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iPhone SDK Limitations Could Fracture Development Community

The recently announced iPhone SDK is still in beta, with the full version expected sometime in June, almost one year since the release of the iPhone. The June relase of iPhone Software Update 2.0 will allow the iPhone to run a myriad of third party applications that will be released as a result of the iPhone SDK. With the dust settling from last week's announcement, many in the blogosphere are concerned over the limitations of the iPhone SDK, with the limitations perhaps leading to a development community to split in two, one catering to the "jailbreak" community and the other offering Apple sanctioned apps.

Applications Cannot Run in Background

The main complaint from developers appears to be the reluctance of Apple to allow background processes. Essentially, when you leave an application, that application would have to quit. This would hinder the development of an application that perhaps updated RSS feeds in the background or an IM app that notifies the user of new chat message. These are applications that exist on other smartphones, so it's certainly not uncharted territory. One must understand Apple's position, as they want to retain the stability of the iPhone platform. Smartphones running Windows Mobile Smartphone have characteristically suffered from applications running in the background. If a user running Windows Mobile Smartphone doesn't regularly quit tasks, the offending apps will slow down the phone. By not allowing developers to run applications in the background, Apple is safeguarding users from potential stability issues.

A Splintered Development Community

The App Store that Apple will launch in June will offer developers access to the complete iPhone user base. Applications that receive Apple's blessing will be just a swipe away from an ever growing iPhone user community. It's unclear whether the restrictions put in place by Apple will create a splintered development community. iPhone Atlas conducted an interview with Jonathan “NerveGas” Zdziarski, one of the most noted underground iPhone developers who recently released a book through O’Reilly Publishing dubbed “iPhone Open Application Development”. Zdziarski claims, "the unofficial application development tools offer a greater breadth of system accessibility than Apple’s tools, which the company pitched as “the same ones” it uses." For this reason, Zdziarski believes the current unofficial development tools will continue to be the tools of choice. Commercial developers will simply play by the rules set forth in the iPhone SDK guidelines. The unofficial development community has relied on third party app hungry owners who were willing to "jailbreak" their iPhone for access to these unofficial apps. If the development community does indeed splinter, where will that leave the average iPhone user? It's seems unclear whether owners will be able run both officially sanctioned apps along with the unofficial applications. You can also expect that some of the existing developer community will find the iPhone SDK suitable to develp their application(s) and the 70/30 revenue share split offered by Apple provides an opportunity for substantial profits for popular applications.

The town hall event proved that in a mere two weeks developers can generate some amazing results using the iPhone SDK. The typical iPhone owner who opted not to "jailbreak" their phone will find a wide array of applications come June. While it's certainly exciting to see the release of official third party applications, the jury is still out on whether the divide will remain in the development community given the limitations of the iPhone SDK.

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