Apple's iPhone 4 SDK license bans Flash, Java, Mono apps

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  • Reply 61 of 198
    I don't care much for Flash in the browser, but if this can produce a quality game that runs well then so be it. I don't care how it was written as long as it runs well. Adobe spent a lot of time providing their customers with a solution that met Apple's guidelines, only to find that Apple changed the rules on them. That's pretty low no matter whose side you're on.
  • Reply 62 of 198
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Apparently this is under the radar after hours. No one is shorting ADBE at the moment.
  • Reply 63 of 198
    So does this kill the Unity Engine and all games written using it like Ravensword since I think they are using Mono?



    And similarly has Apple killed Unreal Engine 3 before it even launches since it uses UnrealScript?
  • Reply 64 of 198
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Amdahl View Post


    Apple is guaranteeing they will not be the industry standard platform, once again.



    Are you kidding me? Adobe is jumping for joy. Apple just removed themselves as a real contender for vertical markets and multi-platform apps.



    Really? What other mobile platform has a fully functional version of Flash? Windows Mobile 7 won't have it. Android will supposedly have a hacked, semi-functional version some time this summer. Face it - Flash is a lousy product for mobile devices.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by kpluck View Post


    So in addition limiting what apps you can install on your Apple devices, now they have decided that how the apps are developed is also their business.



    I am sorry, this is just plain silly.



    I see the mobile market going to same way as the desktop market. Apple will do well, making a nice living off the drones that don't mind their draconian operating practices, meanwhile the bulk of the market will go to other companies that don't want to act as your nanny.



    Right. That's why there are 180,000 App store apps. What is that - 10 times the number of all the other mobile apps put together?





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Booga View Post


    Actually, I think exactly the opposite will happen. The App Store drives iPhone sales, and this hurts the app store. In addition, it DRAMATICALLY impacts the ability to do custom vertical solutions based on pre-existing frameworks. I think this decision will quickly turn the iPhone into a second-class development platform that gets bad ports months after the fact, just like apple did to the Mac.



    Tools like Unity3d can now no longer be used to create top-shelf games (C# based), and sone innovative no-programming dev environments that were coming out will likely go to android. With every decision like this that Apple makes they drive away dozens of good developers from the platform.



    Even if Apple lost 20% of its developers (which isn't going to happen since this new rule doesn't affect any of the existing developers -- no one was using compiled Flash apps yet), they'd still have 6-8 times the number of the rest of the industry put together.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by CommodityFetish View Post


    I like Apple less and less with everything they do like this. What business of theirs is it what tools a developer uses?



    Apple is responsible for ensuring the reliability and stability of its systems. They have decided that the best way to ensure that is to control the tools used. If you don't like it, then develop your own cell phone and app store.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by shadash View Post


    I don't think so. Apple has over 80 million mobile OS devices on the market right now. Android and Blackberry markets are fragmented across a variety of phones, resolutions, etc. Windows Phone 7 has sold 0 devices so far. Most devs will jump through a few hoops to address that large of a market.



    And none of those have a fully functional version of Flash, either.



    Unfortunately for the Flash developers who seem to spend so much time complaining about Apple's decision, Flash is dead as far as mobile devices is concerned - so its future for desktop systems is questionable, as well.
  • Reply 65 of 198
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tomfoolery View Post


    Has the word "inevitable" taken on a new and surprising meaning? Does it now mean "theoretically possible, but entirely unproven, and not suggested by any current trends?"



    Um, Android marketshare has been doubling and iphone has been flat in the latest quarter. That combined with Android devices iterating at a much faster pace and with so many more devices and carriers involved one would have to be blind not to see where things are going, no?
  • Reply 66 of 198
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Napabar2 View Post


    Wrong.



    Another brain surgeon joins the ranks of AI.
  • Reply 67 of 198
    hmayeshmayes Posts: 29member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jgibson24 View Post


    Um, Android marketshare has been doubling and iphone has been flat in the latest quarter. That combined with Android devices iterating at a much faster pace and with so many more devices and carriers involved one would have to be blind not to see where things are going, no?



    Ok let me try this out:

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hmayes


    Microsoft Windows has lost 99.5% market share in the past 72 hours. Apple will dominate the desktop computing industry!



    Oh, wait, you mean even though I just said it, it's still not true? Eh, well I tried.



