Filed under: Macworld, Analysis / Opinion, iPhone
iPhone Will Not Allow User Installable Applications
While I was back taking pictures of the iPhone for a second time, I got chatting with one of the security/information attendants guarding the device from our grubby little fingers. The impression I got from the information coming out of the keynote was that the device would feature a full install of Mac OS X, and would run any and all desktop-based applications, as indicated by Apple asserting that the device "Runs OS X." You can imagine my surprise when while talking to the booth attendant I was informed that users will not actually be able to install any applications. This is a point of utter confusion with me. Why would Apple refer to the software running on the device as "OS X," when in reality, it will be running the long rumored stripped-down version of the operating system. The inability for users to install additional applications of their choosing certainly makes me think again about my intentions to purchase the device. While the iPhone is certainly revolutionary and exciting, why should I buy it if I won't be able to install additional applications such as a terminal/IRC client or Skype, as I would do with competing devices such as the Palm Treo.
It has been suggested by some that the inclusion of Widgets in the device would allow this kind of expandability, but it doesn't make much sense to me to try and fit full-fledged applications into something designed to hold a few lines of JavaScript.
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Eli Hodapp said 10:06PM on 1-09-2007
The monkeys guarding the iPhone are about as reliable as kids on the back of the school bus when it comes to "inside information" of any kind.
Reply
Robert said 10:08PM on 1-09-2007
Calm down for Pete's sake. It hasn't even been released yet and when it is it will iPhone v.1.0.
Reply
Andrew Mayne said 10:12PM on 1-09-2007
Let's wait and see. I'm sure were going to see the iPhone and the iPod open up to developers once the interface and hardware becomes more standardized. Apple will be to the pocket what Microsoft will be to the desktop. They're very long term thinkers.
Reply
Some Fag said 10:17PM on 1-09-2007
If you can save-as in safari then you can run Javascript crap.
Reply
Chris Ryland said 10:12PM on 1-09-2007
Remember that Widgets can include any amount of native (Carbon/Cocoa) code in bundles that it calls out to (and they can call back into the Javascript). So, in theory, anything's possible, though clearly it's not as easy as making a normal OS X app.
Reply
icruise said 10:23PM on 1-09-2007
If you thought it would allow you to install ANY application, then you were dreaming, but I think it's pretty likely that it will be possible for developers to make things specifically for the iPhone. I certainly hope so -- it'll make it essentially a PDA.
Reply
Woz said 8:43AM on 1-10-2007
How on earth could a device like this be expected to be running a full blown version of OS X? There is no way on earth that you'd get a Core 2 duo (or similar) in such a form factor, therefore requiring that apps are recompiled at the very least. Come on guys, wakey wakey.
Reply
mmendoza27 said 10:26PM on 1-09-2007
I actually have a hard time believing it runs a full version of OS X. Does it have the core technologies of OS X? Yes, but this is a very good question. If I can't run VLC, I may not be interested. Plus, I want to see a demo of iCal support. Remember, this is all 1st gen, pretty good still, eh?
Reply
Carl said 10:26PM on 1-09-2007
Yea, i'd have to agree with the poster above. Anyone who expected to be able to run normal OSX apps on the iPhone just because it has OSX under the hood is smoking something.
Yes the iPhone runs OSX, but do not be fooled into thinking its the same OSX found in Apple's computer lineup. It is obviously stripped down to make it lightweight enough to use as the basis for a phone.
Reply
kerry said 10:28PM on 1-09-2007
Crud. My only caveat with the iPhone is that it needs to run eReader to be worth my money. Right now I have a Palm and a Sidekick and won't give up either until I can find one device that's better than the two of them. I thought this was it, now I see I was probably wrong. Boooo!
Reply
Nick H. said 10:32PM on 1-09-2007
As a matter of fact it should NOT run just any application, from a user experience perspective. Do you see the same version of Mail.app running on it? Obviously the form factor of the device limits what can be displayed/interacted with, which would dictate a completely different approach to UI design. Notice how most applications on the phone have zero ui clutter and the interaction is constrained to what is "intuitive" (or the most common desired task, really).
