Report: iPhone SDK pushed back to March

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
Developers eager to write native applications for the iPhone and iPod touch will have to wait until March for the software developer kit, according to a reported insider.



Arik Hesseldahl of BusinessWeek is allegedly in touch with a source who says the SDK for the two touchscreen devices will slip from its intended February release window by one to three weeks.



No justification is given for the delay. However, the progress of the development kit is described as "fluid" and may see Apple release little or no information about the programming environment before the end of February.



"There are, apparently, a lot of moving parts to something this complex," the writer claims.



The report claims authority based on past tips obtained by the magazine staff. The publication successfully leaked news of the SDK just a day before Apple chief executive Steve Jobs revealed official plans to open development to third parties in October.



Despite the delay, rumors have surfaced that the iPhone maker has been eager to spur development as soon as possible and may have released an early SDK to select developers, including a social networking site.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 74
    Well this sucks. Hopefully it doesn't get delayed more than this. Any ideas as to why?
  • Reply 2 of 74
    kolchakkolchak Posts: 1,398member
    Wow. Shocker. Just because it's late February and not a peep from Apple, why would anyone think it might be released in March instead?
  • Reply 3 of 74
    g3prog3pro Posts: 669member
    Hopefully we'll begin seeing applications for the iPhone by late this year. Some of the stuff coming out so far on Android is truly impressive. iPhone development has a lot to catch up on.
  • Reply 4 of 74
    It amuses me that they refer to a "social networking site" and we all know what that means!



    I think Apple is getting friendly with Facebook, much like it is with Google, in fact I feel that google and facebook have similar attitudes.



    Shame its delayed. But whats an extra month? I am sure it will be good when it is released, Apple never release stuff before they are ready, and so there is a level of quality attached.



    Will this be the end of Jailbreaking? I doubt it, but it will no doubt reduce the numbers who bother.
  • Reply 5 of 74
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Kolchak View Post


    Wow. Shocker. Just because it's late February and not a peep from Apple, why would anyone think it might be released in March instead?



    There are already quite a few apps for the iPhone. The difference between the ones now and the ones that Apple will be releasing is that the apps out there now are free. Apple is probably delayed because their payment system is not in place yet.
  • Reply 6 of 74
    Does it really matter if the SDK is delayed a week or two in the amount of time until real, finished apps are available to users? Won't it take quite sometime to develop a decent app, like months?



    If apps can be developed in less than a month's time, then I guess this delay is significant, otherwise.....well, Japan doesn't have iPhones anyway so if it wasn't for an Engadget reader meetup, I'd still have never even of seen one in person.
  • Reply 7 of 74
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jcollin3k View Post


    Does it really matter if the SDK is delayed a week or two in the amount of time until real, finished apps are available to users? Won't it take quite sometime to develop a decent app, like months?



    If apps can be developed in less than a month's time, then I guess this delay is significant, otherwise.....well, Japan doesn't have iPhones anyway so if it wasn't for an Engadget reader meetup, I'd still have never even of seen one in person.



    Good point. The SDK really benefits the guys that have already been developing and distributing iPhone/iPod Touch apps already.
  • Reply 8 of 74
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sapporobaby View Post


    There are already quite a few apps for the iPhone. The difference between the ones now and the ones that Apple will be releasing is that the apps out there now are free. Apple is probably delayed because their payment system is not in place yet.



    You are basically just blowing smoke out of an orifice on this opinion though aren't you?



    There is nothing to indicate either that Apple will force developers to charge for their work or that the iPhone hackers, once presented with a system to monetise their efforts, won't take advantage of that.



    If the WinCE or Palm experiences are any judge, every hacker who steals the code for Tetris and makes their own game out of it will probably be asking five bucks for the privilege. At least with iTunes distribution, there will be a lot less dreck to sift through when searching for an app.



    In any case, the only solid rumour of any kind (so far) concerning pricing indicated that (like the thousands of PodCasts Apple already offers and hosts for FREE), a price of "free" will be offered as an option but in general the prices on iPhone apps will range from 5 to 10 bucks.
  • Reply 9 of 74
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Virgil-TB2 View Post


    You are basically just blowing smoke out of an orifice on this opinion though aren't you?



