Slashdot Mirror


First Third-party Native iPhone Application Released

An anonymous reader writes "A third-party native application for the iPhone is now available. Gizmodo discusses the real full-fledged iPhone application with a graphic user interface and its own icon in the iPhone home screen. It is not a Web 2.0 app but the real thing. What is it? Ironically enough, MobileTerminal, 'a terminal emulator application for the iPhone. MobileTerminal.app is NOT an SSH client, nor Telnet for that matter. It can however be used to execute a console ssh-client application.' The iPhone dev revolution has just started."

22 of 192 comments (clear)

  1. Revolution? by pudding7 · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Tell me again why this is a revolution? The iPhone is a pretty cool toy, but remind me what's revolutionary about it? Folks, Apple is a company that makes neat products. It's not a club or a religion.

    1. Re:Revolution? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Uh, like, did you not notice the iPhone has only 3 physical buttons and one control surface, whereas every other smartphone is littered with buttons? Did you not notice the relatively huge screen for such a pocketable device? Did you not notice the lack of a stylus? Did you not notice that the UI morphs to meet the needs of the current task? Did you not notice the use of gestures to control the device and the use of visual feedback? Did you not notice how the user interacts via a built-in accelerometer? Did you not notice the visual voice mail? Did you not notice the accurate rendering of web pages using the built-in browser, and the equally accurate rendering of HTML e-mail? Did you not notice how easy it is to pan and zoom?

      Oh, sorry, I didn't realize you were blind.

    2. Re:Revolution? by djh101010 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Tell me again why this is a revolution? The iPhone is a pretty cool toy, but remind me what's revolutionary about it? Folks, Apple is a company that makes neat products. It's not a club or a religion. Well for starters, you're doing that whole "pretend to be speaking for the opposition" thing which, sorry, you're not. It's a great device that does everything it does very well. Yes, I could do pretty much everything this thing does with my Treo but, the iPhone does it all with a more logical, consistent GUI, well thought out process flow, and all sorts of other things that people who merely tick off a features list will miss the value of. It's the same old story - people who want a car to get from home to work won't understand why (insert brand name here) is a nicer car, while those who have said car value the differences that the other person does not.

      That said, a terminal app on my iPhone? Are you kidding? Hell yes, I'll set it up. It's not so much that it gives me a command line interface, it's that it gives me access to the Unix system in my pocket. Again, if you don't value that and don't get it, it's _fine_, really, but that doesn't mean it's without value to those who understand the value of such a thing.
    3. Re:Revolution? by LKM · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Of course Apple isn't a club or religion. That doesn't mean that making a phone which is targeted at end users rather than at carriers isn't at least a tiny bit revolutionary - not to mention that it's the first consumer-level device that comes with a multitouch screen :-)

  2. Re:IPhone Revolution? by sokoban · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Spare me. OpenMoko is an open platform that nobody cares about.

    It does look cool, but without an Apple sized hype-machine and good support from cell phone companies and service providers I don't see it taking off.

    --
    09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 is the magic number.
  3. Network impact by hypermanng · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Assuming Apple doesn't take steps in a subsequent update to actively disable third party applications, this could provide a channel for showing (or not) that third party applications doesn't automatically mean disruption of the provider network. Hopefully the inaugural apps will play nice, creating pressure on Apple to release an SDK to make it more likely that subsequent apps also play nice, rather than start patching it closed like a console. Apple has to respond, but they could go either way.

    --
    I am the one true god. However, as an atheist, I don't believe in myself. I guess I have a self-esteem problem.
    1. Re:Network impact by hypermanng · · Score: 1, Insightful

      I can think of a wide variety of reasons that they didn't allow 3rd party development, and not all of them involve AT&T at all. However, public justifications matter to companies that care about PR - and Apple does. If facts on the ground make their earlier negotiated agreements (whatever they were) unsustainable when it comes time for them to explain themselves to the market, they're likely to find a way to change things, whatever AT&T says.

      However, if the first applications *do* somehow cause network disruption (or they portray them as the cause, Apple could decide to stick to the agreements and instead try to spike independent dev efforts.

      --
      I am the one true god. However, as an atheist, I don't believe in myself. I guess I have a self-esteem problem.
    2. Re:Network impact by earache · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It doesn't float. Blackberry's and Treo's have tons of third party apps.

