There was an Apple/Flash fight that began last spring. Apple shocked the app programmer world Thursday when it announced the company is soothing controversial restrictions on the tools programmers are allowed to use to create iPhone and iPad apps. Apple also explained its app approval regulations will be made public soon, adding to the shock. Steve Job’s made the announcement without actually discussing Flash. Of course, the Flash app toolkit is within the app acceptance method at present. Adobe stock went up a ton following the Apple statement hit news.
Feud Apple-Flash player had
The Apple/Flash feud began last April when Apple announced that iPhone and iPad apps could only be written in one of a select few Apple-approved programming languages. Apple’s policy made it so Adobe Flash CS5 Flash Packager could not be used on the iPhone and iPad. This comes from PC World. The Flash Packager for iPhone had one feature that was most significant. This feature was Adobe CS5. The iPhone’s other platforms were what the Adobe’s Flash cross-platform toolkit was made for. Then there was Steve Jobs. He thought that was a terrible plan. That was before of course. All was better Thursday. Developers have it easy with Flash now. They can make apps to run on Apple’s iOS when publishing it once and also run it on Google’s Android.
Apple app approval process become public
The public now has the option of see Apple’s modified approval process for apps. 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 as the Apple App store authorization wasn’t letting in lots of top flight development talent. Before Thursday’s announcement, developers would not know if they had broken a rule until their app was rejected by Apple. There was so much wasted time as a result of this. Cash was wasted by it as well. But Wired contends that developers don’t care what the rules are, as long as they know what they are.
The reason Apple changed
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. DeWitt says that most think it has to do with competition, regulation and developer feedback. Since Apple generally makes developers do no matter what it wants, he didn’t think it’d be the option of feedback. There is a good chance the Android-powered smartphones and Android tablets are part of this. Apple likely feels threatened by it all. 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 is not as lucky as Adobe. Adobe got what it wanted.
Discover more information on this subject
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/
