Apple has rescinded its ban on third-party tools used to develop apps for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.
In a statement the company said that has made significant changes to the iOS Developer Program licence to “relax some restrictions put in place earlier this year”.
Specifically, Apple is “relaxing all restrictions on the development tools used to create iOS apps, 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.”
The volte-face should be particularly welcome at Adobe, the principle casualty of Apple’s April decision to ban apps not written using Apple’s own developer tools or with open web standards. That brought an end to Adobe’s efforts to promote its own technology that converted Flash-based programs into iOS apps.
Apple hasn’t said why it changed its mind and if it did so under pressure from regulatory authorities in the US and EU, which have been investigating whether the App Store rules breached antitrust laws.
In addition to providing developers with access to more tools, Apple is also promising more transparency in its oft-criticised, occasionally Byzantine approvals process.
“For the first time we are publishing the App Store Review Guidelines to help developers understand how we review submitted apps. We hope it will make us more transparent and help our developers create even more successful apps for the App Store,” the statement says.
