The App Store has revolutionized the way mobile applications are developed and distributed. With over 250,000 apps and 6.5 billion downloads, the App Store has become the world’s largest mobile application platform and App Store developers have earned over one billion dollars from the sales of their apps.
We are continually trying to make the App Store even better. We have listened to our developers and taken much of their feedback to heart. Based on their input, today we are making some important changes to our iOS Developer Program license in sections 3.3.1, 3.3.2 and 3.3.9 to relax some restrictions we put in place earlier this year.
In particular, we are relaxing all restrictions on the development tools used to create iOS apps, as long as the resulting apps do not download any code. This should give developers the flexibility they want, while preserving the security we need.
In addition, for the first time we are publishing the App Store Review Guidelines to help developers understand how we review submitted apps. We hope it will make us more transparent and help our developers create even more successful apps for the App Store.
The App Store is perhaps the most important milestone in the history of mobile software. Working together with our developers, we will continue to surprise and delight our users with innovative mobile apps.
Source: Apple Inc.
MacDailyNews Note (added 11:30am EDT): This does not mean Apple iPhone, iPod, and iPad users will be able to use Adobe Flash while browsing the Web. This is about using third-party tools to develope iOS apps.
Read more about the changes via Daring Fireball here.
MacDailyNews Take: So, how’s it feel to be jerked around, Adobe? You guys like it? Jump little doggy! Now roll over and play dead.
Looks like the FTC, the EC and whatever other acronyms are going to have to find other things on which to waste the taxpayers’ money. We’re sure they’ll all have no problem doing so.
Obviously, developers having App Store Review Guidelines is a Very Good Thing™.
Hopefully, these moves will result in innovative apps, not just a proliferation of lowest common denominator app excretion. We don’t need a bunch of crappy ports that fail to take advantage of iOS’ unique capabilities.
So from now many of you apple policy haters should shut up and relax, take a rest, cause dogs are barking!! South Park S02e01 !!!!!
Great news. This means I can use RunRev mobile.
This should satisfy government regulators, but hope it doesn’t pollute the app store.
Who cares. Apple sucks flash rulz.
Apple is too open!
I think that the review guidelines finally being spelled out and transparent is HUGE and great for Apple. But I’m concerned that the developer tools compromise may not be as positive.
@Gotya “Who cares. Apple sucks flash rulz”
I don’t know about this. I really didn’t think about Flash much until this whole crusade, for and against Flash, evolved. I do know that my Macbook Pro would freeze up from time to time and that recently it became unbearable. I solved the problem by installing a free product called “ClickToFlash” whereby Flash only runs if I click on the graphic.
So I would say instead “Apple sucks if Flash runs”
Does this means we can use flash to develope ios apps now?
@Macky
Yep, via Adobe’s AIR technology that bundles the Flash runtime and associated frameworks into a stand-alone app. This will also allow RunRev, RealBasic and many other popular dev tools to create apps for iOS.
Excellent news indeed, glad to see Steve wised up
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@Macky
if yes then I hope they enforce the addition of letting people know what the game or app was made of in the review before people purchase.
Oh and poor MDN, try to contain your bitter dissapointment about this please. This is a win for everyone (including Adobe) except you and goes to show how stupid all your “kill Flash/no Flash on the iOS” rhetoric is.
No flash will be used on any of Mac’s or my touch. Flash is a rotten product. Clicktoflash is great.
I wish they still would block Adoble and it’s flash crap.
So does this mean that adobe is no longer lazy MDN. Gosh since Steve agreed to it this must mean it’s ok to like flash again. If Steve said the sky was green would you also then parrot the party line?
I always felt the restriction on using AIR for app dev was a little over the top and a bit of sour grapes on Apples part that Adobe found a work around to their “no flash” stance. I do not believe that this is going to lead to a wholesale watering down of quality apps in the app store. This could just have the reverse effect. Publishing the App Store review guidelines seems like an idea that should have been implemented a long time ago. Kudos to Apple on both parts
@jtc Good idea. Create a separate category for non-Objective C apps and let the market decide.
@ grwisher – Ditto. ClickToFlash eliminated Safari freezes completely. Also, no more 150% processor loads.
Dear morons,
This announcement has nothing to do with viewing Flash content on iOS devices.
This is about using third-party development tools, including Adobe’s, among many others’, in the creation of iOS apps.
Now Apple has to have a tighter filter to strain out a trillion crappy written apps that will bog down the app store. There will be a price to pay with this move.
We want quality apps.
From what I see of it, Unity (gaming development platform) got things right: their program generates XCode that then compiles and builds, creating a “native” app via a higher level development platform. That’s a pretty cool solution!
This is good news for MacRuby developers.
This licensing change allows apps on iOS built with Adobe’s AIR technology. AIR is basically the Flash Player + a bunch of additional libraries embedded into a stand-alone application. This has nothing whatsoever to do with Flash in the browser. There will still be no Flash in mobile Safari so you pillars of wisdom out there who are still whining about Flash problems in Safari can chill.
This is about being able to create STAND-ALONE apps just like all the other apps in the app store, not web based apps used via mobile Safari.
And now you can do this with many more tools other than Apple’s XCode/ObjectiveC which is very good news for the platform because the developer community just grew much bigger.
Dear (not so) Superior Being,
This is also about flash. Flash CS5 can be used to write iOS apps, but Apple refused to accept apps written this way.
This just means you can use Textpad to write your app and compile it in the terminal if you want to, as long as the result is iOS native. Personally I think Xcode 4 has just surpassed many of the popular IDEs out there.
@figurative. What is the learning curve with runrev? Do coiled apps run as fast as regular apps? Thx.