    At least make an attempt to back up your claims. Here is some reading you may find interesting:



    http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/artic..._market_share/



    -Mayes
  • Reply 68 of 198
    quadra 610quadra 610 Posts: 6,757member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jgibson24 View Post


    Um, Android marketshare has been doubling and iphone has been flat in the latest quarter. That combined with Android devices iterating at a much faster pace and with so many more devices and carriers involved one would have to be blind not to see where things are going, no?



    Yeah, it's easy to see where things are going: we're heading into June, when a new iPhone can set the competition back substantially. You can roll out a new Android device every month, but NONE will be as significant as a new iPhone. And Google had better hope Apple doesn't open the floodgates in the US and allow other carriers in on the iPhone goodness.
  • Reply 69 of 198
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jgibson24 View Post


    Um, Android marketshare has been doubling and iphone has been flat in the latest quarter. That combined with Android devices iterating at a much faster pace and with so many more devices and carriers involved one would have to be blind not to see where things are going, no?



    Even if that were true (Android still has a LOOOOOOONNNNGGG way to go to catch up to Apple, particularly wrt apps), it's irrelevant. There's still not full-featured Flash for Android, either.



    Even the 10.1 (if it ever makes it out and door and if it really is usable) has only limited functionality. So web developers using Flash sites would need to redo their site for Flash 10.1, anyway. If they're doing that, why not just code into html 5 and be supported on all 85 million iPhone OS, future Windows Mobile 7, and all other smart phone devices, as well?
  • Reply 70 of 198
    sheffsheff Posts: 1,407member
    Great I don't want to the ports.
  • Reply 71 of 198
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,404member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by columbus View Post


    I'm impressed by the coining of the phrase "shovelware", at least I haven't heard it used before.



    Me neither!
  • Reply 72 of 198
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    I guess the consensus is that a native fart app is better than a compelling game built with third party tools.
  • Reply 73 of 198
    mdriftmeyermdriftmeyer Posts: 7,503member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ltcommander.data View Post


    So does this kill the Unity Engine and all games written using it like Ravensword since I think they are using Mono?



    And similarly has Apple killed Unreal Engine 3 before it even launches since it uses UnrealScript?



    Unity will have to take its Javascript and rewrite it's C# script into C/Objective-C/Objective-C++ or C++ directly using Cocoa frameworks.
  • Reply 74 of 198
    I've long been a fan of Apple products - and as a developer I also have an appreciation for Java, C++, C#, Objective C, Perl, Flash/AS, and any number of other languages.



    Languages tend to evolve from technology advancements. Java was a huge success because of its portability at a time when the world was opened up with the Internet. IDEs are built to facilitate development. Eclipse, MS Visual Studio, and Flash Processional are each examples of developer tools that opened up software development to new developer communities.



    In the end, anyone can write ineffecient code in any language, using any IDE. And cross-compilers have existed since the dawn of programming languages - some are more efficient than others. To make a blanket statement that restricting iPhone app development to Objective C will ensure every app is as efficient as possible misses the point. It's like saying Mac software written in C++ will always perform more efficiently than software written in Java. The reality is that software performance is related to what the application does and who wrote the code --- NOT what language it was written in. Keep in mind that Objective C itself is compiled into native iPhone binary code - and there's no reason a well written Java or Flash app built with a well-written compiler couldn't actually produce MORE efficient iPhone binary code for some applications. In fact there have been several top-ten APPLE RECOMMENDED iPhone applications have been written in Java and Flash.



    I'm not sure what Apple's motivation is behind this move - but it is most certainly NOT to ensure code written for the iPhone is as efficient as possible.



    What I am sure of is this is a sad day for developers and consumers. Flash/AS3 is the platform of choice for a development community that builds amazing software in an unique IDE tailored to bridging the design and development communities. In the same way Java is tailored to building portable apps for the Internet, Flash is great for creating custom UI experiences that would be incredibly difficult to build using any other language. If Apple kept the door open and focused screening apps based on what really matters - performance of the end-result - then Flash CS5 and the Packager for iPhone would expand iPhone app development to a new and hungry community of creative designer/developers. And the consumer (and Apple) would win by getting more and more creative and useful apps.



    I just don't get it. It's a bad and backwards business decision. And it feels like Big Brother to me.
  • Reply 75 of 198
    mdriftmeyermdriftmeyer Posts: 7,503member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Dorotea View Post


    Ridiculous. Original language must be Objective - C? As long as the finished product meets apple's standards they shoudn't care.



