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Ask and thou shalt receive.


(First Post?)

Wait, wait, wait a moment.

He didn't say this at the developers conference, "We want your apps on our phone."

He said that Web Apps were the only way on.

So what happened? Change of heart? They misread the situation?

That's what I'm talking about. Let's see if they can get bittorrent to run on it.

He never said it was "the only way". Can you provide a quote? In fact, in subsequent interviews he mentioned that they would provide an SDK, but that it would take patience from the developers.

I just sent you guys anote on this, but I see you're already on it.

Lets hope the whiners will finally stop doing their thing. At least until the next topic comes along...SDK not "open" enough maybe?

In any case, great news. A round of fake drinks for all the non-whiners!

Woohoo!!!!!!!

We want native third party applications...

Wow - native apps. Let's hope there're no strings attached. I guess Stevie has finally listen to all of us who did a jailbreak on our iPhones and all the great developers who have been writing native code for it.

That's all you had to say Steve. Thanks.

I strongly suspect this will be Widgets, much like Mac desktop Dashboard widgets. They may well let those widgets use local storage through SQLite, which is already present on the phone.

The built-in iPhone 1.1.1 "Springboard" application (the app launcher) already supports displaying things from the /Widgets directory on the iPhone...

I very much doubt that it'll be proper applications - that would not be consistent with any of the positioning we've seen so far.

Uhm, Apple can't release an iPhone SDK until Leopard is out the door, as the iPhone already has Leopard's Core frameworks. Now, that Leopard is here, those software engineers can finish the SDK.

I'm surprised that they won't release it at the MW in January. I suppose MW already has a full slate of new toys.

@MacSheikh

Gee, MacSheikh, don't you just know it was all the "whiners" who got Stevie to change his mind? Ok, ok, it really wasn't the whiners. It was the developers who showed Apple what a great little computer the iPhone is.

Can you feel the the market share draining away from MS?

Consumers will reward a company that does it right and cares about them and their interaction with products.

MS has many market share points to lose, Apple has much to gain.

aww, i submitted this bit of news too. =(

at any rate, it's really great (insanely great?) that an SDK is coming. i'm finding it harder and harder to not buy an ipod touch. this is the little candies that are on the icing (dot.tunes plugin for ipod touch) on the cake! i've never been more tempted to get an ipod than now (to replace my 5G that stopped playing video a few months back) =(

Amen and hallelujah, Steve Jobs!!

Of course he didn't mention what the SDK would allow.
Has nobody considered the SDK may ONLY aid SAFARI BASED applications . . .

I bought an iPod touch - frickin' amazing.

This is good news, but not unexpected.

Back in May at All Things Digital, I think, Steve strongly implied that 3d party apps would come to iPhone, but that the company wanted to do it right and that would take time. He asked for patience. Not many people listened.

Anyway, based on that comment, it seems that third party apps were always the plan, and that this development was not forced on him by vocal whiners and by the hacking community.

Sometimes it just takes a little patience.

It's call software development.

You have the finish the basic OS before you can develop the developer's kit. If Apple had waited for a completed developer's kit, the iPhone would still be a rumor.

HELL YEAH!!!

I'm getting my iPhone!!

Why would you need an SDK to "aid Safari based applications"? That was the purpose of web apps, that you didn't need an SDK.

And he specifically mentioned native apps.

There sure seem to be a lot of people around here that just *knew* that SJ never intended to have 3rd party apps on the iPhone, and it's all because of either the whiners or the hackers or both that we have to thank for his supposed "change of mind".

And now, in the grand tradition, you have people telling us, "Oh, it'll only be widgets, not 'true' apps."

I can't imagine how so many know so much. If I had that sort of insight, I'd be cleaning up in the stock market.

Steve had me at "let me".

FINALLY!

No not finally there is confirmation that there will be an SDK for third party developers... I mean FINALLY all the whiners complaining about Apples refusal to allow third party apps will quit their sniveling! OK I guess that is a bit much to ask for... but could we all just learn to be a little more patient? Let the product mature a little. Give Apple the benefit of the doubt once in awhile. Apple has done a great job of getting an excellent product out into the marketplace. They had huge risk on this project and didn't want to screw it up - they still do - and they will take the time necessary to do it right (or try to). THAT is what I like about Apple. Not that they always get it right, but that they try, and they work at it, so that my experience with their products is (normally) excellent.

I think Steve would have liked to have said this when he announced the iPhone, but needed to wait until things were ready (or more ready). I predict in a year or two we will all look back at this and once again be amazed at how Steve and Apple handled the iPhone introduction with such foresight and wisdom.

Just my 2 cents anyway...

Awesome, just awesome. Now those Nokia, BB, Treo, LG and Windows Mobile iPhone wannabe can STFU! iPhone will just slam these guys to nowhere land real soon!!

Wooooooo Hoooooooo!

Whatever you say Steve. Third party apps? Woooooo Hooooooo! You're still a greedy bastard, Stevie, but I'd love to suck your toes.

Wooooooo Hoooooooo!

I suspect this SDK will also be for the rumored MacTablet being announced in January... hence the delay.

I love how steve makes us beg

not that I was

As I've been saying all along. And it's not ask and you will receive. It's been coming all along.

At Mossberg's D conference and in interviews, Jobs talked specifically of the problem of security. He mentioned sandboxes and what not, and said that he thinks his engineers have figured out a solution and everyone needs to just wait. That's why I can't stand the idiotic journalists and bloggers that just kept repeating the crap from the hackers without doing any research.

So from Apple to those idiots, this is a big "FU"

Jehova! How many times did hell froze over in the last years?

Steve knew it all along: Not many people listened.

