Apple won't allow music apps to interfere with iTunes on the iPhone
The new iPhone SDK is getting quite a bashing from developers who say that it doesn’t go far enough. For a start, it doesn’t allow applications to run in the background, and the licence agreement also seems to prohibit developers from installing software that changes low-level things like file structures and the original applications.
That’s led to concern that Apple has effectively banned any alternative music applications from running on the iPhone — at least, any that want to run on a par with iTunes.
The Inquirer speculates whether Apple, who will have a tight control over what official applications make it into the iTunes Store come June, will allow rival services from the likes of Amazon and eMusic to launch software.
It would seem unlikely.
Then again, there’ll likely be a thriving community for both jailbroken iPhones, and for native applications that aren’t approved by Apple, but whether established companies would want to risk this “black market” for apps is another matter.
(Via The Inquirer)
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