Apple Issues Another iPhone SDK Restriction

Sources on the web are reporting that Apple is starting to show a different face, rather than the one we saw on March 6, at Town Hall in Cupertino, Calif. Speaking of future iPhone/iPod touch apps to be distributed via the upcoming AppStore, Apple CEO Steve Jobs mentioned a few rules developers are to obey if they want their apps on its devices. Jobs forgot to mention one more tiny restriction, however.

Reportedly, third-party applications are forbidden from accessing iTunes, something that will most likely affect developers wanting to keep their apps lightweight, using sound from an iTunes library. "Apple may have locked developers out of one key iPhone element, forbidding third-party applications from accessing iTunes," says PC World.

Also, as the same source implies, Apple's move is likely to do even more damage to social networking music applications. iLike and Last.FM are good examples to that.

There's even greater extent to what Apple's move might imply. More examples are given from a music service provider's point of view. For example, Amazon or eMusic might want to throw applications onto the touchscreen devices enabling users to download music from services other than iTunes. But since Apple is forbidding developers to even make apps that access iTunes, other music services are, of course, out of the question.

You can see where this is going, I'm sure, but just so everyone's on the same level, if Apple goes forth with this last restriction, the company "may face investigation by anti-trust authorities for tying its dominant online music service to its device at the expense of competitors," according to the same source.

Looks like this is what devs have to put up with for the generous 70 percent cut they're getting from app sales through the AppStore. Hopefully, Apple doesn't issue any more such surprises by June.

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