    There is nothing to indicate either that Apple will force developers to charge for their work or that the iPhone hackers, once presented with a system to monetise their efforts, won't take advantage of that.



    If the WinCE or Palm experiences are any judge, every hacker who steals the code for Tetris and makes their own game out of it will probably be asking five bucks for the privilege. At least with iTunes distribution, there will be a lot less dreck to sift through when searching for an app.



    In any case, the only solid rumour of any kind (so far) concerning pricing indicated that (like the thousands of PodCasts Apple already offers and hosts for FREE), a price of "free" will be offered as an option but in general the prices on iPhone apps will range from 5 to 10 bucks.



    Of course. This is Speculation City. It would be safe to say that if it goes through iTunes there will be a charge for it. My true desire would be that Apple will allow apps to be installed from various sources. I have nothing wrong with charging for your work. After all, fair is fair. I just hope the SDK doesn't open one door while closing another.
  • Reply 10 of 74
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Shadow Slayer 26 View Post


    Well this sucks. Hopefully it doesn't get delayed more than this. Any ideas as to why?



    Oh God, people. Do you want a SDK that is rushed to market and has bugs in it? Or do you want the SDK done right? It's not like your lives hinge on the SDK being released in February.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by g3pro View Post


    Hopefully we'll begin seeing applications for the iPhone by late this year. Some of the stuff coming out so far on Android is truly impressive. iPhone development has a lot to catch up on.



    Oh really? I'm not saying that the iPhone doesn't have room for improvement, but considering the fact that there actually *IS* an iPhone that you have been able to purchase for the last 9 months while there are no Android phones on the market at all, I would say that the iPhone has the lead. Also, considering that the iPhone has the only multi-touch interface on the market, and has an entire (unsupported) world of 3rd-party apps already, I don't think the iPhone is in the loser seat here.
  • Reply 11 of 74
    Slow and steady wins the race.



    The iPhone itself was delayed many times, which produced a solid end product.



    Better a delay than a Microsoft type "not ready for prime time" product that will hamper the iPhone instead of enhancing it.



    No one will suffer or be harmed by exercising a little more patience for a very worthwhile gain.



    Hang in there, there is no substitute for hard work and due diligence.



    Apple always produces top quality, solid products - this takes thorough methodical and diligent work.
  • Reply 12 of 74
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by breeze View Post


    Slow and steady wins the race.



    The iPhone itself was delayed many times, which produced a solid end product.



    Better a delay than a Microsoft type "not ready for prime time" product that will hamper the iPhone instead of enhancing it.



    No one will suffer or be harmed by exercising a little more patience for a very worthwhile gain.



    Hang in there, there is no substitute for hard work and due diligence.



    Apple always produces top quality, solid products - this takes thorough methodical and diligent work.



    @Scotty321 and breeze,



    Spot on. Apple has only to go into a Nokia store, or SE shop. Pick up a phone, play with it and copy some of the more usable features and make the iPhone into a super phone. With the UI, it is clearly in the lead, but the other guys are going to catch up. They see that there is a market for a nice UI and media integration.
  • Reply 13 of 74
    I think the framework and delivery mechanism is already there in itunes and the firmware 1.1.3 update as I think it's what Apple used to deliver the apps to the touch?



    So what we are waiting for is documentation and the tools and extensions to xcode to develop the apps?



    I think app could delay the docs and tools until march, but they should make available a few applications either developed by them or the rumoured "trusted" 3rd party developers (BBC iplayer anyone?) that would make most people, except developers happy?
  • Reply 14 of 74
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by g3pro View Post


    Hopefully we'll begin seeing applications for the iPhone by late this year. Some of the stuff coming out so far on Android is truly impressive. iPhone development has a lot to catch up on.