      I think apple wasn't ready for it yet, meaning they didn't have a polished sdk to give to developers.

  4. Re:IPhone Revolution? by DaleGlass · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Nobody cares about the iPhone as a platform either.

    With no official SDK who is going to make applications for it? Maybe a couple of geeks happy to mess with something that's not documented and for which there's absolutely zero support from the vendor, but nobody of much importance. They'll have exactly the same problem you say OpenMoko has: That very few people will ever hear that something can be installed into an iPhone, and fewer yet will install something.

    Installing applications will probably not be just a matter of point and click on a standard phone either.

  5. Whoa there boy... by GarfBond · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Let's not make too many big leaps of logic...

    Second, if Google Code is hosting this it probably means either that 1) Apple is giving the nod to this kind of development, 2) they are going to release an SDK or 3) Apple will realize the need for people to access the iPhone as a development platform to do really cool stuff with it. All three options are good for me.
    Or, maybe it's anyone can create a project there.

    1 and 2 are ridiculous claims based off of this information, and I'm pretty sure they were already aware of #3 based off of the grumbling developers and blogs after WWDC.

  6. Re:PSPhone DS by richy+freeway · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Anything you can do with the DS, you can do with the iPhone.

    Except play brain training, or nintendogs, or pokemon, or new super mario bros, or have it cost you (and I mean the average person who can't hack it, and even if you can it's still gonna cost you £250+) less than £100.

    The iPhone is a flashy gadget, it's not a games console and it won't ever be.

    Ever.

  7. Re:PSPhone DS by Von+Helmet · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Anything you can do with the DS, you can do with the iPhone.


    Apart from use a stylus. That's going to be quite a deal breaker, given that a lot of DS games require precise touches, which can't really be achieved with even the daintiest of fingertips. I don't think the whole touch thing is likely to work that well when you move from the few-pixels precision of the stylus on the DS to a big fat finger on the iPhone.



  8. Re:Ultimate gaming platform? by Mia'cova · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I get that you're making a joke but I may as well for those who don't have one.. There are four buttons on the phone itself and another on the headphones. You've also got all the accessories and bluetooth. Depending how deep the hackers get in there, we might see something like the PS3 controller connecting to the phone. OSX can be made to support something like that. I'm still from the "just buy a psp/ds" camp but I still love creative hacks. Games are clearly not what I care about (compared to say, a skype client) but everyone likes to geek-out once in a while :)

  9. Functional by SuperKendall · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Tell me again why this is a revolution? The iPhone is a pretty cool toy

    No, the iPhone is a really functional device that sucks a lot less than so many other phones, and fans of dynamic symbolic UI finally have a device that doesn't wimp out in presenting us with a virtual interface. Plus the screen DPI is so high it actually makes reading really small text practical so the screen is much more usable than you would think only from looking at the size in specs.

    Furthermore it's also a device with a huge amount of potential, in part from Apple but also in part from hacking. And as we have seen with the Apple TV and other devices, Apple devices are generally hackable and Apple doesn't push back the way Sony or Nintendo or Microsoft do.

    I don't quite know if revolution is the right word either, but it sure is a breath of fresh air in a world that until now has been a fetid swamp.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:Functional by SuperKendall · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You don't consider the fact you CAN run NetBSD on the SE/30 an indication of hackability, even on hardware older than most people who read Slashdot?

      --
      "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  10. Re:SWEET! by lucifuge31337 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's beyond me how someone would switch carriers without trying out the service first. A $20 prepaid phone from RadioShack or similar comes with like $10 worth of airtime. Carry it around your normal places for a week. Try it first. It's really your own fault if you lost that kind of money because you aren't in a good enough service area - it's just not that hard to figure out before signing a 2-year contract, ESPECIALLY on a phone with a restocking fee.

    --
    Do not fold, spindle or mutilate.
  11. Re:The iPhone has an SDK by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    people are writing web apps designed for mobile devices ... I think that's kind of cool, actually.

    AT&T thinks its kind of cool too, in the you-must-have-a-data-plan-and-pay-us-every-month kind of way...

