Appcelerator warns Apple on possible tool ban

Titanium is good enough, it works well enough, and by gosh, developers like it for building apps.

"I can't speak to the prospects of being banned. Since this started in April over 1,000 apps have been approved." By "this" Schwarzhoff means Apple's jihad against Adobe Flash, and by extension against third-party tools used to build what goes on its hardware.

Back then CEO (and former Atlantan) Jeff Haynie wrote that Titanium was fully in compliance with the Apple terms of service "as we interpret them." Schwarzhoff said there are now over 50,000 Titanium developers producing 100 new apps for the Apple platform every three days. And those apps are being approved.

"Our position on how we work with Apple or any OS platform" is the same, he said. "We only communicate with documented APIs, we compile everything down to native code, and we follow the entire Xcode tool chain."

The only thing Schwarzhoff can't give is a confirmation from Apple that open source Appcelerator is A-OK with them.

Besides, there are other mobile platforms. Android developers like Titanium. So do those working with Microsoft. And Appcelerator will have full support for the RIM Blackberry by fall. "We talk to them all the time," Schwarzhoff said.

Appcelerator presently has a survey of its developers in the field and more will be known on their feelings by Wednesday. Meanwhile, they'll take Jobs' no comment as a yes.