Apple’s iPhone, iPod touch developer “tools look awesome — far better and more advanced than what most Mac developers were expecting,” John Gruber writes for Daring Fireball.
“The tools are, unsurprisingly, Mac-only. It’s a new version of the same Xcode and Interface Builder (and performance tuning) apps that Mac developers use today. This has the potential to do for Windows developers what the iPod did for Windows users — move them to the Mac,” Gruber writes.
The iPhone/iPod touch games will “make the iPhone analogous to the Wii, in that it opens up new concepts in game UI design,” Gruber writes.
“Apple’s 30/70 split with developers is steep, but initial reaction from the developers I follow on Twitter seems to be positive,” Gruber writes. “The reasons developers are willing to accept a 70/30 split are simple: convenience and exposure… The $99 fee for getting your app listed in the store is a no-brainer. A bummer, perhaps, for the student set, but I suspect it’s intended as a bozo filter to keep the process from being inundated with glorified do-little “Hello World” apps. (I’m almost certain even freeware apps require the $99 listing fee — although that fee is per-developer, not per-app.)”
Gruber writes, “In short, what developers lose per-transaction from Apple’s 30 percent take, they can more than make up for in volume. This is going to be a gold rush.”
More in the full article here.
This will be a great system.
You’ve got an iPhone or iPod touch. You automatically use iTunes. You go the the iTunes Store to find an app that interests you and buy it.
One place to look and buy. Simple and straightforward.
And the best thing for developers?
There’s only ONE place to find your iPhone apps.
There’s only ONE place to sell your iPhone apps.
I only hope there’s some form of trial period for apps. Shareware-like. This would be the kicker.
Who could complain about it?