There is an end to the Apple/Flash fight. This is the fight that began last spring. Restrictions on tools programmers use for iPhone and iPad apps are becoming more relaxed, Apple announced Thursday shocking many app developers. App acceptance regulations could be released to the public also. Apple announced this as well. Adobe’s popular app toolkit is now part of Steve Job’s app approval process even though Apple didn’t actually announce Flash was the reason for the change. Adobe stock went up a ton following the Apple announcement hit news.
Feud Apple/Flash had
Apple made a list of approved languages that iPhone and iPad apps could be made on, which is why last April, the Apple-Flash player feud started. As outlined by PC World, the iPhone and iPad couldn’t have Adobe Flash CS5 Flash Packager with Apple’s policy. Flash Packager for iPhone was the anchor feature of Adobe CS5. It was intended for making Adobe’s Flash a cross-platform toolkit for the iPhone’s other successful platforms. Steve Jobs didn’t like that idea. That has changed. It was different before. All was better Thursday. Developers have it easy with Flash now. They can make apps to run on Apple’s iOS while publishing it once and also run it on Google’s Android.
Public viewing Apple’s app approval process
The Apple app approval process has been changed a bit. It also is accessible to the public now. The Apple App Store Review Guidelines used to be secret rules that decided on whether or not the iPhone or iPad would allow the developer’s app to be used. iPhone and iPad apps used to have lots of “fart apps,” or junk applications. This was because the Apple App store approval was not letting in lots of top flight development talent. Thursday excited numerous developers. This was because developers could not know if they had done something wrong in the app until it came back from Apple rejected. Months of toil and thousands of dollars could be flushed down the drain. Programmers just want to know what the rules are, although what they are does not really matter, says Wired.
The reason Apple decided something else
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. This lack of detail has led to speculation by bloggers like Philip Elmer-DeWitt at Fortune. Developer feedback, regulation and competition are all possible opportunities. DeWitt says these are probably the most popular. Since Apple usually makes programmers do no matter what it wants, he didn’t think it’d be the option of feedback. Apple is probably confronted by new Android tablets and all the Android-powered smartphones. And finally, the Apple/Flash feud attracted the attention of the Federal Trade Commission, which has been investigating Apple’s ban on cross-development platforms. Apple isn’t as lucky as Adobe. Adobe got what it wanted.
Additional reading
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/
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