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For longtime Mac fans who appreciate the openness that the Mac OS and Apple hardware offers, the recent battle over applications for the iPhone and the iPod Touch has been demoralizing. The Mac is supposed to be the open alternative, right?

Thankfully, that still holds, as Apple CEO Steve Jobs has done the right thing and announced a software developer kit (SDK) which will allow application writers to create programs for both devices.

The announcement is as much a victory for Apple fans as for Apple itself.

The War Over the iPhone
For those new to the issue, there are two kinds of third-party applications for the iPhone and the iPhone Touch: native and Web-based. Native apps run directly on the device and show up on the start screen. Web-based apps are accessible through a browser and require an Internet connection.

While Apple originally said that the iPhone wouldn't run third-party applications natively, that didn't stop scores of developers from creating them. Unfortunately for them and for early adopters, the iPhone's version 1.1.1 upgrade wiped out any installed native apps and made loading new apps more difficult.

Hackers again discovered ways around Apple's safeguards, but it seemed likely that Apple would steamroll over any new installed apps with the next iPhone upgrade. Users had the choice between easy upgrades or a constant cat-and-mouse battle to get around Apple's rules.

Web Apps No Substitute for Real Thing
Apple originally cited security and stability as the reason it wouldn't allow native apps, but that was hard to believe. Apple allows developers to create widgets that run under the Mac OS Dashboard, and that's been a huge success.

Web apps are really a poor alternative to native apps. If you want to use Web apps, you first need to discover a few that are useful. Apple launched its own directory recently, with hundreds of apps grouped into categories. You can find more apps at iPhone Source or Mod My iPhone.

When you've found one you like, bookmark it. You'll need to have an active Internet connection before you can use it again. iPhone users will have no problems, since all the iPhone service contracts include unlimited data. iPod Touch users aren't so lucky. They can only use Web apps when they have an open Wi-Fi connection, which greatly cuts down on usefulness.

Because Web apps don't live on the desktop, they're not as visible and not as useful as native apps. With a tip calculator running natively, you can power on your iPhone after dinner, enter a few numbers, and get the results. With a Web app, you need to remember to bookmark the calculator for easy access, then open Safari, load the page, and enter your information into a slow Web interface.

A New Day for iPhone Apps
The SDK for native apps will be available in February, 2008. While details aren't yet available, third-party apps will likely need to carry a digital signature or be approved by Apple.

That's a great compromise, one that protects iPhone and iPod Touch users while opening them to a vast new world of programs. The users win with new options, and the company wins by selling devices that are suddenly a lot more versatile.

When the native app SDK finally appears, we're betting that the company's online list of Web apps will start collecting cobwebs. Web apps are useful, but they're no substitute for native.