What does it mean to minimize, or hide an application? Where would a dock sit? Placing mac os x application complexity would make the phone unusable.
Reply
aaronmcg said 10:36PM on 1-09-2007
vlc? but the iphone plays its audio and video using like an ipod system, ie, syncing with itunes. itunes plays .mov & .mp4 video formats. its a video ipod (plays photos, videos & music) and a phone with internet, not a pda or pocket computer.
would be cool if you could though. maybe down the line youll be able to watch your other media files on it.
Reply
aazp said 10:37PM on 1-09-2007
The name widget is just that, a name, under that name and screen can be cocoa apps and what we currently think of widgets, all made for the iPhone.
Just called widgets for simplicity, since the are light (after all it's a phone) and aren't part of the system software from witch it has to be clearly separated. You can install apps to simple (not the smart variaty) phones, I'm sure we'll be able.
When jobs said it runs OS X it means it does, it has the XNU kernel, it has a Darwin base and the common frameworks like cocoa, quicktime, WebKit, etc. You can't seriously expect it to be the same version of OS X that is run on a C2D or G5 on an iPhone.
It's like Linux smart phones or PDAs, you aren't running the same Fedora, Gentoo or Debian distro, you are running a special distro, but it's linux non the less
Reply
mmendoza27 said 10:44PM on 1-09-2007
Thing is though, not everyone has just .mov videos or .mp4 videos. I have a Treo 750wx and I can play .avi and .mp4 and .mpg and all the other video formats, including .ogg and .mp3 and streaming internet radio (which is a big for me). VLC does all that for me on my laptop.
I'm just saying that if the iPhone does run other apps, it will be much more expandable. Here's to hoping that it does run user-installable apps. I'm just looking to convergence. I'm tired of caring my 60GB iPod, PDA/Phone. That's why the iPhone is so appealing to me right now.
Reply
Simon said 10:43PM on 1-09-2007
Yes special iPhone versions of apps will have to be developed for the form factor. The tools will be part of the next XCode that comes out with 10.5. The demoed apps included both carbon and cocoa versions.
Reply
Adam said 10:46PM on 1-09-2007
Steve never said anything about it running a full version of OS X, just that it was made possible by many of the frameworks that are used in OS X. I definitely wouldn't want to run OS X on a small device with a mobile processor and only 8 GB. That would be abysmally slow.
I'm sure that Apple intends to provide some form of development framework for iPhone widgets. Perhaps this is the motivation behind Dashcode?
Reply
MajorMauser said 10:53PM on 1-09-2007
Don't be cheap you know you getting it even if it does not allow user installable apps.
Reply
dalas v said 10:57PM on 1-09-2007
"The inability for users to install additional applications of their choosing certainly makes me think again about my intentions to purchase the device."
This has to be the stupidest thing I have ever heard a human being say ever. No exaggertation.
"No thanks, I don't want to own the most amazing mobile device ever if I can't run my "bartender" widget on it."
Get real. You will buy it.
Reply
steve said 10:57PM on 1-09-2007
I don't expect to install OS X apps, but I would like to see the ability for developers to have a SDK and make applications available to users (for free or $$) that the user could install ... VoIP clients and other things...
developers would have a lot of fun with this and make the platform more important
Reply
mcloki said 11:08PM on 1-09-2007
Apple only shows Apple stuff at these keynotes. Were you expecting to see Photoshop running on these things? The price is less than the first 40 gig iPod I bought and look at the price point that the shuffle is at now. In a few years 201o I'm sure that Apple will introduce an iPhone that will look like the bluetooth earpiece shown today and call it an iPhone Nano. The hacker community is going to try and put everything on this phone. And I'm quite sure that Apple will have a iPhone game SDK at the next WWDC. And Leopard wasn't even mentioned. What if iVOIP is one of the new iLife apps. Maybe iPVR?
Anyway I still want one.
Reply