SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) — Apple revealed plans Wednesday to open iPhones to computer programs made by outsiders in a move that could quiet complaints that its lock on the devices' workings is over zealous.
"Let me just say it," Apple's renowned chief executive Steve Jobs said in a posting on the Northern California company's website. "We want native third party applications on the iPhone."
Apple intends to have an iPhone software kit in the hands of developers in February, according to Jobs.
It will take months to get developers a kit because Apple wants to provide access to the iPhone's inner workings while simultaneously protecting against viruses and other malicious code.
"This is no easy task," Jobs wrote. "We think a few months of patience now will be rewarded by many years of great third party applications running on safe and reliable iPhones."
Jobs expects iPhones to be "a highly visible target" for malevolent software wizards.
The iPhones' innovative touch screen functions will be open to customizing. Applications made for iPhones should also work on the new iPod Touch, which is essentially an iPhone without the mobile phone feature.
"I'm sure a lot of people would make the assumption they are reacting, but my guess is this has been planned for a while," Gartner analyst Mike McGuire told AFP.
"It was a matter of getting the iPhone out there and working first before worrying about the logistical challenges of third-party applications."
Jobs said Apple might take a lesson from Nokia, which is not allowing outside applications onto some of their new mobile telephone models unless the software has a "digital signature" from a known developer.
"While this makes such a phone less than totally open, we believe it is a step in the right direction," Jobs wrote.
It remains to be seen how much control Apple will want over third-party applications and whether the company will seek portions of revenues to be made.
Outside companies interested in making iPhone accessories must submit products to Apple for testing to earn "badges" of approval.
"It is not going to be a free-for-all," McGuire said of Apple opening the iPhone platform.
"I think they will want to control as many variables as possible. It's not going to be what a lot of people hoped, but that is their prerogative."
With the popularity of iPhones stretching far beyond Apple's cult following of free-spirited software savants, an open platform becomes less important to users, according to McGuire.
"Consumers that didn't hack the iPhones are happy," McGuire said.
Hackers began prying open iPhones to insert custom applications, and break the exclusive service tie between the devices and telecom giant AT&T, shortly after the mobile phones made their US debut in late June.
A civil lawsuit filed in California early this month accuses Apple of creating an unlawful iPhone monopoly and releasing a software update that intentionally disables hacked devices.
It would be foolish to expect Apple to allow tampering with the part of the iPhone that locks in AT&T as service provider because the companies have a contract guaranteeing exclusivity for five years, McGuire said.
"People who are shocked and appalled are either delusional or have some sense of entitlement I don't understand," McGuire said of those upset about Apple's software update turning hacked iPhones into non-working "iBricks."
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