Apple has just sent out an email alert to iPhone developers that any new app submitted to the App Store will have to be ready for the iPhone 3.0 software, which is due shortly (probably around Apple’s WWDC event in June). Beginning today, any app submitted that isn’t 3.0 compatible will be rejected.
Here’s the key parts of the email:
Beginning today, all submissions to the App Store will be reviewed on the latest beta of iPhone OS 3.0. If your app submission is not compatible with iPhone OS 3.0, it will not be approved.
Existing apps in the App Store should already run on iPhone OS 3.0 without modification, but you should test your existing apps with iPhone OS 3.0 to ensure there are no compatibility issues. After iPhone OS 3.0 becomes available to customers, any app that is incompatible with iPhone OS 3.0 may be removed from the App Store.
I’ve emailed Apple asking if there are any features specifically that developers should be careful about making sure work in the new 3.0 firmware. Google recently outlined some of the key points of the new Android firmware that developers should watch for in order to maintain compatibility.
One potential issue as outlined by our tipster Nick is as follows:
Apple also says that most apps will run on 3.0 without any changes, however, some major changes were made and I suspect any app using a UIAlertView (pretty much any app with a confirm/deny dialog) will need to be changed due to the change made to the indexing order of the buttons on that view.
[thanks nick]