Already fortunate enough to be included in Apple's (AAPL) iPhone/iPod touch developer program? Want your apps to launch with the store this Friday? Better get them in by 3 p.m. ET today, according to an alleged Apple note obtained by TechCrunch:
Have your application be among the first available when the App Store goes live. To ensure your application can be considered for the exciting launch of the App Store, submit your application by 12 PM PDT, on July 7, 2008. We will continue to accept applications after this time, however your application may not be available until after the launch of the App Store. Conduct final testing of your application with iPhone OS beta eight and submit your app today.
Sound familiar? We'd heard that apps were due last Monday, June 30. So either our original tipster was wrong, Apple changed the due date, Apple has different dates for different developers, or TechCrunch is wrong.
We're having a hard time believing that Apple could vet hundreds (thousands?) of apps for the store in less than four days. It makes sense that some of the approval process is automated -- put apps through a bunch of technical tests to make sure they don't crash constantly or blow up your phone, etc. -- but parts must be done manually, like making sure the apps don't violate Apple's policies, include a bunch of porn, etc. So while today might be the last day to "be considered," we think most of the launch-day apps were submitted a long time ago.
Meanwhile, no one seems to know when the store is going to launch. While Apple has said the iPhone 2.0 software update -- which includes the app store -- won't roll out until July 11, when the new iPhone goes on sale, "some app developers say the App Store will likely launch a few days before that," TechCrunch says. "Most developers will only get a few hours notice prior to the go live time... The store could be launched as early as Tuesday."
Sound confusing? Par for the course. Forbes.com's Brian Caulfield reports that even developers aren't quite sure what's up:
It's unclear whether Apple has put a gag order on application developers like Stitcher, or if everyone is genuinely confused about the apps the computer giant will distribute for its iPhone and iPod Touch at its new Apps Store inside iTunes. Like many developers scrambling to build applications for the device, [Mike] Ghaffary, vice president of business development at Stitcher, says all he knows is that Apple will start making apps available sometime in early July, around the time the company launches its new 3G iPhone. Apple didn't respond to requests seeking confirmation of its plans.
We don't have specific insight into Apple's plans, but it's always made the most sense to us that the apps store would go up the same time the new iPhone goes on sale -- this Friday.
See Also:
Six iPhone Games We Can't Wait To Play
It Has Begun! iPhone Line Forms At NYC Apple Store
iPhone 2.0 Software Trickles Out, 'Very Good' So Far, Exchange Email A Bit Flaky
