Apple's iPhone SDK will be coming out soon and rumors are going around that any and all 3rd party apps are going to have to go through Apple and be approved before they will be available for download and installation. This has some upsides and some downsides.

PROS

Malware, Harmful Apps Weeded Out - If someone tries to sneak in some app that harms the iPhone OS or causes an iPhone to be unstable, Apple should be able to pick these out rather quickly to prevent an unsuspecting victim from downloading and installing the app. Now granted, like computers, it could be up to the user to protect what he/she puts on the iPhone, but Apple at the same time probably wants to protect its name. Apple probably doesn't want some user to blame them for a 3rd party app that crashes that user's iPhone. In reality it wouldn't be Apple's fault, but too many people seem to blame the easy target, in this case Apple. (How many people blame Windows for a BSOD when in reality its a poorly written driver made by some third rate printer company).

CONS

Total App Control - Apps that Apple doesn't like for whatever reason could be blocked, even if they're good apps. Take P2P apps for example. Apple could take the stance that they'd only be used for piracy and shouldn't be allowed and block them from iTunes. (They haven't said anything on this, and it baffles the hell out of me why anyone would use the iPhone to download from P2P to begin with) With the power of total control could allow Apple to abuse that power.

Pricing - I haven't heard anything on the pricing of apps thus far but I would likely believe that they'd probably be mostly under $10. This alone wouldn't so much be a problem, but what if some developer wants to create an app and give it out free? Can they do this, or will Apple step in and charge for that app anyway? If they do, then I'd say its a bad thing. If they don't then this point is pretty much moot. Anyone know anything more about this?

Anyone else have any more pros or cons?

Tags: apple, iphone, mac, sdk