Gizmodo
According to Apple, "no software developer kit is required for the iPhone." However, the truth is that the lack of an SDK means that there won't be a killer application for the iPhone. It also means the iPhone's potential as an amazing computing and communication platform will never be realized. And because of this I don't think the iPhone will be as revolutionary as it could be. That's a real heart breaker.
[UPDATED]
Steve Jobs initially sold the iPhone as the Next Big Thing from Apple, just like the Macintosh was. The Macintosh really broke the mold. While not as groundbreaking, the iPhone is an intelligent and clean implementation of existing things. Really intelligent, really clean, like the Mac. Unlike the original Mac, however, developers won't have full access to its core features. Without them there won't be the equivalent of PageMaker, Photoshop, Word or Premiere in the iPhone, powerful applications taking full advantage of the unique capabilities of the hardware, the operating system and its frameworks.
Those applications spawned two revolutions: desktop publishing (including photo editing) and desktop video. It was the Mac and its third-party apps that brought radical changes that have deeply affected us, not the Mac alone.
On the iPhone, however, developers will be limited to developing Web applications based on AJAX, a set of Internet standards that make software like GMail, Google Maps or FaceBook possible. The iPhone is the real thing, a complete UNIX-to-go with stunning graphic classes, and developers will be limited to do stuff like this.
Mind you, AJAX is great for what it does on the Web today, but is limited. All we know is this, from the press release:
Developers can create Web 2.0 applications which look and behave just like the applications built into iPhone, and which can seamlessly access iPhone's services, including making a phone call, sending an email and displaying a location in Google Maps.
This is nothing new, however. We knew this from the very beginning because iPhone's Safari was already doing it. It's called auto-detection of phone numbers and addresses: you click on a phone or address in your web page and it gets passed by Safari to the operating system, which calls the number or shows the address in the Google Maps app. In other words, they are trying to sell us the same thing we already had when the iPhone was introduced and the same thing we already have in Mac OS X's Safari.
So unless they show something boomtastic in the sessions, this will not change. To see how powerful AJAX applications on the iPhone could be, a million questions will have to be answered this week. Questions like:
- Would I be able to access the iPhone databases from Safari and query them from my AJAX application? Looking at Jobs' stress on security, it doesn't look like this will be possible.
- Would I be able store data locally beyond cookies? Probably the same answer.
- How will these application perform over limited EDGE connections? Will I have to do a painful download for the whole app, instead of just the data?
- How will the connection limit the interactive possibilities?
- How is the access to iPhone's hardware? Would I be able to access iPhone's hardware to connect to an infrared scanner via Bluetooth and create an amazing sales or logistics application? How about Multitouch?
If AJAX is that good and the developers don't need an SDK, why has Apple built a dedicated Mail application or Google Maps software into the iPhone? Why not just reformat the CSS on the Web and open a special view to .Mac mail, Gmail or Google Maps made just for iPhone Safari users ?
Maybe because to do the cool stuff that iPhone's Maps do, you need to access all the cool Mac OS X classes that iPhones have.
Now, I'm sure that there will be great AJAX applications created for the iPhone, specially at the corporate level, like in the Keynote Demo. But what is important here is that we won't have sexy apps. This is what Apple needs to make the iPhone not just great, but huge. A true revolutionary product. Otherwise, we will keep asking where are we going to find the killer apps that made the Mac what is today; where is the next Delicious Library-equivalent for the iPhone; where are the games. Just think about those, as Apple stresses its relationship with EA and id software. There's a great potential for games in the iPhone, which with multi-touch could be a Nintendo DS 2.0 in the making. As Nintendo fans will tell you, a Flash game (which provides with even better flexibility than AJAX) is not a substitute for a real Wii game. And the next big games never come from the established big developers who may, at the end, be the only ones with access to the secret iPhone SDK at use in Apple.
So no SDK == no access to iPhone's cool frameworks == no revolutionary apps, no real new concepts coming from third-parties, no eye candy available for anyone but Apple and no possibility for some really crazy games that will fully exploit the graphic and multi-touch power of the iPhone.
In other words
[12:37AM 6/12/07, Edited by B.Lam.]
Update 10:00AM PST 6/12/07 Think Secret is speculating that, with full support for Google Apps in Safari 3, the iPhone may also have access to Google Docs and Spreadsheets. Many will say that this solves one of the main concerns about the iPhone's viability as a business platform, despite the lack of an SDK to make specialized applications.
