Apple drops iPhone NDA for released software

Filed under: Developer, Macintosh, Apple, Android

Apple drops iPhone NDA for released software

by Christina Warren Oct 1st 2008

If your Twitter feed just exploded with glee, it's because at long last, Apple has finally lifted the NDA (non-disclosure agreement) on released iPhone software!

Apple has had an NDA in-place since the iPhone SDK was launched in March, ostensibly to protect the intellectual property behind the iPhone's interface from being ripped off my competitors. However, after the iPhone 2.0 firmware was released and the App Store opened, the NDA still remained in effect.

We've covered these issues at lenght at TUAW, but the bottom line is, because of the NDA, software developers cannot even openly communicate with one another about software or the SDK in general. This means censoring on Apple developer mailing lists and almost no public discussion about programming for the iPhone. It's a mess for current developers and it is certainly a mess for would-be developers.

Thankfully, Apple has decided to lift the restrictions on released software. While this still means that developers are bound by the NDA not to discuss or release details of their apps before it is released, this now means that developers can share experiences and what they have learned building currently available applications.

After Google launched the Android SDK 1.0 last week, I really wanted to write up a discussion between developers of what the experience is like developing for both platforms. The NDA prevented me from even seriously considering this. Now that the NDA is lifted, I hope to have something up later in the month.

[via TUAW]

Tags: android, android sdk, AndroidSdk, iphone, iphone nda, iphone sdk, IphoneNda, IphoneSdk, nda

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

James said 3:50PM on 10-01-2008

They need to start selling posters of Steve Jobs and Chairman Mao together -- I figure there's got to be a lot of overlap in their fanbase.

Todd said 10:17AM on 10-02-2008

"...I really wanted to write up a discussion between developers of what the experience is like developing for both platforms. The NDA prevented me from even seriously considering this."

You're writing an app for both? Ohh details please.

I would also mention the "power of the pen" - Did Ryan Block's post cause Apple to drop the NDA?

http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/25/engadget-cares-save-us-from-apples-groundbreaking-developer-s/

Christina Warren said 10:30AM on 10-02-2008

Yeah, that was the original plan -- do an app for both. I still want to do that, but I think I might start by interviewing developers for both platforms to get their thoughts. What kind of app would you be interested in seeing?

And yes, power of the pen indeed. Engadget, Craig Hockenberry (Twitterrific), John Gruber (powerful Mac pundit), and countless other devs from the Mac software community have been rallying against this thing for months. It all came to a crescendo, and Apple made the reasonable choice.

John B. Kendrick said 7:49PM on 10-02-2008

I believe Apple’s made the right decision again. I know it seems like they are a day late and a dollar short (actually the second part’s probably not true) but I appreciate thoughtful caution. I owned a very stable original iPhone since its release and traded up to a 3G when it went on sale.

I wrote about Apple and Job’s decision making abilities in a post on my blog at http://johnkendrick.wordpress.com/2008/08/06/was-steve-jobs-right-with-iphone-10/

Jon Doe. said 4:28PM on 10-06-2008

$10 says they lifted it because of Android.

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