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[isthisthingon]

Just wanted to do a reality check on something I read.  Is it true that it's impossible to legally purchase an app for the iPhone without going through Apple's AppStore?  I find that hard to believe, though it wouldn't exactly be shocking.  I know Apple picks and chooses what will be available there (which doesn't include Google Voice) but making the act of purchasing software from someone other than Apple illegal and impossible without hacking it in??  Apple would have outdone themselves if this is true

[nutballs]

Well it's not illegal, but it's against the TOS. You can only install approved apps. The only apps that are approved are in itunes.

[isthisthingon]

it's against the TOS

   Big wow on that one.  I'm amazed they got up to a reported 100k apps with this model.  Coolness does go a long way 

[perkiset]

Their distribution model is both a QA mechanism and a revenue model. If you want an app distributed to the masses, you go through iTunes.  If an app is for-pay, Apple gets 30%. OTOH, if you have the dev kit you can install and do just about anything you want.

[isthisthingon]

Their distribution model is both a QA mechanism and a revenue model. If you want an app distributed to the masses, you go through iTunes.  If an app is for-pay, Apple gets 30%. OTOH, if you have the dev kit you can install and do just about anything you want.

I wonder if it's possible to get the dev kit, write an app for profit, give Apple 30% and sell it lemonade-stand style?  In any case I guess with a dev kit you test out your apps then submit them to the AppStore for approval - if you want users to be able to download them from the net. 

Android apps can come from the Android Market (Google managed) or anywhere else without restrictions.  There's only 20k currently available compared to Apple's 100k.  But if I was Apple and saw these numbers switching places dramatically I'd consider a more open approach to app distribution.  But of course I would!  I'm open-itto

[perkiset]

I wonder if it's possible to get the dev kit, write an app for profit, give Apple 30% and sell it lemonade-stand style?  In any case I guess with a dev kit you test out your apps then submit them to the AppStore for approval - if you want users to be able to download them from the net. 

Clients would have to jailbreak. There's no distribution/installation mechanism available for your average joe than the iTunes method.

Android apps can come from the Android Market (Google managed) or anywhere else without restrictions.  There's only 20k currently available compared to Apple's 100k.  But if I was Apple and saw these numbers switching places dramatically I'd consider a more open approach to app distribution.  But of course I would!  I'm open-itto

I sort of doubt it. There are already a lot of pr0n shops and such that are creating apps for 'droid and that's where it'd go straight away on the iPhone. Regardless of the notion of "It's MY weiner iPhone and I can abuse it any way I want" I don't think Apple wants a photo ANYWHERE that has both pr0n and the Apple logo in the same frame. I think that THEY think it's bad enough that the skinsales people have made web apps that run flawlessly in Safari.

[isthisthingon]

I think that THEY think it's bad enough that the skinsales people have made web apps that run flawlessly in Safari.

What happened to the good old Mac Playboy days?   That was an awesome app, for the Mac 512 I believe.  Dark Crystal, Playboy,  ,  rinse and repeat 

[perkiset]

Actually it was MacPlaymate, and a finer early use of the mouse and different cursors was never to be seen.

I have it for the Mini vMac emulator