Steve Jobs today announced that, yes, third-party developers will be able to create programs that work on the iPhone. Kind of. Under the security blanket of the Safari browser, which will officially support the popular Web 2.0 techniques in AJAX, developers will be able to create applications for the iPhone. Though these applications are only widgets running in the Safari app, they will be able to access and take advantage of some of the iPhone's built-in features, like Google Maps and the address book.
Whether YouTube will be fully functional, and whether other Java-based sites will function properly, is a matter of debate, though the point may be moot, due to the phone's slower EDGE networking. As users of SlingMedia's SlingPlayer are painfully aware, streaming video over an EDGE connection is less than ideal, though streaming over Wi-Fi is much better, and the iPhone has that capability.
The decision drew mixed reactions, with some pundits disappointed that full access to the iPhone's OS was not available, as had been rumored. Instead of full-fledged apps, developers will only be able to write widgets, which will limit their capabilities, but should provide something of a compromise between developer's desires to sell programs, and Apple's desire to keep the iPhone secure and stable. As we've seen third party apps crash our Palm OS and Windows Mobile 6 phones (especially with no GoodLink support for WM6, yet), we're curious as to whether this measure will truly keep the iPhone crash-proof.
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