Talking iPhone: What applications won't be allowed?

With the iPhone SDK out now the dreams of many software developers and companies are running into the wall of limitations that come with the SDK. Most recently was Adobe, which initially indicated they would be developing a Flash plugin for the iPhone but then retracted their statement. Sun has also announced that they will be developing a Java client for the iPhone, but may find their hopes dashed by the fact that the SDK user agreement does not allow you to create applications that execute additional code. Today we're going to be taking a close look at the type of applications that won't be allowed on the iPhone by taking examples from other smart phone platforms.

SPB Pocket Plus for Windows Mobile Professional - This software enhances devices like the HTC Mogul (review) or AT&T Tilt (review) by changing the behavior of your home screen. In particular it takes advantage of Windows Mobile's capability to add home screen plugins to add functionality that allows you to get quick access to commonly used programs. In addition it also enhances the built in Internet Explorer browser by supporting tabs, allowing you to view the source and save web pages to your device. It also adds a task manager that allows you to view your currently running programs. All of these are things that won't be possible with the iPhone SDK as they require system level access that the Apple isn't giving developers.

XBar 3 for Windows Mobile Standard - This handy little utility provides users with a task manager, program launcher and copy & paste functionality. You can bring up these functions at any point in the interface by pressing and holding the center select button. The lack of copy & paste has been one of the most mentioned deficiencies of the iPhone and it's a deficiency shared by Windows Mobile Standard devices like the Verizon SMT5800 (review) or T-Mobile Shadow (review). The difference, of course, is that creative developers can create tools like XBar 3 to address this deficiency while Apple has decided that third party programs, like this, won't be able to run in the background and won't have system level access to be able to move data like copied text from one program to another.

CorePlayer for S60 - This multimedia playback software is available on almost all smart phone platforms, but is especially helpful on Series 60 devices like the Nokia N95 (review) or Nokia N82 (review) as that platform has limited options in terms of media software. Where CorePlayer really shines is in its ability to play back just about any media file you can imagine. If you're frustrated that you can't watch DivX videos or listen to OGG music on your device CorePlayer comes to the rescue. In a burst of enthusiasm the developers are already working on an iPhone version of the software, but given that third party applications won't be allowed to access multimedia on the device and won't be able to play back media in the background we have to imagine that despite their best hopes CorePlayer for the iPhone won't be a reality anytime soon.

Resco Explorer 2008 for Palm OS - One of the biggest deficiencies of Palm OS is the lack of a built in file browser and, ironically, this has also been mentioned as a deficiency of the iPhone. The difference between the two platforms is that Palm OS with its excellent support for third party applications allows developers to create powerful tools like Resco Explorer that allow users to view and manipulate files on devices like the Palm Centro (review) or Treo 755p (review). On the iPhone, by contrast, such utilities that can access any file on the device won't be allowed.

So the question then becomes, are any of the applications above important enough that people will find it annoying they can't have that application on their iPhone. Well, all of the applications we mentioned are highly rated and have been installed on thousands of devices, so we can probably say that at least some people will also want that functionality on their iPhone. These applications allow you to interact with your device in the way you want, add significant functionality to built in applications and fill significant holes in the operating system of each particular platform. Anyone who has used for the iPhone for awhile can probably look at what these applications offer and understand why iPhone users might want that.

So why has Apple decided to disallow applications like these? There could be several reasons, we imagine that first and foremost Apple sought to develop the SDK in a manner that would limit the amount of harm that could be done to the iPhone. It's certainly true that on other platforms third party software can cause lag and annoyance. The obvious rejoinder to this concern is that you should let the consumers make the choice about what they're willing to put up with and what they want to install. This is certainly the approach that Apple takes with their computers and it's the approach that other mobile platforms have taken. Apple could retort that the iPhone is first and foremost a phone and it is important that this critical functionality not be harmed by third party applications, but there are a lot of important things that people do on their computers that could be harmed by third party software, and that doesn't justify crippling what that software is capable of.

It may be that Apple is launching the SDK with limited capabilities and will expand these as requests for more functionality from developers and users becomes significant enough. The iPhone is certainly a young platform, but it's also competing with mature platforms, and many are going to ask for the functionality they can get from those more mature platforms. On the other hand it could be that Apple is right and users want a tightly controlled device that limits what they can do but ensures the device is always working "right". It will be interesting to see how this shakes out, especially as other device manufacturers and mobile software platforms inevitably cut into the lead the iPhone has right now in terms of user interface. We'll be particularly interested to see how the iPhone's third party software ecosystem compares to that being fostered by Google with their Android platform. A couple of decades ago Apple lost the first PC war because they weren't flexible enough, we have to wonder if they might lose the mobile device wars for the same reason.