane. Apple may distribute apps through iTunes and they may charge a certain amount, but those prices are way off. First off, it is likely there will be many apps that are free. Second, $9.99 is a crazy amount for anything short of a mobile version of MS Office. I think the most an app would sell for is $4.99, anything more is going to hurt sales. I could see between $0.99 - $4.99, but anything more likely wouldn't sell unless it was an extremely ground breaking amazing app.
This is (obviously) excellent news! The iPhone just got even better.
This is a great day for Apple announcements; first the iTunes Plus announcement and now the iPhone having 3rd party apps? Nice.
This is a great day for Apple announcements; first the iTunes Plus announcement and now the iPhone having 3rd party apps? Nice.
missed the boat when Mail.app was not included with the Touch. I can use Safari.app for that however I am used to Mail.app. Why do Apple mention viruses? I think there's no virus for Mac OS X
Don't forget ALL the windows people that bought an iPhone and as we all know windows is where a bulk of the viruses are at present. This is not just about OSX. Windows users are more susceptible for now, then we MAC users are. Regardless, point is this is about ALL iPhone users and I bet there are many that are windows users just like many iPod users. Something to think about.
Very true. Too many people today need instant gratification and don't pay attention to anything unless its big, showy & grandiose.
On the other hand, people shouldn't wait for ever in the "Oh, I'll wait since a better model will come out soon." They're the kind of people who don't buy anything.
I'm also sick of the people who say that if you're not happy w/ it, don't buy it. Unfortunately, that's not the case for everything. What if you absolutely NEED a car, or computer, or whatever but don't like what's out there? People can lose your job for not having a car or whatever just b/c they won't get something they don't like. Eventually, they'd have to suck it up & get the least of all evils. These are the kinds of people where they think $$ is the only solution. There are always other solutions, you just have to be creative.
For all those that say there aren't any Mac viruses, yes there are. Most of the ones I've heard about are proof-of-concept viruses, but there are a few bad Mac viruses. Since Macs have only like 5-6% marketshare, they have security through obscurity. That means why would any one want to do damage to such a small amount of people when Windows has so much more (90% or so marketshare)? If/when Macs & iPhones get a larger marketshare, expect to see more & more viruses.
A little off topic, but still important. I was reading the November, 2007 issue of Consumer Reports and while Apple had the best rating for technical support, they had the biggest amount of products that needed repairs. So Apple products seem to break down more than any other manufacturer, but getting it fixed is still the easiest.
nonsense.
iTunes is a marketplace.3rd party apps will have to be certified and licensed before they will be allowed onto iTunes. This isn't going to be open house for every hacked junk shareware class app. Quality apps sold via iTunes- there won't be any 'bad developers'.
I think the prices he listed are pretty good. I'd gladly pay that amount for some good games, and widgets I actually want (ie sports scorboards, etc).
As far as $9.99 being too hight... have you actually ever priced software? Good stuff is expensive, and there's no real reason we won't be able to have some very powerful stuff right on the phone. Ten bucks is not in any way, shape, or form too much for a killer app. (Even if it is mobile)
It would be nice if a simple ADC account or something similar gave you a digital certificate to create applications. If they make it free (or very cheap) to get the certificate then that will allow a large variety of software but if something causes major problems they can trace it to a developer.
I'm fine with a iTunes distribution model. The developer could choose to release for free (like podcasts) or the applications could have a simple fee structure. Then if there's a problem with an application that developers whole catalogue can be removed while the application/developer are investigated.
I think that's the best way to keep the iPhone very open for 3rd party apps and still protect the system security.
Now can Apple pass on payments from people downloading my applications in the form of iTunes credit??
I'm fine with a iTunes distribution model. The developer could choose to release for free (like podcasts) or the applications could have a simple fee structure. Then if there's a problem with an application that developers whole catalogue can be removed while the application/developer are investigated.
I think that's the best way to keep the iPhone very open for 3rd party apps and still protect the system security.
Now can Apple pass on payments from people downloading my applications in the form of iTunes credit??
Well, I think it's a much bigger announcement for us than for Mr. John Doe...
I can't see Mr. John Doe thinking about purchasing an iPhone for his daughter for Christmas but holding back just because there is no SDK available (yet)...
Hope
is not going to charge for Mail.app, I still feel it should be included. And in relation to the iPhone and Touch how will generation be differed other than more storage, if SJ mentioned that the iPhone will have free applications and software features upgradability.