toggle

iPodNN News

Music functions off-limits to iPhone SDK developers

updated 12:05 pm EDT, Wed March 19, 2008

Music vs. iPhone SDK

Any functionality related to music playback is inaccessible by the iPhone SDK, a new report claims. While the SDK allows access to many other functions of iPhone and the iPod touch, such as dialing, the camera and Internet access, The Inquirer writes that any components connected to iTunes are off-limits, preventing developers from accessing one of the most popular features of the phone, next to web browsing and Google Maps.

Apple has not spoken about the restriction, but it is suggested that this may be a way of blocking third-party alternatives to the Wi-Fi Music Store, which would undermine Apple's music sales. This may have the unintended side-effect, however, of stopping the creation of enhancements to music functions, such as native versions of the iLike or Last.fm plug-ins.

by MacNN Staff

(22)

TAGS :

iPod, iPhone, iPod touch, developer, iTunes, music, SDK

Share the Article

0 Twitter Delious Slash Dot Digg

toggle

Comments

dogzilla
Grizzled Veteran

Joined: Sep 1999

-5

03/19, 12:27pm | report spam | close Reply |
For chrissakes...

What is it with developers? Could they possibly start spending a little time on developing actual apps instead of bitching about the things that aren't accessible in the SDK? There are a *huge* number of things you *can* do with the SDK. It seems like all we ever hear about are the few things you *can't* do. Are developers really such whiny little unimaginative brats?

I'm beginning to understand why Apple has such an ambivalent relationship with third-party developers.

danviento
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Dec 2005

-1

03/19, 12:44pm | report spam | close Reply |
agree w/dogz

The music and movie browsing UIs are Apple's brain-children, and one of the major functions of the phone. Apple doesn't want anyone edging them out of this niche. Media playback experience is one of the main reasons people buy iPods/iPhones. Besides, you wouldn't want some app to inadvertently destabilize this operational aspect of the device.

grandlapin
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Dec 2005

+1

03/19, 12:44pm | report spam | close Reply |
Legitimate request

Game developers should be able to use the song library as background music. I much prefer listening to my own music when I play.

Rezzz
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jan 2006

0

03/19, 12:56pm | report spam | close Reply |
interesting..

interesting to see how this plays out.. Monople$oft is in hot water b/c they did not expose all APIs to developers for certain windows functionality. as the iPhone is itself a platform, could this be construed as anit-competitive?

certainly apple is exposing Core Audio for developers to utilize for sound needs. If it is itunes specific code, then apple would not be obligated to expose that since it non-OS code. But if it is part of the OS, that could be questionable to withhold. ie having an unfair advantage over other companies who want to sell a music player software but have no access to hidden APIs.

Peter Bonte
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Aug 2001

0

03/19, 01:08pm | report spam | close Reply |
background music

Agreed with the background music example but its not easy to implement in the SDK. We don't want random music so the app needs some browsing capability's, save the music when the game quits for a incoming call, anticipate a constantly changing music database, extra music settings in the game, etc.

Its just not worth the extra hassle at the moment and only complicates the user experience. Music can be played over the network and then bought and downloaded on the computer and imported in iTunes like Amazon is offering now.

We don't need extra interfering with our iPod music database, we need creative developers that don't whine all the time.

dogzilla
Grizzled Veteran

Joined: Sep 1999

0

03/19, 01:10pm | report spam | close Reply |
re: interesting..

Not sure how this ties in to your argument, but I think it's important to note that the iPhone isn't sold as a general-purpose computing tool. I agree that it is a platform, but I'm not sure it falls into the exact same category as a desktop or laptop computer.

Peter Bonte
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Aug 2001

0

03/19, 01:13pm | report spam | close Reply |
@rezzz

Nothing wrong with a monopoly, forcing your way into other markets via that monopoly is. Opening up there protocols (not API's) was a punishment by the EU.

testudo
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Aug 2001

+1

03/19, 01:15pm | report spam | close Reply |
Re: agree w/dogz

The music and movie browsing UIs are Apple's brain-children, and one of the major functions of the phone. Apple doesn't want anyone edging them out of this niche.