However, and even assuming that these could be viable alternatives to potential users looking for both complete Word and Excel viewing and light editing, Google Apps are hardly the killer applications I am talking about in this article. They are just current (and blah) productivity software that will not take advantage of the iPhone's unique features.
Comments
umm... I dont think the ipod had a SDK, i could be wrong, but that did not stop people from cracking it. Also I understand that the ipod is not really a computing device in the traditional sense, but i think hackers will go after the iphone even harder than the ipod.
ipod started a revolution without a developers kit.
Yea, the iPhone will be cracked and 3rd party apps will hit. Take that one to the bank. It's happened to plenty of other "closed" phones.
Leaked official Apple iPhone SDK + hardware mod or some kind of software exploit.
Tell us how you really feel.
Personally, I couldn't care less. Every product that plops from the Apple tailpipe is hailed as The Revolution or as something that will "...change the concept of what we understand as a communication device this century." More Apple fanyboi fappery, no doubt.
I'm still waiting for any evidence of this to be the case with the iphone. I will agree that Apple hamstrings itself by not producing a SDK, but Apple has seemed to hold a "Jobs Way or The Highway" attitude as of late. "No SDK for joo" sounds like business as usual. Not surprising.
Still, let's see what the market does with this latest Apple product. I'm sure we'll all be surprised by what happens, no matter what happens.
there's plenty of time for an sdk to be released. this is just an initial foray into it.
I agree it sucks but this is just Rev 1.
Leave iJesus alone.
Steve did not say that the apps could not be stored locally, all he said was that they would be AJAX based. They could make an application which transfers a directory containing an application to the iPhone and then running locally, it would just run through the browser. I hat to make this comparison but it is like the PSP. When sony locked down the PSP, people designed web applications that were stored locally on the PSP. I think the only limit that developers will have is AJAX, but apple is touting a full safari browser on the iPhone so it is possible that JAVA or Flash will be integrated, opening up even more possibilities.
Well, maybe. If it's anything like the Dashboard, you'll be able to call out to Cocoa APIs from Javascript. Which means that this will be pretty powerful and pretty stable.
No, it won't be as great as a true SDK, but it's not as dire as you make it out to be.
Personally, I won't be happy until my phone runs Apache, and people can call me by logging into my server.
You know, I do not like this iPhone idea.
1. First and foremost 600 Dollars, If you are trying to reach out to Teens or young adults, a big-ass price tag AS WELL as a 2 year contract is most definitely not the way, thats like forcing people to download music via iTunes Music Store if they want to get music on their ipod.
2. Touch Sensitive typing, Maybe this is just me, but when Steve first showed the iPhone to the public and he was typing in "Starbucks" he held it with one hand, and literally poked at it with his finger. Granted, it was very accurate and he made zero mistakes, but can you imagine texting/e-mailing someone with it? Or, better yet, imagine you are giving someone directions to where you are, one poke at a time. Teens now (at least where i am) want to be "cool" they have there cell phone in one hand, and text like that, with the iPhone as i said before, you have to not only use 2 hands, but the idea of "Poking" just makes no sense to me.
3. This is on par with #1, but to use the iPhone as Steve was when he showed the Demo, you will need the following: (Ill even include the 500 phone, and not the 600, just to "save" money
iPhone (500 dollars)
2 years of a plan 39.99/mo or 59.99/mo (960-1440)
2 years of Texting 4.99 for 200, 19.99 for unlimited (120-480)
Case (dont want to scratch that beautiful screen) (15-25)
----------------------
And this isn't even including Data plans
So, the LEAST amount you can spend is:
1,595 in 2 years time, on ONLY a single phone.
but most people arent gonna want only 200 text, and only 450 minutes a month, lets up that up to 900 minutes and unlimited text (this is where it gets good) and why not an 8gb ipod?
Grand Total: 2,545 for 2 years of iPhone.
Remember, this is even BEFORE DATA plans which allow you to go on the internet. All of a sudden this isnt looking too affordable for a 14-25 yr old.
4. One of the things i mentioned in #3 was the case, this is unproven (at least i havnt heard anything about this) but it looks to me that the iPhone is the SAME glossy finish as the ipod does, which will obviously require a case, these will probably be little strips of plastic (much like the invisible shield) as the iphone is touch sensitive.
