Apple eases developer restrictions, opens path to Flash

Apple Inc. knows that much of the success of the iPhone comes thanks to the creative apps that developers have brought to the iPhone experience. In yet another attempt to keep developers in its good graces, the company announced today that it is making some changes to its iOS Developer Program license “to relax some restrictions” it put in place earlier this year.
“We have listened to our developers and taken much of their feedback to heart,” the company wrote.
What comes as the biggest surprise in Apple’s changes is an apparent about-face on restrictions covering development tools used to create iOS apps. Apple says it is “relaxing all restrictions” on this front “as long as the resulting apps do not download any code. This should give developers the flexibility they want, while preserving the security we need.”
In effect, this could open up the iOS platform to Adobe Systems Inc.’s Flash for the first time ever.
Upon analyzing the changes, John Gruber at Daring Fireball wrote: “I believe that tools such as Adobe’s Flash cross-compiler are no longer banned from use. If you can produce a binary that complies with the guidelines, how you produced it doesn’t matter.”
This move could prompt Adobe to breathe new life into its currently-dead-in-the-water Packager for iPhone.
As promised when it first imposed the new restrictions last June, Apple has removed language in its developer agreement that banned third-party ad networks like Google Inc.’s AdMob.
Finally, Apple is also publishing App Store Review Guidelines in an effort to give developers a more clear picture of the general app review process at Apple. “We hope it will make us more transparent and help our developers create even more successful apps for the App Store,” the company wrote.