That's right folks. You read it correctly. Cats & dogs are living together, and in other news Steve Jobs has, via Apple's 'Hot News' page, announced that Apple will, FINALLY, support third-party development of native applications for the iPhone. The SDK will arrive, for iPhone and iPod touch (!), in February 2008 after MacWorld San Francisco. Apple "[is] excited about creating a vibrant third party developer community around the iPhone and enabling hundreds of new applications for our users," but they are taking the time to do it properly "because we're trying to do two diametrically opposed things at once -- provide an advanced and open platform to developers while at the same time protect iPhone users from viruses, malware, privacy attacks, etc."
I think I can speak for everyone here at TUAW, and of course our loyal readers, when I say that this move is so incredibly welcome and WOW. All I can say to Steve is: "What took you so long to let us at your beloved devices?" Now the only question is whether the various iPhone dev teams can sit on their collective coding hands until Valentine's Day...
Thanks to all those who sent this in!











Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
10-17-2007 @ 11:26AM
Mike Schramm said...
Woohooo! It was probably me buying an iPhone last weekend that did it. Steve just couldn't let me go without official apps.
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10-17-2007 @ 11:32AM
Rollins said...
Well, that pretty much solidifies my decision to get an iPod Touch. Thanks Apple, although that's quite a bit of a wait. :\
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10-17-2007 @ 11:34AM
nick said...
/does a crazy dance
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10-17-2007 @ 11:36AM
Carl Trimble said...
Dev teams, don't sit on your hands. Get us a relock for anySIM or TurboSIM users.
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10-17-2007 @ 11:36AM
Atariboy said...
http://digg.com/apple/iPhone_and_iPod_Touch_SDK_in_February
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10-17-2007 @ 11:36AM
m said...
yes,this is great news, no more erica as of february. see you then!
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10-17-2007 @ 11:39AM
Bill Mac said...
Geesh! SJ announces that there'll be an official SDK for you iPhone developers and all you can say is "what took you so long?" "Quite a bit of a wait."
I guess it's only us iPhone users who actually understand how important a stable, safe, hack-free iPhone environment is... well, us and SJ anyways.
What good is an open platform that you can all sink your teeth into if nobody uses it because it gets so buggy and broken...I guess it would be a fun hobby for the "enthusiasts", but not much else.
It's a good thing for all of us that they're taking their time and making it right. You'll all profit in the end, so show a little patience. :)
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10-17-2007 @ 11:39AM
Dominic Yates said...
Oh yes finally !!
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10-17-2007 @ 11:41AM
David Tait said...
Dont you mean Macworld?
WWDC is later in the year in the spring/summer
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10-17-2007 @ 11:43AM
XESpawn said...
WOW and Double-WOW!!
We may never know if Apple always had this in the works or not, but one thing is clear...if they didn't, the iPhone Dev Team forced Apple's hand on this just like Parallels pushed Apple to release BootCamp. If it was always planned, then the iPhone Dev Team certainly pushed Apple to let us know their plans.
That's all customers really want--to know what is the plan. We can make better, more informed, decisions when we know what to expect.
Kudos to the Dev Team, and kudos to Apple for listening to its customers. This is great news to all of us already owning an iPhone/iPod Touch, and those that have been considering it.
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10-17-2007 @ 11:43AM
byaah said...
This is pretty awesome, but it makes me kind of sad at the same time. I was really enjoying the whole hacking community that went along with no SDK. I guess there will still be plenty of things to hack, even with an SDK.
Thanks, Steve.
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10-17-2007 @ 11:43AM
cashmonee said...
So now what will Erica post about? I doubt the Dev Team will ever go away, since I am sure these apps will not be free and people in general don't like to pay for these things.
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10-17-2007 @ 11:43AM
PSM said...
Great news! I am trying out AT&T right now, and although I went with Windows Mobile due to 3rd party openness, things are looking up for the iPhone being a possible choice for my next upgrade. I hope so, cause this thing is so... Windows-y! Bleh!
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10-17-2007 @ 11:45AM
Chris said...
YAY!!
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10-17-2007 @ 11:47AM
Johnny Thrash said...
HOT DAMN! I knew it would come sooner or later! Without hacks and crap. WOOOHOOO!
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10-17-2007 @ 11:47AM
E-Rock said...
Finally? Seriously, the freaking phone's been out for what, 3 and a half months? Like #7, I'm happy they're taking their time to do it right. Now maybe we could let up on all the hacking news...
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10-17-2007 @ 11:48AM
apeguero said...
This is excellent news. I had heard earlier this month that they were working on something to allow apps to be installed. It'd be interesting to see what apps are created for the iPhone and how they'll be distributed (iTunes anyone?). I hope they'll at least do a personal finance one that syncs with Money and Quicken.
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10-17-2007 @ 11:49AM
Hordur said...
XESpawn ....
"the iPhone Dev Team forced Apple's hand on this just like Parallels pushed Apple to release BootCamp. If it was always planned, then the iPhone Dev Team certainly pushed Apple to let us know their plans."
what do you mean ?
BootCamp and Parallels are in no way related in the way you describe...
There was a "dev" team if you will, that released a free EFI solution before BootCamp... nothing related to Parallels
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10-17-2007 @ 11:49AM
wei said...
Sounds great. I think I'll hold off on updating the firmware of my touch until the SDK is released, so I can keep enjoying my jailbroken touch ;). I just hope Apple makes this SDK widely available so everyone can provide great software!
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10-17-2007 @ 11:52AM
Sparks said...
Between Springboard having multiple pages of apps supported internally, and the hints about signed apps, this is not a huge surprise.
Then again, many people have called from the beginning that Apple was planning third-party applications but wanted to have a really solid dev kit nailed down to avoid instability and crashy stuff.
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