SCIENTIST Hon Cheng, 27, developed the Singapore train schedule for the iPhone last year. Since then, over 3,000 copies have been downloaded by users mainly through word of mouth.
As a postgraduate student last year at the National University of Singapore, he needed to know the best time to get to the train station. So he developed this as well as an SBS Transit bus schedule for the iPhone which he was using.
Hon Cheng is among several Singapore software developers who have written Web-based applications for the iPhone, which number conservatively about 60,000 in Singapore.
Then, there's a 37-year-old Singapore Muslim IT executive - who wants to remain anonymous - who developed another Web-based program, the Mobile Holy Quran, about seven months ago. Over 80,000 copies have been downloaded by iPhone users since then.
Over 1,000 Web-based programs have been built for the iPhone since its launch last year, said a Financial Times report on June 7.
Usage spreads by word of mouth, though most of the apps are listed on websites like modmyifone.com and installerapps.com. They are easier to do since developers don't touch the core of the iPhone software.
However, some hardcore developers are writing full software applications which touch the innards of the iPhone operating software. Fewer of these applications are available but they are set to explode after Apple released a software development kit (SDK) in March, which will provide the information and tools enabling developers to write applications for the iPhone.
Applications can then be listed on a virtual App Store which will appear as a new icon on the iPhone 3G. A variety of applications are expected - from games to health and productivity tools.
About 250,000 copies of the SDK have been downloaded since March, but only 400 developers have been certified as iPhone developers. Several Singapore developers have also downloaded the SDK. At least one, Paddy Tan of Bak2U, a mobile security company, has been accepted as an iPhone developer.
Now, his suggested application must be approved by Apple to get listed on the App Store.
So far, Apple has not made known how it will select applications for listing. But testing third-party applications is only fair, he said.
"Having to qualify is fair because it ensures that my software can work with the iPhone at all times. I could sell any software on Bak2U website, but I wouldn't know whether the software will be in conflict with other third-party applications," he said.
Whether this testing will cost developers money is still unknown. Meanwhile, time is running out as the App Store has about a month before it "opens" for business when iPhone 3G makes its debut on July 11.
Since Apple put out the SDK in March, seven versions have been released over the last few weeks. Each version updates the software requirements which put pressure on software developers like Bak2U.
Said Paddy, 33: "Our application called PhoneBak, which we developed for smartphones like Nokia and Blackberry, can be ported to the iPhone. But because of the changes in specs, we had to rewrite at least 50 per cent of our code."
Joe Goh, 27, which has an application that backs up SMS messages, also feels that the different versions of SDK are delaying his own application development time.
"From SDK version 1.0 to 1.14, the way SMS is stored on the iPhone has changed. So I've to change my programming too," said Joe, a freelance software developer who is writing a location-based application for the new phone.
Despite the unresolved issues, the App Store is a good opportunity for Singapore's software developers to get their programs into other hands of global users. They consider it a good deal even with Apple taking 30 per cent of their earnings from their sales on App Store because they don't have to spend marketing dollars nor set up online transactions systems.
"Other smartphone makers also have similar arrangements for third-party developers. But somehow, we believe that Apple has the best system in place - the software hosting infrastructure, an easy-to-use device and the customer base - to make the App Store successful," added Paddy.
Over 1,000 Web-based programs have been built for the iPhone since its launch last year.
This article was first published in The Straits Times, Digital Life on 17 June 2008.