5. This is getting long, i know, I just hate the iPhone with a fiery passion, what can i say?
Sadly, its an iPod deep down, I dont think apple is going to steal a large portion of the Market Share, but i do believe they will definitely get their own little chunk (damn!). As this is sure one hyped up phone... and hell, i could be totally wrong about everything, AT&T could offer a special plan just for the iPhone, and the touch-screen could kick ass, and be incredibly easy.. Who knows?!?
But i sure as hell DO NOT have 600 dollars to spend on a flippin' phone!
Of course there's no sdk. Yet. Of course there'll be one.
...i sure hope they got the battery lasting more than 2 hours though.
...and Apple "poo-poos" on developers the world round ):
While I agree that not having an SDK/open playform will hinder the amount of programs, quality is not beyond reach.
First off: your mac comparison is half-cooked. Google is rapidly proving good word processors, etc, etc can be contained within browsers. So the insuation that killer apps are largely beyond ajax is a stretch.
Also: I for one would not want an open SDK, allowing anyone capable of code to potentially screw with the data on my cellphone.
I think it is only fair to look at this situation from Apple's perspective before damming the iPhone.
The iPhone is Apple's biggest product launch to date, if for no other reason then the fact that the market has built up massive expectations around the product. As of today, Apple is juggling a whole lot of moving parts at this point:
- An entirely new hardware architecture.
- An entirely new version of OS X to run on that architecture.
- An entirely new user interface paradigm.
- An entirely new, very close knit partnership with AT&T on a complex telecom network.
This combination of new "stuff" and massive consumer expectations is very likely freaking Apple out right now. Expectations for this product are just way out of control and it is very likely that there will be plenty of teething issues when the iPhone goes out into the wild. Releasing a full-up SDK and giving the developer community unfettered access to the platform adds even more complexity to an already complex product launch.
And from Apple's perspective, there is very limited upside. Out of the box, the iPhone has enough tricks up it's sleeve that third party applications aren't necessary for users to gain a significant amount of utility from the product. Yea sure, geeky folks like us who read (and write) Gizmodo are going to want cool applications ASAP, but for the other 99% of iPhone buyers, it won't be a very big deal.
The thing is, there is PLENTY of downside risk to releasing an SDK right now. Crappy applications could crash the phone. Crappy applications could effect AT&T's network. An SDK might lock Apple into having to use certain embedded hardware. Badly designed applications could sour users to the interface. Developers might soak up Apple's engineering resources as they figure things out.
I am not a developer and I don't know how many of the downside risks I just listed are realistic, and here is the thing- neither do you. Nobody reading or writing this website has even held an iPhone, much less comment on how stable, reliable or sandboxed the platform is. Only Apple knows, and Apple is not a company run by idiots; they might not be totally up front with their reasons for not releasing an SDK yet, but I am sure they exist. And let us not forget the other wildcard: AT&T. We have no idea how much influence these guys have on the SDK issue or how they feel about an SDK.
Apple will eventually allow developers to build native iPhone applications, I am absolutely sure of it. To expect them to do that now, before the product is even launched, is asking a lot from a company that is obviously pushing very very hard to get such a complicated product out the door.
Plus: I'm not in the mood to have office crash on me when I need to make a call.
Christ relax! There will be an SDK, eventually, just not straight away. In the meantime, there will be 3rd party apps, but only those approved by Apple and written in partnership with them.
Jesus, you guys are so quick on the trigger. Chill out and stop being such drama queens.
For now, we'll get some great apps in Web 2.0. More on this to come, for sure.
As others have said, an SDK for the iPhone is inevitable. I think what we have here is basically a stopgap that allows people to at least develop some stuff for the iPhone until Apple works out how the full SDK stuff is going to work.
Basically what this boils down to is that Apple and Google are very much in bed with each other, and Google Apps, which is already built with AJAX, will get the advantage. Basically its Google Apps on Apple or nothing.
You do know Jobs runs the company. Right?
WTF? This thing isn't even out yet! Go outside and get a breath of fresh air - then do us all a favor and go here from now on: http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/not:apple
You might not be able to do DOOM, but Dashboard widgets are basically the same thing: some HTML, some images, and some Javascrpt, all wrapped up in a single file.
And people have done some pretty impressive widgets.