    You must have a reading deficiency. You have C/ObjC/ObjC++/C++ so long as it's written in Cocoa.
  • Reply 76 of 198
    mdriftmeyermdriftmeyer Posts: 7,503member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by CommodityFetish View Post


    I like Apple less and less with everything they do like this. What business of theirs is it what tools a developer uses? The app that results runs natively... I REALLY don't like the following:



    "The prohibition may also be a roadblock for Appcelerator and its Titanium SDK or the similar PhoneGap, both of which are designed to build native mobile apps using web technologies such as HTML and JavaScript. The clause specifically limits JavaScript for use in web apps, and does not allow it to link against the native Cocoa Touch APIs."



    Google and others have done amazing web apps with HTML+JavaScript. Hate on Flash all you want Apple, but why oppose using these cross-platform tools? If you'll let me run it as a webpage, why won't you let me run it as an app that resides on my device so I don't have to be connected to the web to use it? Infuriating. Why not let developers create apps that can either run over the web or locally from a device, on any platform!? That's the future I want to live in, not under Apple's proprietary monopoly.



    (Clearly this is aimed at Google's Chrome OS, and their emphasis on web apps.)



    A grand total of 2 comments. I'm sure you're been an ardent Apple OS X supporter since 2001.
  • Reply 77 of 198
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by HMayes View Post


    Ok let me try this out:





    Oh, wait, you mean even though I just said it, it's still not true? Eh, well I tried.



    At least make an attempt to back up your claims. Here is some reading you may find interesting:



    http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/artic..._market_share/



    -Mayes



    comScore numbers:

    Android gained 5.2 percent of the U.S. smartphone OS market between December 2009 and February 2010. Android now holds 9 percent of the market, up from 3.8 percent.



    Apple's share dropped just .1 percent, down to 25.4 percent, while Research in Motion's (RIM) OS gained 1.3 percent of the market to 42.1 percent. Microsoft fell 4 percent to 15.1 percent and Palm's share dropped from 7.2 percent to 5.4 percent.
  • Reply 78 of 198
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jragosta View Post


    Even if that were true (Android still has a LOOOOOOONNNNGGG way to go to catch up to Apple, particularly wrt apps), it's irrelevant. There's still not full-featured Flash for Android, either.



    Even the 10.1 (if it ever makes it out and door and if it really is usable) has only limited functionality. So web developers using Flash sites would need to redo their site for Flash 10.1, anyway. If they're doing that, why not just code into html 5 and be supported on all 85 million iPhone OS, future Windows Mobile 7, and all other smart phone devices, as well?



    Agree that it has a long way to go but with the number of phones, the much faster iterations and far superior carrier options etc... I'm sure you would agree that there is no reason why the current trend won't continue.



    I think you are misunderstanding the point about Flash, this issue has nothing to do with Flash. The issue is the arbitrarily banning of applications written with a specific toolset. It's about as arbitrary as Microsoft saying you have to use Visual Studio to write web apps hosted on IIS or be in violation of licensing. It's not about forcing Flash 10.1 on the iphone or Android or anywhere else.
  • Reply 79 of 198
    90+ percent of the apps in the app store are crap. This just ensures that it will remain that way. This is right up there with Apple rejecting an app for using pinch to zoom.



    Objective C is a language that was ahead of it's time in the 80's, but it isn't the 80's any more. This decision prevents people from making better tools.



    I hate going from Visual Studio or Eclipse to XCode, you lose so much functionality. It won't be long before developers get sick of the way they are treated.
  • Reply 80 of 198
    addaboxaddabox Posts: 12,665member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Bruce Atkinson View Post


    90+ percent of the apps in the app store are crap. This just ensures that it will remain that way. This is right up there with Apple rejecting an app for using pinch to zoom.



    Objective C is a language that was ahead of it's time in the 80's, but it isn't the 80's any more. This decision prevents people from making better tools.



    I hate going from Visual Studio or Eclipse to XCode, you lose so much functionality. It won't be long before developers get sick of the way they are treated.



    These sweeping statements of the percentage of "crap" in the App Store are completely meaningless. There are certainly a great many apps that strike you as "crap" that are quite useful or enjoyable to the next guy, so even if you could demonstrate some kind of objective basis for your made up statistic it would only hold for you. I think the best we can say is the ratio of well coded to poorly coded apps is probably about average for any platform. I mean, I certainly have seen quite a few marginal to horrifying Windows apps in my day.



    I would think that the main issue developers consider in regards to a platform is if they think they can make some money. That's pretty much all the "treatment" they need. The idea that a bunch of current iPhone devs are going to abandon the platform because they can't use tools that they currently don't is amusing.
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