My Take on iPhone SDK Section 3.3.1

Written by on Apr 12, 2010

After reading this post, I have a few things I'd like to say.

I see both sides of the fence. One can look at Apple's position and be taken back by it, but only if they are seeing it from one perspective. A "lock in" perspective. That may not even be the case. Quality of software may indeed be the driving force behind the move.

Apple is definitely trying to position the iPhone and iPad separately from desktop and laptop computers, so comparing them is not going to work. Saying that cross-platform frameworks as the basis for software development on the Mac has produced some quality applications is skating over the surface of the real underlying issues that Apple is trying to solve by enforcing Xcode as the sole development environment for iPhone and iPad software. Even though their mobile devices run a variant of OS X, which itself is based on 30 years of UNIX underpinnings, it's still a baby platform. I don't think Apple is wrong to proceed carefully and cautiously.

Apple doesn't want to shut down creativity, but rather channel it through the approaches that best leverage the devices. 185,000 applications developed in the iPhone's 3 years of existence (average 5138 new apps per month, not including version updates!) speaks volumes about Apple's motivations and success in building up the platform to high standards.  Even if 10% of those developers really put a lot of creativity into their apps, that's still 18,500 apps. How many do you have on your iPhone? Apple has hardy blocked creativity with their approach so far.

Then there's the anti-competitive agreement. I think this, too, goes back to Apple ensuring that apps developed for their devices can leverage the best out of the hardware and software. Apple doesn't have control or even much influence over Adobe's Flash platform. Flash has remained poor on OS X years after the iPhone launched. Is that Apple's fault? I think Adobe needs a little bit of time in the corner for how they've neglected the OS X platform.

I don't want to sound like I'm defending Apple. I'm merely saying that I can see what may be their motivations. Should it be about lock-in and anti-competitiveness, well they'd get what was coming to them. We can look at any situation from a positive or a negative perspective. I choose positive. I choose to believe that Apple is simply trying to build up a great experience for developers and consumers, and their recipe for success has been an end-to-end package. The whole widget.

Apple's developer tools (Xcode et al) are state of the art. Frankly, I find it difficult to see why developers would want to use something else. Is it about not wanting to learn a new development toolset? If some developers would just list *why* Xcode is not their best toolkit, I might begin to see their perspective a bit more.

Finally, I think developers need to have some more patience. The iPhone/iPad platform is just a baby. Eventually, over time, it will mature and the development opportunities will expand. I strongly believe that. Expecting to have it all right now is short-sighted. The mobile space was reborn and Apple is playing their cards carefully.