Also, while he got around calling it an SDK, there will be an API to call in order to get to the effects and services he mentioned (again, as in widget development).
So, personally, I think this race is a little too early to call...
This all reminds me of the pre-Wii conversations.
hmm those AJAX aplications coud be stored on the phone and run from there? or you would have to load it from a server? im a web developer, and first of all, safari SUCKS! at AJAX and css, developing for it is hard but, you do can create very cool apps, i think it would be possible to make a .doc reader, or a baby photoshop... or even a IM (www.ebuddy.com) for example .
The real limit on what you can do with AJAX now is the bandwith. everything is procesed in the server so you whant it to run light, but if the iphone manages to run AJAX aplications directly inside it with no use of EDGE or Wifi im shure this will be fantastic.
Wow. No SDK before iPhone comes out means the iPhone's potential will 'never be realized'? There must be some truly brilliant & clairvoyant people out there to be able to see the future so clearly based on the limited information available on a phone that hasn't even shipped yet.
Personally, based on the information at hand, I wouldn't feel comfortable saying anything more than it was a minor bummer that there was no SDK, but I'm glad that they'll be offering the webapp option at launch.
I guess that's not as catchy a headline, though.
"because of this and no matter how Apple tries to sell it, the iPhone won't make a revolution happen."
I can't believe I just read that on here. Shocked to say the least. I hope it isn't a revolution, already too much hype, over a bloody phone.
Yeah, we could be seeing the first signs of a big iPhone bust...
Hype over a "bloody phone"??? Blasphemy! iPhone died for your sins and now the resurrection is upon us! Repent now and accept iPhone as your personal lord and savior!
In the name of the Apple, iPhone, and Jobs.
Revolution or not. They'll sell millions. They'll earn valuable points in mind share and slowly but surely, marketshare. If you think otherwise, quick, get a contract position at Palm and extract their last few dollars before they fold. That's about the only thing that's inevitable.
I don't think I'll spend $600 on a first generation phone. But I'm not going around saying it's over priced. What are people comparing this to? Really, look at the landscape and you'll see it's actually very fairly priced compared to so much other dreck that's out there.
Oh... Giz... here's a clue. The killer app is the iPhone itself (as bundled). It'll get more killer, but it's already a killer as-is.
BTW, WiFi will alleviate the necessity for a heavy (and slow) data plan.
How do you know that those are dedicated apps and not "just" AJAX?Anyone with a modicum of web experience can write an application that'll run on the iPhone.
Mere mortals writing cell phone apps? Yeah, I can't see a revolution here either.
@ bitfactory
Ok... how the heck did you do that? put my quote in a little blue box, i have been trying to figure that out for the longest time, What do you do to do that?
And why would i want to get gizmodo without Apple? Its always awesome to see what Apple comes out with, I was "almost" sold on the iPod Nano remake, but I'm waiting for that new iPod video to come out... But as i said, and you even quoted this, I hate the iPhone with a fiery passion, not apple, the iPhone...
The fact that the iPhone doesn't have a SDK shouldn't scare people too much. Look how fast AppleTV got hacked to do more by the great Mac user community out there. I fully expect even more hacks/apps will be available for the iPhone once it gets into the "right" hands, and it will.
"And because of this and no matter how Apple tries to sell it, the iPhone won't make a revolution happen."
It wasn't going to start a revolution in the first place; the only thing "new" it brings to the table is 4/8GB capacity and a touch screen interface, nothing more. I can guarantee you though AT&T will sell all 3 million launch units. Gotta love marketing...
I can't be the only one who was greatly disappointed that there was no GPS app. I was dreaming that I would be able to take an iPhone, dock it on my car's dash and use it for a GPS navigator with Google maps, stream music to my car, and of course make calls with it via bluetooth.
And how is that different than two years on at&t with my Blackberry Pearl? Oh. It's $14.50 a month more.Thank god I didn't waste my money. I may retire young.
We all agree that the iphone will be cracked, as was the ipod. The problem is that first rate software developers won't create software for the 3% of people willing to crack the phone. And, for that matter, people who hack phones usually don't purchase software (you know it's true!!!).
