Apple adds more restrictions to the apps

In a move that is sure to alienate many developers, Apple announced that it will only allow iPhone 4.0 applications written in 3 programming languages to be acceptable in it’s stores.

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).

I don’t know why do they care or how they will they be able to find out (I seriously doubt they will be de-compiling all the submitted code) in which language app was written.  Hopefully many developers will start shifting their focus toward Android app market there such dumb restrictions don’t exist.

So what’s next for Apple? I think they might soon require an agreement from a developer to write app exclusively for apple. I’d laugh really hard if or when this happens.

Tags: apple, apps, electronics, iphone, ipod, programming