    We should see viable apps within weeks, just like what we already saw with jailbroken phones, if not much shorter time frames like a week. Apptap was already out before the end of August and it already had plenty of programs. It even sounds like maybe there will be a few authorized third party apps released the same day.
  • Reply 15 of 74
    satchmosatchmo Posts: 2,699member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sapporobaby View Post


    Spot on. Apple has only to go into a Nokia store, or SE shop. Pick up a phone, play with it and copy some of the more usable features and make the iPhone into a super phone. With the UI, it is clearly in the lead, but the other guys are going to catch up. They see that there is a market for a nice UI and media integration.



    On the other hand, how easy will it be for competitors like Nokia to use the upcoming SDK and emulate something similar for their phones?
  • Reply 16 of 74
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by satchmo View Post


    On the other hand, how easy will it be for competitors like Nokia to use the upcoming SDK and emulate something similar for their phones?



    I don't think it's technically easy, and there may be a question of legality as well, except maybe for the dashboard-like widgets that I think they've already done, but that's mostly made up of common web standard stuff.
  • Reply 17 of 74
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    Has any one consider the possibility that the 3G iPhone isn't ready and that they want to time the release of both.



    The other way to look at this is that it is not a SDK issue per say but rather an i8ssue with the OS that the apps run on. I wouldn't be surprised if Apple had a major update to Mobile OS that would firm up its capabilities so that the SDK would actually be useful.



    Just some thoughts.



    Dave
  • Reply 18 of 74
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tadunne View Post


    I think the framework and delivery mechanism is already there in itunes and the firmware 1.1.3 update as I think it's what Apple used to deliver the apps to the touch?



    So what we are waiting for is documentation and the tools and extensions to xcode to develop the apps?



    I think app could delay the docs and tools until march, but they should make available a few applications either developed by them or the rumoured "trusted" 3rd party developers (BBC iplayer anyone?) that would make most people, except developers happy?



    From what I've read, the apps for the touch were not delivered the same way as SDK apps will be. Supposedly it just changed a .plist file to activate applications that were already on the iPod.
  • Reply 19 of 74
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by scotty321 View Post


    Oh really? I'm not saying that the iPhone doesn't have room for improvement, but considering the fact that there actually *IS* an iPhone that you have been able to purchase for the last 9 months while there are no Android phones on the market at all, I would say that the iPhone has the lead. Also, considering that the iPhone has the only multi-touch interface on the market, and has an entire (unsupported) world of 3rd-party apps already, I don't think the iPhone is in the loser seat here.



    Well Apple has the iPhone, but good for Android:

    + SDK is already out, so every developer can play with emulator

    + Android is built on Java that has several advantages including: security, vastly larger developer community, superior IDEs, ease of development

    + service oriented architecture

    + all apps are equal, everything including the homescreen can be changed (you just need your app to say "Hello Android I can launch apps" and user can choose your app as the home screen)

    + openess of Google

    + Google already provided some apps like GoogleMaps, Webkit which can be even embedded into other applications

    + various APIs including GPS, speech recognition and speech synthesis etc.



    ... Google has different aproach than Apple, it doesn't want to control the whole device ... so it provides open platform to developers, so they can bring their apps to public as soon as Google Android hits the market
  • Reply 20 of 74
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Virgil-TB2 View Post




    In any case, the only solid rumour of any kind (so far) concerning pricing indicated that (like the thousands of PodCasts Apple already offers and hosts for FREE), a price of "free" will be offered as an option but in general the prices on iPhone apps will range from 5 to 10 bucks.



    Just a nit... Apple doesn't physically "host for FREE" the podcasts that appear in the iTunes store.



    Apple's iTunes Store servers contain:



    - a brief description of each podcast for searching/browsing

    - a way to automatically recognize when new items are added/updated to a podcast

    - a mechanism for categorizing, subscribing, watching/listening and downloading podcasts

    - an RSS feed that points to the podcasts on an external (to Apple) server, and allows iTunes (on your computer) and the iTunes Store to perform their magic as though the podcasts did exist on Apple's servers.



    The actual podcast content can reside on any external server the creator chooses.



    HTH



    Dick
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