  12. Re:Beg to differ by Achromatic1978 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Now you might say, that doesn't count because it's "just" a browser based app. But all of the applications listed there have been tailored to fit and work well on the iPhone. Most of the even use fragments of custom CSS that helps define the appearance for the iPhone specifically. If it's tailored to the platform, then how is using the browser as a GUI library really that much different than a true native app as far as the intent of the developer, and interaction by the user? There are even proof of concept web-based apps that detect phone rotation and respond accordingly...

    It's fantastic. For years, I've heard Mac fans (amongst others, sure) moan loudly about web standards. Browser independence. Railing against websites that discriminate against Safari. That are "best viewed in IE".

    Now, there's the iPhone. And suddenly coding HTML and CSS to meet the needs of one device / browser combination is apparently A-ok, because it's their device. I see.

  13. Re:telemarketers by Achromatic1978 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Because people in the civilised world don't pay for inbound calls?

  14. Re:SWEET! by smenor · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It's beyond me how someone would switch carriers without trying out the service first. A $20 prepaid phone from RadioShack or similar comes with like $10 worth of airtime.

    Well... for starters, I wasn't even aware that that that was an option.

    it's just not that hard to figure out before signing a 2-year contract

    A 2 year contract... with a 2-week trial period (with which, I naively assumed I could - and follow me here - try the service).

    It's really your own fault if you lost that kind of money because you aren't in a good enough service area

    Yes, it is my fault. I fully admit that. I didn't read the contract in detail, I stupidly assumed that when AT&T's own site said

    Q. Do you have a special return policy for iPhones? A. Yes. Apple branded equipment is covered by a 14-day return policy and must be returned to the original point of purchase. If the Apple branded equipment is returned unopened and in the original shrink wrapping, it will be refunded back to the original payment method. Opened Apple branded equipment that is returned within 14 days will be subject to a 10% open box restocking fee. All products must be packed in their original, unmarked packaging including any accessories and manuals that shipped with the product.

    that meant that there was a two week trial period with a 10% restocking fee so that I could try the phone and the service for two weeks and, if I didn't like it, pay Apple the restocking fee, and return the phone without paying connect fees and a for a month worth of crappy service that I couldn't really use.

    ESPECIALLY on a phone with a restocking fee.

    I was fully aware of that going in - and (when I bought the phone), I figured that it was worth 60-bucks to try the iPhone and the service out for a week or two. Seemed like a reasonable plan considering that AT&T's coverage map said that I have "good" coverage in my area.

    When it turned out that 'good' coverage in my area actually meant that I couldn't even use the phone inside, I was ready to pay the restocking fee.

    Except... when I took the phone back to the Apple Store, they actually decided to waive the 10% restocking fee because I had problems with network coverage.

    Unfortunately, AT&T wasn't so generous.

    Apparently they honor their two week trial period by charging a startup fee and a month of service to anyone foolish enough to believe their bogus return policy.

    The saddest thing about the whole situation is that it really is a great phone and in about 6 months, I'll be moving and I would have very much liked to get another one, and would have gladly handed over at least a few thousand to AT&T if it weren't for this experience.

    Oh well... caveat emptor, I guess.

  15. Re:PSPhone DS by dave420 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Apart from use a d-pad, A, B, X, Y, and shoulder buttons. And a stylus. So no, you can't do everything you can do on a DS on an iPhone. Not even close.

  16. Re:The iPhone has an SDK by dave420 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You're not everyone. Many, many folks want to run their own choice of applications on their phone. Having unmetered internet access, and not being able to use it for anything other than surfing the web and email (which is just one portion of the internet) seems like one hell of a waste. If what you said was true, then other companies would have been down that route a long time ago. As it is, they saw the benefit of allowing users to run whatever they wanted on their phone, be it a whole host of applications or just the ones that came with the phone, as everyone's different. Wouldn't you want a VoIP client on your phone, so you can make free calls? An SSH client? Games? No?

    Most phones have internet access. I had web access on my phone I got back in 2003. It's nothing new. Most phone manufacturers know the web isn't a fad, and most know that web 2.0 is a meaningless buzz-word to describe some ambiguous functionality that's an old part of the X/HTML specifications. Heck, most phones have 3G, which is faster than the iPhone - by your logic, Apple thinks the web is a fad, as they didn't add 3G or even 3.5G.