Yes Virginia, there is an iPhone SDK
Thanks to jkOTR reader Joe for shooting me the information; the kids were off from school, so I was introducing them to bookstores and overpriced hot chocolate when the news hit. Apple will indeed offer an SDK for the iPhone in February of next year. This means the iPhone won’t be a web-only device, but will offer true native apps from third party developers, just like the Windows Mobile platform we’ve come to know and love.
I’m not suprised at the news on two counts. One: the iPhone isn’t just a phone and it isn’t just an iPod; it’s a true handheld computer based on Mac OS X, which gives it nearly unlimited potential. Sure, there are much more powerful and capable handhelds, but the device’s potential is now only limited by its hardware. Two: in my opinion, Apple couldn’t release an SDK before Leopard; that would have complicated things for developers and users. Now that the cat’s out of the bag on October 26th, this move makes perfect sense.
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I’m glad to see you guys are excited about this as well. It helps me feel better about being that guy who stood in line for 12 hours. This should allow those few missing apps to breathe life into a truly solid mobile platform for business users.
Taps for Palm.
Taps for Nokia.
Good bloody riddance to both!
As usual I have to be Mr. Negative about Apple here.
1. Apple has a history of being a very closed architecture. Despite the availability of SDK’s, that reputation has never improved over the years. Do we really believe it will this time? In my opinion, *maybe* except:
2. Developers are an odd group of people. They swear by a platform passionately. At my company, we have two kinds: Eight who love Microsoft and two who love Apple. Developers who like the Apple platform are limited in number, and…
3. If Apple’s iPhone SDK is like their other SDK’s, development won’t be easy which will limit the number of developers willing to jump through the hoops.
Of course, everyone criticizes Microsoft of limiting their licensing schemes to keep developers and OEM’s in line, but nobody seems to notice that Apple is worse about limitations, traditionally speaking.
None of this means I don’t *want* or *hope* Apple changes, it just means I doubt they will. I think there will be decent hacks and “tweaks” and we may see some Adobe and Microsoft plugins from their Mac teams, but otherwise, I am betting we won’t see much.