iPhone OS 4.0 Developer Agreement Defended by Steve Jobs

When the new Apple [AAPL] OS was announced last week, some changes to the development process also changed. The changes to iPhone OS 4.0 included the lack of ability to develop applications in anything other than Objective-C, C, C++ or JavaScript as executed by iPhone OS WebKit engine. What that means is software such as the Adobe iPhone Compiler now cannot be used.

If you remember over the last few years, Apple have never allowed Flash to work on the iPhone OS. After a few years of trying, Adobe recently changed their approach by creating software that allowed native applications to be compatible with the iPhone that were created originally in Flash and then converted to an app. This is now not allowed on the new OS which has upset Adobe.

Greg Slepak wrote to Steve Jobs when finding this out…

Slepak told Jobs he believed the reaction to the change across the entire internet was negative, including from Daring Fireball’s John Gruber, who Slepak called Jobs’ “biggest fan.” Jobs reportedly responded by sending a link to Gruber’s commentary on why Apple changed section 3.1.1 of its developer agreement. “We think John Gruber’s post is very insightful and not negative,” the Apple CEO allegedly said.

Writing back to Jobs Slepak said that Apple are “limiting creativity itself” to which Jobs replied… “We’ve been there before, and intermediate layers between the platform and the developer ultimately produces sub-standard apps and hinders the progress of the platform”

It seems that Apple are not going to change their stance any time soon and that Adobe have been essentially shut out.

Via: Apple Insider and GG

Speak Your Mind