I also agree with the thought that this product won't quite be revolutionary. That's unfortunate, becuase it has the potential to be. Like the article said, all these features have been available for while. I'm a treo junkie and it use it for everything from watching movies (I keep Christmas Vacation with me 24/7) to playing old NES games. Granted it crashes now and then from some third rate apps, but there are thousands and thousands of Palm apps out there. From Bible translations to strip poker you can find just about anything you're looking for. For the iphone there will be 15. I'm sure they will be a good 15, but not enough to give up my on-demand movies via my sling box and comcast.
What? A phone I can't do games, art, documents, programming with? Why would I want to buy that PHONE? (End Sarcasm)
It's a phone. A PHONE! The fact that you can do some pretty damn nice stuff besides making a phone call makes it a bonus. The fact that you can do TRUE web browsing for a change - makes it a super bonus!
The fact that I can now do anything I want on the web without downloading a single other program... means that to only have programs using web technology means that - well, I'll be able to do just about anything... on my PHONE!
I'm not a programmer. I'm not a "Uber-Geek" and much of the language I see on here is over my head... but what I see in the iPhone - makes me want to buy it. I'll be super happy if I can't download additional programs - less memory to waste.
On My Phone.
Hey, Palm phones and Wince Phones have an SDK and look how great they are! I love how my face puts calls on hold and hangs them up when I'm trying to talk on my Treo, just like it did with my Samsung i300 back in '01.
If an SDK would result in a great app, they should be here already.
Ever try to develop for PalmOS? Symbian? It's kinda unbelievably brutal.
Even if the current iteration is Ajax, at least it will be easy to code for.
So what really makes something a "true" application? What if it was written in java, and needed a JVM to run on? Does it have to be coded to the bare metal?
This seems like a good plan to me. The nice thing is there are likely to be more apps, since people can develop them for everyone (anyone who has a web browser with javascript), not just for the iPhone. Platform independence is a good thing....
want to know the real revolution?
www.openmoko.org
Now that is a phone.
www.openmoko.org
Okay, when can I buy one?
That SDK seems to offer plenty of opportunities so far to develop interesting apps to run on a phone. Crybabies who have never used Mathematica [replace with your favorite large, complex, and CPU-intensive app here] will complain that you cannot port Mathematica to the iPhone because the SDK is so limited. Never mind they've never ever written any code with a SDK.
As for one touch screen typing, it is probably true that it will take some adjustment (surprise!) but I bet people will learn to excel at one hand touch screen typing in no time (rest phone in palm and use thumb) if the touch screen precision is good enough (and it seems it is).
FUCK THIS FUCKING PHONE! jesus christ! why is everyone so into it? cuz it came from apple? wow..come to think of it, the only sucess story from apple is the ipod, and last time i checked, they didnt cost thousands of dollars to keep for a few years. are you people not familiar with apples update regime? give it a year and your 1 grand phone will be obsolete. bullshit. absolute bullshit. now theyr telling us that the 1000 dollar phone that noone was really gonna buy, is locked up tighter than paris hilton? please.
I remember starting to use the Mac mouse in 1984. It took a few days to get adjusted to a new input device and relax the hand entirely. And you know what, that totally killed the Mac so the iPhone shall die of a similar death by innovative input device. MossBoy couldn't resist showing off his iPhone (just to make all other big tech journalists mad... this is such an ego-driven little world... you have to get things first or you don't matter) but at least he was honest enough to admit that he couldn't give an educated opinion until he had played with it a bit more.
fayed, what's with the language, man? there are future iPhone-owning children reading this...
Well said rfayed.
I'd like to sum up this whole day and say - I'M SICK OF APPLE NEWS. If I heard this much Microsoft news in one day I'd throw my 360 in the pool. SHUT UP ABOUT STUPID APPLE ALREADY. THEY MAKE AN MP3 PLAYER AND A FRINGE OS. SOME OF THEIR STUFF IS COOL BUT ENOUGH ENOUGH ENOUGH ENOUGH ENOUGH. STEVE JOBS IS A GIANT NERD JUST LIKE GATES. THEY BOTH MAKE NERDY SHIT BUT APPLE MAKES STYLISH NERDY SHIT. WOOHOO, LETS GET ON WITH OUR LIVES.
That felt good.
Just want to point out something:
Notice how Apple is saying how awesome CoverFlow is and how it's a great example of their awesome technology, and it's being put it in everything from the FInder to the iPhone?
That wasn't even created by apple. It was created by a 3rd party developer whose creation was purchased from him. When you're locking out developers from your platforms, you're locking out these types of ideas.
Just a heads-up.