[MutantSushi]

Sure, 'multiplatform compiling/targeting' is one thing. But banning non-approved languages is silly. Even apple is funding projects like RubyCocoa and bringing Python compatability to the Cocoa API. If somebody wants to write an app using CocoaTouch but finds Ruby, Python, Lua, or Mono to be a better fit for the project or their own capabilities than Obj-C, why stop them from doing so? If the apps still have to interface with Cocoa somehow, how are such app's any more/less native than one written in Obj-C? Such a policy does nothing to stop somebody from writing a cross-platform targetting framework that uses Obj-C. The language is not the real issue.

[tshawkins]

Think OS/4, think opening up multitasking to 3rd party apps, perhaps thats why they are being so anal about how apps should be written, if they are planning to make changes to the low-level libraries to support 3rd party app multitasking then they are going to want to make sure that 3rd party apps are linked against them.

[boucher]

This argument makes no sense. These third party tools are using only the publicly documented Apple APIs. They are simple doing so through an intermediary layer. It has nothing to do with using private or low level libraries.

[MutantSushi]

what does language have to do with that? you can include your own C libraries within your project if you want, the language is no different. if people use other language interfaces to Cocoa, like RubyCocoa or MonoTouch, what is the problem, they are still using apple's libraries. the language has nothing to do with any of that.

[confuzatron]

Yeah, but there's no actual multitasking in iPhone OS 4. Just some 'background' system services. Apps cant run in the background. And the clause doesn't say "you need to link to our libraries", it says "you need to author your app in [languages] etc".