Cause for Developer Concern

The news tonight has given me plenty of options for things to complain about but I have something that has bothered me since the release of the latest iPhone and iOS 6.  This is something that should concern anyone who is a developer for the platform or is considering becoming one.  And let's be clear, this isn't another article bashing the iPhone.  I truly believe it is a quality product, just not my preference.


So what is it that has me going?  The whole issue surrounding the maps in iOS 6.  I will guess that someone will name it sometime soon but they haven't yet.  Perhaps it will be Mapgate to go along with Antennagate.  Apple has really given themselves a black eye on this one.  One of Apple's selling points is that their product "just works" as opposed to Android.  This certainly isn't an example of something just working.  It is quite the opposite.

But that isn't my issue, I'm not concerned as I'm not an iPhone user.  The issue that I have is that people who are using iOS 6 have no choice but to use this defective app.  That's right, it doesn't matter what you may need it for you can't use Google Maps as you could with iOS 5.  This all has to do with the war that the late Steve Jobs declared on Google.  Apple has decided to do whatever they can to prevent Google from competing with them.  Since they are starting to have issues in the courtrooms they have decided to handle it based on their unfair developer policies.  There are some who are no longer under the "don't talk" policy that have spoken up about the problems (such as David Gerwirtz).  These policies are slanted to completely favor Apple.  And the reason this should cause some concern for developers for the iOS platform is one of their policies states that you can't duplicate any functionality that is part of iOS.  In this case Apple decided to duplicate an existing app.  And since Apple now has their own map app, Google Maps is no longer allowed.  If you take the time and put in the effort to create an app for the iOS platform you have no guarantee that they won't do the same to you.

Can you imagine building your entire business around something like that?  If you ask me it is suicide.  I get why people would want to, it's a very popular platform with users that are willing to spend their cash.  But with that hanging over your head, along with all the issues that people like Mr. Gerwirtz, I just don't think I could take the chance.