iPhone Open Application Development

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• Jonathan Zdziarski
• O'Reilly
• 978-0-596-51855-4

When I first saw this, I somehow ignored the "open" in the title and assumed that this was supposed to augment and explain Apple's iPhone SDK. Silly me, of course not: this is about jail-breaking your phone and hacking apps that way.

I have very mixed feelings about that. On the one hand, I'm all for openness and really believe that Apple would be better off in the long run by supporting an open platform. On the other hand, I see the advantages of the controlled system. I can also sympathise with the comments at Amazon that warn this is heavy geek territory and of course already out of date. Though how much out of date is the subject of a spirited discussion: http://www.amazon.com/Book-does-cover-official-Apple/forum. You'll want to read that if you are leaning toward this but aren't sure. I think this point from the author is appropriate:

It clears up a lot of confusion if you look at the Apple SDK as the "AppStore SDK", rather than a form of official SDK. The "AppStore SDK" as it is today summarizes what Apple will probably allow you to do in official AppStore applications. What you can technically do hasn't changed - it's just what Apple will "allow" you to do if you want to get on AppStore.

Me? This is probably NOT something I would do. First, it's too geekish, way beyond my skill level. I'd be justifiably afraid of breaking my phone (note: I don't even own an iPhone - it's on my "maybe" list for now). If I were going to do iPhone development, I'd be much more likely to go the "official" route.

But that's me. I still read a lot of this, and it is well written and seems to lead you along appropriately. Someone more adventurous than I might find this useful and educational. In a way, I hope that some do. The iPhone should be open, and it's possible that enough developers side-stepping Apple's control could make it so.

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