Apple Changes Developer Agreement: bad news for Flash CS5
Apple, as most of you know, is releasing their new iPhone OS (4.0). When they released the new SDK, section 3.3.1 of the developer agreement has been changed. This is what section 3.3.1 reads now:
3.3.1 — Applications may only use Documented APIs in the manner prescribed by Apple and must not use or call any private APIs. Applications must be originally written in Objective-C, C, C++, or JavaScript as executed by the iPhone OS WebKit engine, and only code written in C, C++, and Objective-C may compile and directly link against the Documented APIs (e.g., Applications that link to Documented APIs through an intermediary translation or compatibility layer or tool are prohibited).
What this means is that the Flash-to-iPhone compiler feature of the upcoming Adobe Flash CS5 is in jeopardy. This fact is especially upsetting for me because I would love to be able to making iPhone apps using Actionscript. I'd like to be able to build on app for all platforms. The agreement would also affect MonoTouch, which allows C# and .NET applications to be compiled for the iPhone. Titanium, PhoneGap, and Rhomobile may also be affected.
Essentially, Apple is controlling developers even more than they already have been by trying to screw over Adobe. I liken Apple's behavior to the food industry giants in the movie Food, Inc. The farmers are like the developers. In the movie, the corporations began controlling the way farmers raised their animals (chickens, cows) and their crops (corn, soybeans). Chickens, for example, have to be fed large amounts of growth hormones so that each chicken can produce more meat. Thousands of chickens are squished together in huge chicken houses with no room to do anything but eat. Everyday a few chickens die from the harsh environment. Some of the farmers don't like what is happening but they can't do anything about it because these food companies control the industry.
Apple isn't putting growth hormones in our chicken, but it is beginning to control developers more and more. I fear that since the iPhone market share is going to continue to grow, Apple will be able to be more and more authoritarian with its App Store policies. Hopefully if enough people speak out against this Apple will change its agreement, but I don't know how likely that is.