Submitted by Thomas Estilow on
Apple has relaxed restrictions on third-party software used to develop iPhone applications. Flash won't be coming to an iOS device anytime soon, however Adobe Flash Professional CS5 users can now submit apps created with the tool. Adobe has responded to Apple's change in policy by renewing investment in Packager, which converts Flash to iPhone apps.
In a controversial move, Apple had previously shut out third-party application development tools by requiring that all apps be written in C, C++, Objective-C or JavaScript as run by the Apple iPhone OS WebKit engine. Private application programming interfaces (APIs) were banned in the developer agreement.
Adobe abandoned Packager after Apple announced the new app development restrictions. Several different third-party technologies were restricted by the policy, and observers noted that the FTC and Department of Justice might proceed with anti-trust inquiries to determine if Apple had overstepped its bounds.
For its part, Adobe heralded the change in policy as "great news for developers." The company has been at odds with Apple for some time over the exclusion of the Flash player from its mobile devices across the board. Apple claims Flash is outdated, inefficient and proprietary, however the Flash plug-in is quite popular. Adobe has been working to bring Flash to other non-Apple mobile platforms.
Apple's move away from Flash has induced many companies and content providers to go with the open HTML5 standard as a replacement for Flash. Apple's reversal of policy regarding third-party iPhone app development tools comes with several other modifications to the Apple developer agreement. Adobe stated that iPhone app developers have already had apps made with Packager approved for distribution in the App Store.