The Apple/Flash feud that started last spring appears to have run its course. Apple shocked the app programmer world Thursday when it announced that the company is soothing controversial limits on the tools programmers are allowed to use to generate iPhone and iPad apps. Everybody was more shock when Apple explained it would let the public see its app authorization guidelines. Apple didn’t say that Flash was going to be used now in Steve Jobs’ statement, however now Adobe’s common app toolkit is accessible. Adobe can thank Apple for sending its stock soaring on the news.
All about the feud between Apple and Flash
Apple made a list of approved languages that iPhone and iPad apps might be made on, which is why last April, the Apple/Flash feud began. Apple’s policy made it so Adobe Flash CS5 Flash Packager couldn’t be used on the iPhone and iPad. This comes from PC World. Flash Packager for iPhone was the anchor feature of Adobe CS5. The iPhone’s other platforms were what the Adobe’s Flash cross-platform toolkit was made for. Steve Jobs didn’t like that idea. That has changed. It was different before. On Thursday, all was forgiven. Developers only have to publish apps once and can run them on Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android.
Public gets to see app approval process for Apple
Apple’s draconian app approval process has not only been modified, it’s being made public. Apple is publishing its App Store Review Guidelines, a formerly secret set of rules determining whether a developer’s app is approved for the iPhone or iPad. Wired reports that uncertainty about App Store approval has been keeping a lot 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. Money was wasted by it as well. But Wired contends that developers do not care what the rules are, as long as they know what they’re.
Why Apple changed
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 usually does whatever it wants and doesn’t care about others. There is a good chance the Android-powered smartphones and Android tablets are part of this. Apple likely feels confronted by it all. 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. Adobe has received precisely what it prepared from Apple.
Find more information on this subject
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/
