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Apple ditches iPhone developer NDA

Due to 'burden on developers'

October 2, 2008

One of the frustrating things about iPhone for journalists has been the fact that developers have been tongue-tied about discussing the platform itself.

It's not their fault Apple made them all sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), and with the danger of having their games kicked off the App Store, few have dared be too loose-lipped.

Well, so much for all that. Apple has announced on its developer program website that it's dropping the NDA. The company claims it only put it in place to protect its top-secret technology (or, indeed, the technologies it bought in from external vendors).

"However, the NDA has created too much of a burden on developers, authors and others interested in helping further the iPhone's success, so we are dropping it for released software. Developers will receive a new agreement without an NDA covering released software within a week or so. Please note that unreleased software and features will remain under NDA until they are released."

The move will hopefully lead to more openness among the iPhone development community (there's a 'Contact Us' link on the left of this website for anyone feeling the need to spill any top-secret beans, naturally).