Niche? Since when is the iPod, or it's UI, a 'niche'? And do you really think (or is Apple so fearful of) some developer is going to create some kick-a** UI that everyone would end up using? Please. The whole complaint over MS Windows and IE/WMP was that they were installed by default, so people would just use them (because people are sheep, apparently). The same would hold true with iPods.

Plus, why would Apple care that much? It isn't like they make money off the UI.

Media playback experience is one of the main reasons people buy iPods/iPhones.

Well, to me, the most surprising part of the article was that Google Maps ranks right up there. That is just sad.

Besides, you wouldn't want some app to inadvertently destabilize this operational aspect of the device.

OMG, not another lemming. The iPod Touch/iPhone use a version of OS X. OS X is supposed to be a really advanced operating system. It shouldn't be that hard to add APIs to hook into music playback without causing the entire OS to come crashing down upon itself.

And that's what people are talking about. APIs. Just like on the Mac, where you can use AppleScript to communicate with iTunes. Amazing how they're able to do that without having iTunes completely stop working.

(Oh, and if you have an app that breaks music playback, I would think most people would just delete the app, rather than say "OMG! The iPod is broken! Everytime I use x** I can't play music anymore!"

Peter Bonte
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Aug 2001

0

03/19, 01:21pm | report spam | close Reply |
@testudo

"(Oh, and if you have an app that breaks music playback, I would think most people would just delete the app, rather than say "OMG! The iPod is broken! Everytime I use x** I can't play music anymore!")"

Then why do People keep using Windows?

JulesLt
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jul 2005

0

03/19, 01:26pm | report spam | close Reply |
Whining?

Erm, because the ones doing stuff will be happily doing it, and probably also accepting the terms of the NDA (you know, like Mac developers who wrote their Leopard apps).

And yes, I find it ridiculous when someone says it is 'useless' because you can't write a Twitter client. I'll tell you one thing, I am 6000% more likely to pay for Super Monkey Ball or Archer McClean's Mercury or Tempest 2007 than a Twitter client. I'd even buy Tetris.

And as someone else pointed out - this is BETA V.1. I also suspect that multi-million dollar firms like last.fm may have a bit more sway in negotiations than a shareware developer.

>interesting to see how this plays out.. >Monople$oft is in hot water b/c they did >not expose all APIs to developers for >certain windows functionality. as the >iPhone is itself a platform, could this >be construed as anit-competitive?

The issue with MS is that by doing this they were able to make existing third-party software seem less effective. Given the lack of existing third party software, it would be difficult.

In addition, it is a closed device (like a games console). Case law suggests that if you can work around the vendors protection, you can sell what you like, but otherwise you are operating on a closed system within the rules defined by Apple (or Sony or Nintendo).

That's very different from Windows (or indeed desktop Macs) where the platform is open. You need no agreement from MS to develop software on Windows, and it is sold in that way.

ajhoughton
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Mar 2004

0

03/19, 01:32pm | report spam | close Reply |
@dogzilla

What is it with developers? Could they possibly start spending a little time on developing actual apps instead of bitching about the things that aren't accessible in the SDK?

For the most part, it isn't developers that are bitching. This isn't surprising since most of us realise that the SDK is under a non-disclosure agreement. We can't talk about it.

Most of the complaining is coming from media pundits. There's also a fair amount of whining from the freetard community, which seems to regard the fact that the device is (supposed to be) locked down as some kind of personal affront.

dliup
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jan 2006

0

03/19, 01:38pm | report spam | close Reply |
play music while gaming

If you actually own an iPhone, you would know that you can play your own music while playing games.

Eldernorm
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Sep 2007

0

03/19, 01:52pm | report spam | close Reply |
@Testudo

Dude, I have to say that I think you must be the ultimate MS troll. :-) " OMG, not another lemming. The iPod Touch/iPhone use a version of OS X. OS X is supposed to be a really advanced operating system."

And as to, "Since when is the iPod, or it's UI, a 'niche'? ",the answer is when its a 70% niche. :-)

Have a nice Apple powered day....... or not. LOL So was Microsofts Vista and look what a joke that turned out to be. :-)

Eldernorm
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Sep 2007

0

03/19, 01:55pm | report spam | close Reply |
Opppp

Technical error in last post. Should be.

