In what seems like the biggest change of heart in the tech industry, Apple says it has eased up on previous restrictions for developing on iOS platforms for the iPhone and iPad. Is Apple bowing to industry pressure or growing competition from Google Android? Or is there some other Apple agenda here? Read on for the details and commentary…

Check out the press release here. This isn’t a joke. Apple has actually shifted its stance on an issue that a few months ago rocked the core of the Internet world as we knew it.

We are continually trying to make the App Store even better. We have listened to our developers and taken much of their feedback to heart. Based on their input, today we are making some important changes to our iOS Developer Program license in sections 3.3.1, 3.3.2 and 3.3.9 to relax some restrictions we put in place earlier this year.

In particular, we are relaxing all restrictions on the development tools used to create iOS apps, as long as the resulting apps do not download any code. This should give developers the flexibility they want, while preserving the security we need.

In addition, for the first time we are publishing the App Store Review Guidelines to help developers understand how we review submitted apps. We hope it will make us more transparent and help our developers create even more successful apps for the App Store.

My Two Cents

I’m sure Steve Jobs still has a vendetta against Flash, and won’t ever let Flash live in the browser on any iOS device, but 3rd party tools are back in action, which means Adobe’s Creative Suite C5 application that ported Flash to iPhone is back on track and useful yet again. More interesting still, are the guidelines Apple has revised. Engadget has hosted the the PDF (which is only usually accessible for developers). Here are some very candid highlights about what Apple is looking for…

  • “We have lots of kids downloading lots of apps, and parental controls don’t work unless the parents set them up (many don’t). So know that we’re keeping an eye out for the kids.”
  • “We have over 250,000 apps in the App Store. We don’t need any more Fart apps.”
  • “We have lots of serious developers who don’t want their quality Apps to be surrounded by amateur hour.” (Perhaps a dig at the Android market place?)
  • We will reject Apps for any content or behavior that we believe is over the line. What line, you ask? Well, as a Supreme Court Justice once said, “I’ll know it when I see it”. And we think that you will also know it when you cross it. (A nice way of saying, “no” to porn.)
  • “If your app is rejected, we have a Review Board that you can appeal to. If you run to the press and trash us, it never helps.”
  • “This is a living document, and new apps presenting new questions may result in new rules at any time. Perhaps your app will trigger this.”
  • “If it sounds like we’re control freaks, well, maybe it’s because we’re so committed to our users and making sure they have a quality experience with our products.”

In this level of frank and simple language, Apple nearly needs no explanation. It’s half common sense, half “this is our country club, keep it nice thank you.” But isn’t that what we’ve all expected from Apple in the first place?

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