Apple Attempts to Restrict iPhone Developers from Using Flash
Apple Attempts to Restrict iPhone Developers from Using Flash
Posted 04/08/2010 at 6:13pm
| by Ryan Whitwam
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It looks like Apple's war against Adobe Flash is continuing unabated. The license agreement for the new iPhone OS4 specifically stipulates that iPhone/iPad apps must be written in Objective-C, C, C++, or JavaScript. This directly affects Adobe's Packager for iPhone that allows developers to work with Flash via Adobe ActionScript, then convert it to an iPhone app on the fly. Apple's new restriction would effectively assure that any app developed in this manner would be rejected.
The use of a cross-compiler like Adobe's will leave telltale signs in the final code that Apple could easily recognize. Some developers have no choice but to alter their development methods if they intend to put out an iPhone or iPad app. Any work already done in other languages may as well be scrapped, leaving the poor dev back at square one.
This leaves Adobe in a strange place. The Packager for iPhone was supposed to be a big feature in the upcoming Flash CS5. The license was just made available with the new dev preview today, so we'll be interested to see how developers react to this.
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arung
October 19, 2010 at 1:12am
We have learn and done some application for iphone using flash
lucky from iphone app developer
DeveloperDavid
April 10, 2010 at 1:07pm
I wish Adobe would pull all of their software from Apple. If Dreamweaver, photoshop, Flash pro and all those web development apps were not available on Mac web developers would all switch to PC causing Apple to loose huge market share.
violian
April 09, 2010 at 11:14am
I think I see the bigger picture here. It has to do with Apple's new Ad developing thing in the upcoming OS4. Lots of Ads on websites are employing some sort of Flash script for instance. But now that devleopers have to use Apple's new Ad-kit, Apple will be reaping the Ad-profits. This is just my speculation.
dracoress
April 09, 2010 at 5:18am
Developers...go make droid apps...I'll see you when my contract is up and I can get one :) One of these times Apple is gonna shoot itself in the foot. Someday the SJ mojo will wear off of people and the light he stands in just won't be the same.
Keith E. Whisman
April 09, 2010 at 12:56am
That is unfair business practice and I believe that Adobe can sue. Apple is going way too far.
Taz0
April 09, 2010 at 2:09am
My thoughts exactly - those are blatantly anti-competitive practices. And I hope Adobe sues and sets a precedent - platform providers can't discriminate on the basis of the tools used to develop the applications. It's none of their business how I develop my app, only the that resulting app meets their requirements. BTW, this new restriction effectively bans MonoTouch as well. Also, why can't I develop an iPhone app on the PC? Certainly not because of technical reasons. It seems that just to develop something on an Apple platform you have to convert to their religion - buy their gadgets, buy their computers, buy their development tools and use their programming language. Just for comparison's sake, I can develop a WinMo app, on any OS, using any computer, with any programming language and without even owning a WinMo phone!
Also, this has nothing to do with security. All apps that run on the iPhoneOS are cripplingly sandboxed.
bigm0ney13
April 08, 2010 at 8:42pm
Why can't I remove adobe reader and why does it override foxit??
Caboose
April 09, 2010 at 1:40pm
Just change the file association so that PDF's open with Foxit
-= I don't want to be dead, I want to be alive! Or... a cowboy! =-
bigm0ney13
April 12, 2010 at 8:29pm
no,no. I mean in chrome. the file association is set to foxit. before i installed cs4, it would normally open a pdf with foxit... not anymore
Thursday
April 08, 2010 at 7:28pm
OK I can kinda understand Apple leaving out Flash support due to stability concerns on the iPhone, but on a tablet PC?
You know what it's really all about? If users could access Flash content on the web for free, why would they pay for the (cr)App Store version from Apple? It's all about the money for Apple...end user be damned.
aviaggio
April 08, 2010 at 7:53pm
It's more about Apple not having control over what Adobe does. And Apple won't tolerate that. That's really the bottom line. It's well known how much of a control freak Jobs is and its very evident in anything he touches.
Neufeldt2002
April 08, 2010 at 7:18pm
Wanna comit iSuicide? Yup, there's an app for that... No wait apple killed it.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
I wanted a signature, but all I got was this ________
B10H4Z4RD
April 09, 2010 at 6:01am
iSuicide was flash based....the program developed utilizing Adobe is killed by Apple...Micheal Jackson = Steve Jobs. Old MJ/SJ > New MJ/SJ
______________________________________________________________________
On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero. Chuck Palahniuk, FIght Club.
Intel Q6600@3.2
ASUS P5N-D
Evga GTX 275 896
aviaggio
April 08, 2010 at 6:32pm
I really hate both companies, so I'd have no problem if they go to war and blow themselves out of existence.
bigkahuna
April 08, 2010 at 6:26pm
sounds just like the chinese government, how is that apple never gets sued for anticompetitive practices?
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