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After months of vehement proclamations that the iPhone would support only third-party applications over a Web browser, Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs announced Wednesday in an open letter on the Apple Web site that the company will release a software development kit (SDK) to developers in February. The kit would allow software makers to create iPhone applications that would reside on the phone itself, not on the Web.
"We want native third-party applications on the iPhone, and we plan to have an SDK in developers' hands in February," Jobs wrote. "We are excited about creating a vibrant third-party developer community around the iPhone and enabling hundreds of new applications for our users.
"With our revolutionary multi-touch interface, powerful hardware and advanced software architecture, we believe we have created the best mobile platform ever for developers," he added.
The SDK will cover both the iPhone as well as the recently released iPod touch.
Joining the Club
Apple's decision to open up the iPhone and touch to outside developers is a step many users and industry watchers have been hoping for and demanding since the device's release. So great was the desire for third-party applications that many iPhone users and more recently iPod touch users have taken it upon themselves to crack the gadgets and install everything from banking programs to games.
For iPhone users, unauthorized iPhone unlocks took a bad turn when Apple released a firmware update that turned the high-priced devices into expensive paper weights. On Monday a 13-year old hacker known as "AriX" released software, iJailbreak, which he said would free the iPod touch from bondage automatically with just one restart. His program joins several others for the touch and the iPhone.
More experienced mobile handset makers and mobile software developers such as Nokia (NYSE: NOK) and Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) have long since opened their platforms and now host robust communities of third party developers.
The ability to augment or enhance a mobile device with programs from outside developers is an integral part of the smartphone market -- so much so that some believe any phone that cannot host third-party apps cannot be called a "smartphone." That's how Bill Hughes, an analyst at In-Stat, viewed the iPhone.
"[That's] primarily because third-party applications could not run on it," he told MacNewsWorld. "Now that there is an SDK, I am still not sure if I consider it to be a smartphone. If the SDK is as restrictive as it sounds, I expect that it will not truly allow 'native' applications to run."
However, he added, there is not enough information in the announcement to tell for certain.
"This announcement sounds like a compromise and that there is a hidden objective masked by what is otherwise a good argument," Hughes continued.
Secure Opening
The SDK will not be available until February because the iPhone maker must straddle the divide between offering an "advanced and open platform" and ensuring that the popular device does not fall prey to a multitude of viruses, malware, privacy attacks and other malicious software, Apple said.
"This is no easy task," Jobs said. "Some claim that viruses and malware are not a problem on mobile phones -- this is simply not true. There have been serious viruses on other mobile phones already, including some that silently spread from phone to phone over the cell network."
As mobile phones become increasingly more powerful, he added, so too will the malevolent programs that will pose a greater and greater threat.
"Since the iPhone is the most advanced phone ever, it will be a highly visible target," Jobs wrote.
Jobs pointed to security measures enacted by Nokia which will not allow users to load any applications onto some of the Finnish manufacturer's newest handsets unless they have a digital signature through which the company can trace the program to its developer.
Although that will result in a "less than 'totally open'" platform, it is a "step in the right direction," Jobs noted.
Apple will probably implement some kind of application certification program with app signing in order to assure the reliability and security of the programs available, Charles Golvin, a Forrester Research analyst, told MacNewsWorld.
Although security was certainly part of the reason Apple has not opened the iPhone up to other developers, he said, business considerations were also involved.
"Apple would like to participate in the revenue these apps generate, much as Qualcomm participates in the Brew ecosystem by certifying applications," he said.
Sounds Good, But...
Security, said Hughes, is not the "real reason, but who can argue with it?" Since the device runs OS X operating system (OS), it should include security built into the OS.
"My guess is that the iPhone does not have the horsepower for a lot of applications," he stated. "They also probably made compromises in the OS to make it fit on the iPhone. Of course, someone will need to make sure that these applications do not interfere with each other."
Apple, Hughes continued, will not want to have to "play referee" for two third-party developers trying to claim the same iPhone resource and clash. "To make the OS X fit into the iPhone, they may have taken out some of the code that protects against some conflicts.
"Mr. Jobs' argument only makes sense if they stripped all the security from the OS X to make it fit in the iPhone," Hughes pointed out. "That would indeed be a problem. My view is that the wireless world is not more or less at risk of hacking that the wired world.
"The SDK would offer the protection of an SDK," he continued. "That would be a bad architectural decision, but they may not have a choice at this point if indeed that is what they did.
"Apparently, the Apple ecosystem wants in on the iPhone hype. Rather than continuing to tell them 'no' and having them stay angry, Apple is telling them not to expect much and it will be here in four months before you can even get started," Hughes opined.
The switch boils down to Apple having to face the "realities of the market," Josh Martin, a Yankee Group analyst, told MacNewsWorld.
"Maybe Apple's inexperience in the handset space or maybe it was their intention all along, but they didn't want to promise something they couldn't deliver but had on their roadmap," he said. "But ultimately the reality of the situation is that this is an important step for them to make their product more mass market."
Brave New iPhone?
Opening up the iPhone's platform will help Apple compete with manufacturers that in the near future are really going to begin creating products that will rival the iPhone, Martin noted.
"The Nokias and Motorolas of the world are going to take advantage of their developer community to not only offer great handsets but also to offer great software," he continued.
As for upcoming software, the possibilities are as wide as the abilities of the developers, Martin stated.
"It remains to be seen. It could be anything from a banking applications to a sling player on the iPhone. I think it is limited to the imagination of the development community, which has regularly demonstrated that they are not often wanting for the challenge," he pointed out.
Hughes' view is not so optimistic, especially given what he said is a too-quick turnaround by Apple to push the SDK out by February. "There will undoubtedly be iPhone applications, but I doubt they will be much more exciting than what you can get with the Java-Mobile Edition today," he explained. "You can run Java applications on almost any phone today. This is a plus, but not revolutionary.
"I see this as being forced to reverse a hard decision to not support an SDK. February would be a rush job for a software package. At the end of the day, I believe that this statement will disappoint everyone," he concluded. "In that way it is like the price cut on the iPhone. You can put a good spin on it, but still, lots of important people are upset."
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