@Testudo Dude, I have to say that I think you must be the ultimate MS troll. :-) " OMG, not another lemming. The iPod Touch/iPhone use a version of OS X. OS X is supposed to be a really advanced operating system." So was Microsofts Vista and look what a joke that turned out to be. :-)

And as to, "Since when is the iPod, or it's UI, a 'niche'? ",the answer is when its a 70% niche. :-)

Better.

Have a nice Apple powered day....... or not. LOL

johnnullstream
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Mar 2008

0

03/19, 02:46pm | report spam | close Reply |
Devs Whining??

Wow it's bad enough that Apple is poking the developers in the eye, now the Apple fans are also turning on us? I can't speak for everyone, but I can tell you I am very frustrated with the restrictions that Apple has put in place. - And yes I have been complaining about it, so far mostly in private, but I guess now publically. From the outside it may seem like whining, but from the inside it is really driven by deep disappointment. I’m disappointed that many of the really cool and innovative ideas I had for the platform cannot be implemented due to Apple’s short sightedness. And I am just one dev, it is sad to think of all the other ideas that are now down the toilet. The platform really is the most exciting thing to come along in a very long while – shame. That doesn’t mean I won’t write for it. But I can tell you that what I AM able to write will not be my best ideas, the ones that had stirred my passion in the platform, the ones that I wanted to make ‘insanely great’. Again, what a shame.

lockhartt
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Apr 2000

0

03/19, 03:04pm | report spam | close Reply |
two things...

1) I really don't think it's fair to be referring to the developers as whining, particularly since most of the noise isn't coming from them. It's never cool to piss on people whose contributions will continue to drive the evolution of a platform. From both a business and just plain common sense perspective, it is Apple's responsibility to provide a platform that is both easy to develop on and as "open" as possible.

2) That being said, nobody should be ranking on Apple too much regarding how much access they have to the iPhone's APIs at this point. Yes, the iPhone is running OS X... but it's a unique version of the OS on a very unique hardware configuration. The underpinnings may be mature, but there's a whole lot of new stuff there. Exposing APIs that aren't particularly mature and/or written to be exposed isn't smart. There has been significant progress made from iPhone launch until now, and that progress should continue. If it doesn't, and there's no good reason (and I'd have to argue that prohibiting folks from accessing code that could compromise the IP invested in the iPod seems reasonable to me), THEN it's time to start complaining. In the meantime, suggest, ask, and pester :)

WiseWeasel
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Apr 1999

0

03/19, 04:03pm | report spam | close Reply |
lame

Well, that's lame. I would love to be able to download an MP3 from Safari or some native app while on WiFi somewhere, and then make it accessible in the iPod app on the iPhone without having to use a computer to add it to the library. There should be some API for both adding content to the iPod app directly on the iPhone (maybe kept in separate on-the-go playlists or somesuch), and for selecting playlists of music to play in 3rd party games or some alternative media playback software. If Apple is still truly a hardware company, then such capabilities can only add value to their product. Unfortunately, it seems their interests in the content distribution sector are interfering with the capabilities of their hardware and OS offerings. I won't complain if such advanced capabilities aren't available from the get-go, but it would be very disappointing if such solutions are never going to be added, then I would gladly jump ship to an alternative platform that DOES allow this type of functionality once they've caught up on usability...

dogzilla
Grizzled Veteran

Joined: Sep 1999

0

03/19, 04:23pm | report spam | close Reply |
re: Whining

After poking around some more and looking at the credentials of some of the rants concerning the iPhone SDK I've read, I think I should rephrase my initial post and agree with ajhoughton and lockhartt: it appears that the whining is coming less from actual developers and more from "pundits" and "analysts". There are very few actual developers complaining about the SDK limitations (or even the business model), with the notable exception of the Rogue Amoeba guys and a very few others. It appears most of the complaints come from people who will never actually develop anything with the iPhone SDK.

So I retract my earlier slam on developers being whiny. I don't know how to categorize the group of people currently whining about the SDK - they seem to know only just enough about development to find things to complain about, but not enough to actually ever accomplish anything. I suspect the best approach is to simply ignore them, since they seem to be wrong the overwhelming majority of the time.

petsounds
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Apr 2007

0

03/19, 04:31pm | report spam | close Reply |
re: dogzilla

Stop being such an Apple apologist dude. You must not be a developer, otherwise you would know that giving feedback to a platform-owner you have a relationship is the only way to get things changed.

