iPhone to run third party web apps

Apple CEO Steve Jobs almost made a U turn on his decision to lock developers out of the iPhone on Monday, announcing that third parties would be able to make web-based apps for the device.

According to an announcement made by Jobs, developers will be able to create Web 2.0 applications “which look and behave just like the applications built into iPhone,” it begins shipping on June 29.

Apparently, third party web applications, which sound a lot like widgets to us, can “seamlessly access iPhone’s services, including making a phone call, sending an email and displaying a location in Google Maps”.

Apple had previously said the Mac-based operating system on the iPhone would be locked down in the interests of security. But third party applications created using Web 2.0 standards can extend the device’s capabilities without compromising its reliability or security, the company said.

“Developers and users alike are going to be very surprised and pleased at how great these applications look and work on iPhone,” said Jobs.

Always one for a bit of hype, Jobs then goes on to build up the Web 2.0 propaganda with claims that Web 2.0-based applications are far more interactive and responsive than traditional web applications and can be easily distributed over the internet and painlessly updated by simply changing the code on the developers’ own servers.