News: iPhone/iPod SDK: Apple to approve, distribute apps, limit add-ons
iPhone/iPod SDK: Apple to approve, distribute apps, limit add-ons — According to several sources familiar with Apple's iPhone and iPod touch software development kit (SDK) plans, the company will use a March 6 event in Cupertino …
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple had said in October 2007 that developers would receive an iPhone SDK in February, but coverage then flagged the missed February timing as the March 6 road-map event approached. Apple has confirmed the event invitation, making the SDK’s distribution rules the central unresolved issue.
The reported approval-and-distribution model is unconfirmed, but it would answer the earlier question of how far Apple would open the iPhone: developers could gain an official route to users without Apple giving up control over what runs on the devices.
First-order effects
- If the reported plan is adopted, iPhone and iPod touch developers would need Apple approval and its distribution channel rather than relying on unrestricted add-ons.
- Apple would become the gatekeeper for both application access and the kinds of software extensions permitted on its mobile devices.
Second-order effects
- Developers would have to design products around Apple’s acceptance rules, concentrating launch and discovery through the company’s distribution mechanism.
- The approach would give Apple a way to preserve the iPhone’s tightly managed software environment while expanding the range of third-party applications available to buyers.
Third-order effects
- If Apple applies approval-based SDK governance consistently, mobile software platforms may compete on the terms of access they offer developers, not only on device capabilities.
- The arrangement points toward a platform model in which the device maker mediates the relationship between developers and users, trading openness for centralized oversight.
The trend: The iPhone SDK debate is becoming a test of whether mobile platforms can broaden third-party development while retaining device-maker control over distribution and add-ons.