Do you know any Apple naysayers that do?

You people assume a lot.

iWidgets.

Wait.

I've always been bemused by the idea that the whiners had that Apple would produce something as magnificent as the iPhone, and not exploit the device's full potential; that somehow the hackers are smarter & cooler, and understand the iPhone's true potential while Jobs is a miopic killjoy who wants to stop everyone from having fun. Unlike everyone else who has been making crappy cellphones the last 15 years or so, Apple has a pretty good plan.

From http://d5.allthingsd.com/20070530/steve-jobs-ceo-of-apple/ which is a shortened highlights version of the full interview:

1:15 p.m.: Is the iPhone’s platform closed? And if it is, will it be open to developers in the future? Jobs says it’s a security issue, but Apple is working to find a way to allow developers to build applications for it. Jobs says he doesn’t want the iPhone to be “one of those phones that crashes a few times a day.” He adds: “We would like to solve this problem and if you could just be a little more patient with us, we’ll do it.”

Now you see, that's all I wanted to hear.

I've mentioned a few times that I have a great idea for an app that I want to develop for the iPhone (Don't worry--it's a niche thing that will only be useful for a few people). I haven't gone the hacker route, mostly because I don't have the time to futz around with undocumentated APIs and crap like that (as well as the fact that, as I understand it, the iPhone currently only supports enough Bluetooth to get the headphones working).

I'm in no hurry--I have plenty of other work to keep me busy. I just wanted to know one way or another whether I should develop this for the iPhone (via Cocoa) or whether I should go look at J2ME or OpenMoko or *shudder* Windows Mobile.

Thanks for the update, Steve.

Finally this can stop all the complaining, all you had to do is wait a few months. I guess we are all wrapped up too much in the gimmegimme gimme's

Now the tiddlywink whiney babies can go and buy their iPhone. What will they complain about next?

Will the third-party whiners please TFSU now?

I really, really like the idea of digitally-signed apps. It'll kinda be like a Good Housekeeping Seal or something. That way I'll be assured that I won't be putting crash-prone, network-clogging crap on my phone. That's been my biggest concern about third-party apps in the wild. Although, other than some simple games and a new version of iToner, I can't think of something I just gotta put on my iPhone that isn't already there.

The only people left to whine are the SIM unlockers. You guys have fun with your old, hacked firmware while the rest of us play with the latest third-party toys on the newest firmware.

Oh yeah, @ john, thanks for reminding people who forgot what SJ said way back in May about being patient for an SDK.

I want a pink iPhone porn widget with action that reorients from vertical to horizontal that also controls the vibrate function to brighten up those long commutes.

Now the annoying geeks living in the basement can FINALLY SHUT UP. We're all sick of your one-note complaining. Now be good little savants and find something else to complain about SOMEWHERE ELSE.

It seems likely that this was the plan all along.

Think about how far ahead of most other mobile platforms the iPhone is. Why do you think Apple was able to get such technology (specifically, a desktop-class OS on a phone) out way ahead of anyone else?

By making certain well-calculated sacrifices. No third-party native code at the start makes testing 1,000x easier because you can predict and test every possible usage scenario. It also means your frameworks can be buggy or incomplete - the only functionality you have to make work is what your own apps will use. Finally, it means you can bypass many local security considerations (and they clearly did; you've heard how all iPhones have the same user account on them and all the apps essentially run as root), which further simplifies development and testing.

Even after all this, they had to delay Leopard to get the thing done. I can't imagine what a scramble it must have been to release the iPhone when they did.

But so far the result has been very well-received by consumers, because the tradeoff was to get a revolutionary UI and device, with a great, mostly solid user experience, in people's hands NOW instead of later.

Time will tell if this was a smart strategy, but to me it seems like a brilliant example of "Think Different"

"Oh, it'll only be widgets, not 'true' apps."

What r u expecting- FinalCut Pro... on the iPhone???

THIS is fantastic news and a GREAT day! The day when the iPhone will become the halo device we all knew it could be is coming. There is now no doubt about its greatness. I will absolutely buy one now, maybe two.

MDN word: Had, as in I wish they had made this announcement when the released the iPhone, as it would have eliminated a lot of negative press and given third party developers solid reason to get a head start.

At last.

Not 'at last they've released an SDK' but, at last Leo Laporte & Andy Inahkto will stop bitching and moaning about this, and Mac Break Weekly will be about Mac's for once.

"Tipping Point" a la C1

I believe (with absolutely no evidence, of course) that the delay until February is to give enough time for the release of a second-generation iPhone, with updated hardware, that will allow use of 3rd-party apps

Now I finally start to understand the background of Jobs' statement: "iPhone is a revolutionary and magical product that is literally five years ahead of any other mobile phone".

It's from not knowing the competition.

Today, Nokia's strategy of third party development was misunderstood by Jobs:
Some companies are already taking action. Nokia, for example, is not allowing any applications to be loaded onto some of their newest phones unless they have a digital signature that can be traced back to a known developer.

I assume Jobs is referring to S60 operating system. Even unsigned applications can be installed, and these can access the majority of APIs after prompting the user to accept the application and its access to listed phone and OS features.

Revolutionary!!! The user can decide!!!

And no, 100% of APIs cannot be accessed, not even by signed applications.

And no, Nokia does not have OS X.

Nokia: Securing Developer Opportunities
http://www.nokia.com/A4211155

API: An application programming interface (API) is a source code interface that an operating system or library provides to support requests for services to be made of it by computer programs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Application_programming_interface

@ MikeK, don't forget, Apple's accounting for at least 2 years of updates for current iPhones, too.

And Steve corrects another Apple miscalculation. Go Apple. At least they learn quickly from their mistakes.