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I’ve been pondering the strange moves by Apple Inc over the last couple of months in its apparent indecision on their iPhone software strategy. From the start, the mantra seemed to revolve around making a piece of hardware which is both minimalist but advanced. 1 button to perform all functions, which allows any change in functionality to be added, only limited to what the hardware can do.  The hardware has been much talked about (3G, touchscreen etc) so I’ll leave that to others to talk about. This article will focus on the logical & future software developments and what I believe Steve had intended.

One of the biggest advances in my eyes is the browser functionality. The ‘Mobile’ Safari version, although buggy, is still an excellently implemented piece of software. Never has mobile browsing been such a joy. The iPhone’s ‘double-tap to zoom’ functionality makes viewing regular web pages a breeze. Many doubted Steve when he announced that there would be no way for third party developers to make applications that run natively on the iPhone. Instead, he proclaimed that you could just set up web pages accessible through the iPhones Browser, which in turn access the various applications you may need. His assertion was later reversed with the announcement of the forthcoming SDK (Software Development Kit) in February, establishing the framework for third-party applications to run on the iPhone.

I think I may have an idea of what his idea was for for the iPhone and its original development path.

A little backstory:

Steve Jobs has a knack for knowing what the consumer needs/wants before the consumer has even glimpsed the fact that they need/want said future product. Take the iPod for example - browse through to this story on macrumors.com. The comments originally attributed to the iPod wouldn’t have made me think that this device would turn out to be a game-changer for Apple. But Steve knew it, and he didn’t seem to care if people didn’t agree. more than 6 years later, the iPod has made history and Apple has never looked back.

While the same wasn’t necessarily true of the iPhone (that story makes for much more pleasant reading), when the device initially came out, there were oft-repeated cries of “No IM”, “we want native iChat” and most prominently - “Can we have third party software please”. Steve initially stated that there was no need for an SDK, asking the folks in the development community to put together web-apps instead. We all know how that turned out. We still don’t have any truly functional web apps. Even on wi-fi, using the browser to perform functions that should be natively included in the device (Reader anyone?) seems round-about and cumbersome.

The future of the browser has been much discussed, and a conflict in ideas is ever-present in the blogosphere. Articles on Readwriteweb and Cnet’s blog are surprisingly relevant, even though the Cnet piece is from 2003. Yes, there have been some advances, but in reality, browsers are not advancing at any sort of pace. CNet asserts that more and more internet functionality is being delivered independently of the Browser. Take IM, iTunes and scores of other apps, all directly accessing the cloud, no need for the browser.

Steve clearly wanted the iPhone’s version of Safari to be that bit of flexible software that could be adapted to perform any function that a phone would need to perform. After all, it is a well defined frame-work for programming, and it is open for anyone to do anything. I fear the upcoming SDK will be more restrictive than the future of the browser will be. The only issue with Steve’s vision is that he is thinking in terms of things that current technology is still unable to support.

Why is there no client to use Skype through the Browser, any browser. I suspect its not technically a problem, but security concerns do hamper development in the area. The browser would be taking over many of the computers functions - sound, microphone and in some cases webcam. And it would have to be done through bulky software that allows the browser to access these functions on the computer. Tie-in to the operating system would also be an issue.

But this is where the iPhone is different. Its browser is proprietary. Apple could (and should) expand the functions of Safari on the iPhone (and perhaps on the Mac as well) so that websites can take more control of the iPhone’s functions. Apple should make it easy for an IM client to access the iPhones SMS interface for example. The user would be accessing one of their IM accounts like they do on the computer, but the browser simply passes the data onto the SMS application and bingo - you have a native experience that’s good for the consumer but still within the boundaries of not compromising security, as it is something that Apple would have to set up to work natively.

While I think it is a positive move to issue an SDK for developing 3rd party Applications on the iPhone, advancement in the general browser market could be heralded by Safari on the iPhone, an initially unlikely player in the browser area.

I can never know exactly what Steve’s idea was when he said that we could develop ‘webapps’, but I think it is more in the direction of forcing the market to develop than really enabling people to develop applications.

Some predict the merge of browser & OS while some predict its increasingly lessened relevance. I am in neither camp but I do think Steve had an idea that ended up not being executable.

The iPhone 1.1.3 rumors point to the ability to add web bookmarks to the home screen. If only you could have these bookmarks be dynamic. RSS functionality will hopefully be built in, as it is in Safari currently. The Reader bookmark displaying the number of unread stories would surely be a neat little application for my home screen. But I doubt our web-based IM clients will give us buzzing alerts any time soon. We may have to settle for the wait till February to see what sort of integration we will have in the iPhone.

Its an open playing field for Apple and while at this point some of their actions seem a little discombobulated, I think Steve is carrying out his vision, despite some setbacks and changes of opinion along the way.