It is reasonable to complain about an SDK restriction that overreaches in scope. Banning all music (allegedly, I haven't poked around myself to verify this) access hurts too many useful apps, instead of just denying apps that don't meet a set of criteria (e.g. no music stores).

Apple's SDK is pretty good, but it could be a lot better while still protecting their own interests.

lamewing
Forum Regular

Joined: Aug 2004

0

03/19, 04:37pm | report spam | close Reply |
Apple can do no wrong

By the gods, how is it that some of these developers have reasonable complaints, but in the end it doesn't matter as so many of the Apple fanatics just cannot imagine Apple doing anything wrong. Sigh.

testudo
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Aug 2001

0

03/19, 05:11pm | report spam | close Reply |
Re: @testudo

Then why do People keep using Windows?

Because the computers are cheap. It works with more software (well, it USED to). And it generally works for people (most people I know don't have constant issues with Malware, viruses, crashes, blue screens, etc, that the mac-faithful like to pretend is the norm).

But the cost is, first and foremost, the primary reason.

MacnnChester
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jun 2007

0

03/20, 12:49am | report spam | close Reply |
Platform or Device?

The comment about the iPhone / iPod being a platform, like desktop OS X and Windows or a device like a game console is a good one. I'm sure Apple for now sees both as devices that in the end are inextricably tied to the Mac. The AppleTV which originally was a "dvice" though has finally breached this and can access the internet without a Mac in the room.

I think Apple is slowly going to move the device to be a platform and as it does so it will have to open things up. At least I hope it does. It certainly needs to take it slowly though. I think the public doesn't realize how fundamental this shift is. Palm did it perhaps more quickly, but with less of an os to have to worry about.

Show More Comments

Login Here

toggle

Network Headlines

05/26	Apple updates iOS 5.1.1 release for...
05/25	Sotheby to auction Jobs Atari memo,...
05/25	Apple hiring new chip engineers for...
05/25	Third-gen iPad coming to Philippines...
05/25	Apple to integrate Baidu search into...

Show All

05/25	Sotheby to auction Jobs Atari memo,...
05/25	Apple to integrate Baidu search into...
05/25	Google picks up webOS Enyo team, Open...
05/24	Apple submits surprise optical stylus...
05/24	Yahoo releases Axis 'visual search'...

Show All

05/25	Sotheby to auction Jobs Atari memo,...
05/23	Google launches redesigned Search app...
05/22	Leaked next-gen iPod touch part hints...
05/22	Hulu Plus updates with iPad Retina...
05/22	TiVo Stream to push TV to iPhones,...

Show All

03/02	Save $330 on refurb. 15.4-inch, 2.4GHz...
03/01	Pre-owned 8GB iPod touch 2G, drops...
02/29	$150 off Nikon Coolpix S80 Compact...
02/28	Plantronics BackBeat 903 Bluetooth...
02/27	Refurb. Seagate 1.5TB GoFlex Portable...

Show All

toggle

10 Most Discussed

toggle

Music functions off-limits to iPhone SDK developers

updated 12:05 pm EDT, Wed March 19, 2008

Music vs. iPhone SDK

For chrissakes...

agree w/dogz

Legitimate request

interesting..

background music

re: interesting..

@rezzz

Re: agree w/dogz

@testudo

Whining?

@dogzilla

play music while gaming

@Testudo

Opppp

Devs Whining??

two things...

lame

re: Whining

re: dogzilla

Apple can do no wrong

Re: @testudo

Platform or Device?

Login Here

10 Most Read

10 Most Discussed

MacNN Marketplace

Music functions off-limits to iPhone SDK developers

updated 12:05 pm EDT, Wed March 19, 2008

Music vs. iPhone SDK

Related Articles

Recent Articles

For chrissakes...

agree w/dogz

Legitimate request

interesting..

background music

re: interesting..

@rezzz

Re: agree w/dogz

@testudo

Whining?

@dogzilla

play music while gaming

@Testudo

Opppp

Devs Whining??

two things...

lame

re: Whining

re: dogzilla

Apple can do no wrong

Re: @testudo

Platform or Device?

Login Here

10 Most Read

10 Most Discussed

MacNN Marketplace