Why the App Store isn't suddenly a free-for-all

"We have over 250,000 apps in the App Store. We don't need any more Fart apps," is one of the bullet points; elsewhere, an argument is made regarding standards and not putting apps online just to impress your friends: "We have lots of serious developers who don't want their quality Apps to be surrounded by amateur hour".

For Gemmell, the emphasis on quality within the guidelines is welcome: "Knowing the rules Apple is using, and more importantly seeing that they're generally based on themes of preserving quality and minimising offence, should be a comfort to those considering deploying apps on the Store." He does note that the remainder of the announcement, regarding developer tools, is vague but "may presumably apply to third-party tools and frameworks," adding that the "impact of the 'Epic Citadel' demo from the recent Apple event was no doubt a factor in this equally welcome change to policy."

Bob Koon of Binary Hammer is a little concerned by this particular change, arguing that the "already giant App Store can't handle an infusion of purely non-native apps," but Montgomerie counters, believing that "apps should be judged on quality, not on how they were developed". On this subject, Thomson adds that it should "remove a lot of uncertainty around certain technology," and implies we might now see an increase in third-party app-development tools for iOS.

Whatever the outcome, everyone must remember that Apple is still Apple. "It's important to note that Apple's list isn't exhaustive," says Thomson. "Even if you comply with everything, you could still get rejected for something else that's not been considered or documented yet."

However, developers are largely excited by Apple's announcement, even if they were already using Apple's own tools. "It's not that I'm going to stop using Xcode any time soon, and neither of Apple's changes affects me directly," says Thomson.

"But they make me feel a whole lot better about developing for the platform, so from Apple's perspective, it's mission accomplished."