There was an Apple/Flash fight that started last spring. Apple shocked the app developer world Thursday when it announced that the business is soothing controversial restrictions on the tools programmers are allowed to use to develop iPhone and iPad apps. App acceptance guidelines could be released to the public also. Apple declared this as well. Steve Job’s made the announcement without really discussing Flash. Of course, the Flash app toolkit is within the app authorization method at present. Adobe can thank Apple for sending its stock soaring on the news.
The Apple/Flash feud
Apple made a list of approved languages that iPhone and iPad apps might be made on, which is why last April, the Apple/Flash fight began. PC World reports that Apple’s policy excluded Adobe Flash CS5 Flash Packager for iPhone and iPad. Adobe CS5 was mostly used for the iPhone with the Flash Packager. It was made for one reason. It was supposed to be a cross platform toolkit for other iPhone platforms as Adobe Flash. Then there was Steve Jobs. He thought that was a terrible plan. That has changed. It was different before. Thursday was the day things changed. It was all better. Developers have it easy with Flash now. They can make apps to run on Apple’s iOS while publishing it once and also run it on Google’s Android.
Public viewing Apple’s app approval process
Apple’s draconian app approval process has not only been modified, it’s being made public. The Apple App Store Review Guidelines used to be secret rules that decided on whether or not the iPhone or iPad would allow the developer’s app to be used. Wired reports that uncertainty about App Store approval has been keeping lots of top flight development talent from creating iPhone and iPad apps and leading to a proliferation of “fart apps” (junk applications). Before Thursday’s announcement, developers would not know if they had broken a rule until their app was rejected by Apple. There was so much wasted time because of this. Cash was wasted by it as well. Programmers just want to know what the rules are, although what they are doesn’t really matter, says Wired.
Why Apple made a different decision
There was no explanation from Apple as to why it is changing its mind about Adobe Flash and other third-party tools. It also didn’t say why it is releasing Store Review Guidelines. Philip Elmer-DeWitt at Fortune is just one of the bloggers that has made his own opinion on what happened. The leading theories, according to DeWitt, are developer feedback, competition and regulation. It wasn’t because of feedback he says. This is because Apple generally does whatever it wants and doesn’t care about others. Competition from Android-powered smartphones and a coming wave of Android tablets no doubt makes Apple feel threatened. The Apple/Flash feud has caused an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission on Apple. It is investigating the ban on cross-development platforms by Apple. Apple is not as lucky as Adobe. Adobe got what it wanted.
Additional reading
PC World
pcworld.com/article/205114/apple_lifts_app_store_approval_shroud_for_developers.html?tk=hp_new
Wired
wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/09/apple-lifts-app-store-flash-ban-publishes-app-review-rules/
Fortune
tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/09/09/why-did-apple-lift-its-ban-on-flash/
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