iPhone Open to Third Party Applications
06.06.07 - 04:00pm
Developers are excited! They may get to write application for the iPhone after all.
Initially Apple was largely criticized for not allowing third party development applications for the iPhone after people interpreted a statement Steve Jobs made to the New York Times as a dismissal of third party involvement.
The statement was, “We define everything that is on the phone. You don’t want your phone to be like a PC. The last thing you want is to have loaded three apps on your phone and then you go to make a call and it doesn’t work anymore.”
Jobs seemed to clarify the statement however at a the D: all Things Digital Conference saying, “We’re working through a way to support third-party development. We’ve got some pretty good ideas that we’re working through, and I think sometime later this year we will find a way to let third parties write applications and still preserve security.”
“Nobody’s perfect, but we sure don’t want our phone to crash,” Jobs went on to say, “We would like to solve this problem, if you could be just a little more patient with us, I think everyone can get what they want.”
The result was enthusiasm amongst possible third party developers. Austin Sarner, the developer of AppZapper and Disco said, “Overall, I think this is a great decision on Apple’s part. Apple really excels at creating a solid foundation for a community of users and developers, and the iPhone seems no different.”
“I can understand their concern where they don’t want after-market apps taking down the whole phone network,” said iClip developer John Casanata, who called last week’s comments by Jobs “fantastic. I’m sure it’s doable to have a good balance between safety and development freedom.”
“This opens up new opportunities and new revenue streams for Apple and the developers,” said Ross Rubin, director of analysis at NPD Group. “This makes it a more appealing prospect for customers who will have more options and be able to customize the iPhone to fit their needs.”
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