My decision to stop iPhone development has had everything to do with Apple’s policies. I respect their right to manage their platform however they want, however I am philosophically opposed to the existence of their review process. I am very concerned that they are setting a horrible precedent for other software platforms, and soon gatekeepers will start infesting the lives of every software developer.
The web is still unrestricted and free, and so I am returning to my roots as a web developer. In the long term, I would like to be able to say that I helped to make the web the best mobile platform available, rather than being part of the transition to a world where every developer must go through a middleman to get their software in the hands of users.
Good for Joe Hewitt. Apple may like to say “our phone, our rules” but if Apple keeps up with the draconian behavior they may find a mass exodus on their hands. I hope the Pre and Droid start giving Apple a well deserved thrashing in the market.
x.facebook.com is way better than the facebook app that is available for webos; why do I need an app?I haven't looked at the facebook app for iphone, so I guess I don't know what I'm missing. Most of the time, I just go to the full version of Facebook.com on my Pre. I only do the mobile version when I'm stuck on 1xRTT.
I can't help but think Palm is on the right track with WebOS. All the phones have really nice, capable browsers–why not just build a web app and be done with it?
The latest iPhone / Facebook version is a nice piece of UX. It's a waste of long-term effort though when you can use cross-platform tools and progressive enhancement. I was going to link to an old "best viewed with" button but can't find one anymore.
This behavior reminds of the problems (albeit not a corporation) with being listed in the Open Directory Project AKA DMoz. ODP used to be the end all and be all of being included search results sometimes. Look what has happened to ODP. Sooner of later people will just bypass the process. Don't they say that water finds the path of least resistance?