Flash CS5 and the iPhone

If you haven’t heard already Apple has changed the terms and conditions of it’s developer program to stipulate that all applications must be written in native code, and that software created using “an intermediary translation or compatibility layer or tool” are prohibited.  Whilst this hits a number of products out there such as Titanium from Appcelerator it’s hard not to see it as a shot at Flash CS5 and it’s new built-in tool for creating iPhone apps, especially with the announcement made just a few days before the widely publicised CS5 launch.

Apple has left Flash support off the iPhone for a long time, with comments about “security holes”  ”CPU Hog” and “old technology” being reported.  Adobe could have probably countered most if not all of these arguements, but instead it has made them irrelevant by including a Packager for iPhone in Flash CS5.

The iPhone packager lets you publish your Flash ActionScript 3 projects to run as native applications for the iPhone and iPad.  In short you can build an app in Flash CS5 and when your done in just a few minutes export it as a native iPhone app, allowing you to cover pretty much every device out there.  You don’t have to sit down and redevelop the same app for the iPhone, it’s done at the click of a button. There’s just one problem of course, Apple’s new clause prevents you from getting your app onto the app store which they control.

Like it or not Flash used properly can greatly improve the user experience on devices whether mobile, laptop or desktop, and in many respects it levels the playing field and limits a hardware manufacturers ability to differentiate.  Apple is famous for differentiating, the iPhone was way ahead of other mobile devices when it came out, and such differentiation allows companies to be able to charge a premium.

I suspect this is going to be dragging on for some months yet, but in the mean time the people who are being affected  by this are the users and the developers.  Adobe has created a really useful feature in the iPhone packager tool in Flash CS5, it helps developers immensely and improves the end user experience by giving them access to iPhone & iPad apps as an alternative to Flash apps that they couldn’t access previously.

My own personal opinion is maybe it’s time to start looking for a new mobile.  I have had an iphone for some time now, and I like it a lot, it’s a great piece of kit.  My only gripe really was that some of my work apps were Flash based and they wouldn’t work on it.  I always figured this would get fixed eventually, and when I first saw the iPhone packager I could see an alternative, albeit I might not get access to the native flash apps.

Now though I just figure Apple are determined not to let me access these apps in any way shape or form.  In my eyes they have gone from being a very cool company with some stunning technology to being the bad guys that have no respect for their users and are standing between me and a better experience.  Sorry Apple but you really aren’t doing yourself any favours with this user.