Irfan’s Corner on the Web On Mac, Linux, Grid, Virtualization and Software Technology

No iPhone SDK fiasco

There seems to be a loud and clear backlash by developers against Apple's decision not to provide a SDK for third party software development for the iPhone. They rather insist on on limiting third party apps to just AJAX applications, and that too without providing support for Flash!

I think that Apple, if they want to see the device really take off like its other hardware, they will eventually have to open the platform up, otherwise AJAX applications, as they stand are no match for native applications and as Gizmodo said it:

"So no SDK == no access to iPhone's cool frameworks == no revolutionary apps, no real new concepts coming from third-parties, no eye candy available for anyone but Apple and no possibility for some really crazy games that will fully exploit the graphic and multi-touch power of the iPhone."

A major problem I have seen with Linux smartphones is that they too do not come with a SDK, hence third party development for them is nearly null. Windows Mobile smart phones have a large third party software ecosystem and hence they have more penetration. Microsoft has always been a developer-friendly company.

I was once involved in a software project which involved a client side solution which was to be run on a mobile device, I explored numerous options, however Microsoft .NET Compact Framework was the only suitable and easy solution to develop for mobile devices, hence the company decided to develop their solution using Windows Mobile smart phones. Not having an SDK for the iPhone means that its penetration in enterprise circles would be minimum.

And for those people who believe that iPhone comes with MaxOS X and that even without an SDK they can run OSX applications on it, they would be disappointed! Check this peace by Josh Bancroft out.