# Simple iPhone question for non-Apple guy **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 11, 2010, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-iphone-question-for-non-apple-guy/532086 "2010-03-11T06:47:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-iphone-question-for-non-apple-guy/532086/1 "2010-03-11T06:47:20Z")
I’ve never much cared for Apple stuff. Gay and expensive. So when I had to get a new cellphone I asked the guy for the best “fake iPhone”. I got a Samsung Impression. My question about the iPhone is: Are most of the apps created by users? Is there a free SDK available? Is that why there are so many applications for it? Because not only are there not many apps for my phone, most require you to buy some kind of subscription to something. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-iphone-question-for-non-apple-guy/532086/2 "2010-03-11T08:49:27Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Gay and expensive. Sounds like my ex. > [@](#): > > Because not only are there not many apps for my phone, most require you to buy some kind of subscription to something. You get what you pay for. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-iphone-question-for-non-apple-guy/532086/3 "2010-03-11T09:14:07Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > I’ve never much cared for Apple stuff. Gay and expensive. So when I had to get a new cellphone I asked the guy for the best “fake iPhone”. I got a Samsung Impression. > > My question about the iPhone is: Are most of the apps created by users? Is there a free SDK available? Is that why there are so many applications for it? Because not only are there not many apps for my phone, most require you to buy some kind of subscription to something. I believe there is a free SDK, but that doesn’t mean a lot since Apple has locked the phone down to homebrew. Only if you have a jailbroken phone can you use stuff designed by the users. Otherwise, apple has to approve your software. The phone you have, while often touted as an iPhone equivalent, really isn’t. It’s really not even a smartphone. It really wasn’t designed to have a ton of applications, but to serve as a basic phone with some of the features of an iPhone/Blackberry/Whatever. It bums me out, too, because the only reason I don’t an iPhone is that I want a dedicated keyboard AND a touchscreen, and, when I saw this at the iPhone price, I thought I’d found it. > [@panache45](#): > > You get what you pay for. As I mentioned above, the OP’s phone was originally sold at the same price as the iPhone. It’s technically cheaper to buy outright, but the version with a plan cost $199, just like the iPhone did at that time. But you do have a point, since it is now half the price ($49 vs. $99), which implies people don’t like it as much as the iPhone. With its limitations, I am not surprised. ETA: I believe **xash** develops for the iPhone, so if he comes in and disagrees with me, he’s very probably right. ---
**Author:** ![BunnyTVS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BunnyTVS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BunnyTVS)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-iphone-question-for-non-apple-guy/532086/4 "2010-03-11T12:57:02Z")
I looked at this when they first announced apps, details may have changed slightly: To publish an app officially, you need to sign up to Apple’s Developer Connection service. The standard version costs $99 a year. This provides you with the SDK. When you have a finished app you have to submit it to Apple for approval. Most of the approval system is just to make sure your app doesn’t breach any content restrictions such as pr0n. Apple then take a flat % off whatever you charge for your app, they also handle all credit card and similar payment charges. So if you come up with a killer app but want to give it away for free you won’t even have to cover the bandwidth usage for the millions that download it. Yes what you can develop (officially) is limited by the level of access that Apple’s kit lets you have to the iPhone’s innermost secrets, but the ease with which you can distribute your product is the reason for the number of apps compared to rivals. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-iphone-question-for-non-apple-guy/532086/5 "2010-03-11T13:56:41Z")
You can get the SDK for free. It includes a simulator of the iPhone. What the $99 gets you is the ability to put your app on an actual iPhone, should you happen to have one. You also get access to the mechanisms for submitting an app to the App Store. ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-iphone-question-for-non-apple-guy/532086/6 "2010-03-11T14:10:06Z")
Oh, and the SDK only runs on OS-X, so if you don’t already have an Apple computer, add another $1000 or so. ---
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-iphone-question-for-non-apple-guy/532086/7 "2010-03-11T14:42:55Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > I’ve never much cared for Apple stuff. Gay and expensive. Are we back to using gay as a pejorative? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-iphone-question-for-non-apple-guy/532086/8 "2010-03-11T14:49:12Z")
> [@Dante](#): > > Are we back to using gay as a pejorative? Maybe he meant “people who use Apple products are very happy with them.” Because, you know, it’s true. ---
**Author:** ![markci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8491ac/32.png) [@markci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markci)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-iphone-question-for-non-apple-guy/532086/9 "2010-03-18T03:53:21Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Maybe he meant “people who use Apple products are very happy with them.” > Because, you know, it’s true. Not me. But it’s AT&T’s crappy coverage, not the phone itself. Well, except for the lousy battery life. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Seventh\_Deadly\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6bbea6/32.png) [@The\_Seventh\_Deadly\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Seventh_Deadly_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-iphone-question-for-non-apple-guy/532086/10 "2010-03-18T05:05:53Z")
> [@Dante](#): > > Are we back to using gay as a pejorative? The pejorative “gay” usually conveys “stylish in a way I’m not refined enough to appreciate.” It’s similar to the way some people say “math is stupid,” when what they mean is “I don’t value math because I don’t like admitting I’m not clever enough to do it.” Wow, I’m sure catty tonight. Meow! ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-iphone-question-for-non-apple-guy/532086/11 "2010-03-18T05:13:10Z")
There’s also a bit of cycle when it comes to apps. A lot of people have the iPhone because there’s so many apps. And a lot of apps being made because there’s so many people that have iPhones. Apple was really the first cellphone company to push the idea of apps being so important. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-iphone-question-for-non-apple-guy/532086/12 "2010-03-18T10:08:29Z")
I’m glad to know that the iPhone apps cost money too. As someone else mentioned, I also didn’t buy one because I find touchscreens useful, but **NOT** for qwerty keyboards! And iPhones don’t offer a real keyboard. I am also pleased to hear that Apple, while always projecting themselves as some sort of neo-hippie, all-property-is-theft, luv-fest holding, not-profit-driven organization, is actually just like evil Microsoft! 😃 As far as the gay adjective… There’s no other word that encapsulates that meaning, i.e. something who’s form vastly overshadows its function, even when its function **is** real, its still the silly, overly friendly, overly focus-group derived aspect that gets ALL the attention! And if it offends someone, well, tough titty! Get over it…