MonoTouch 3.0.0

On Friday, we released MonoTouch 3.0.0, which includes our support for the new APIs in iPhoneOS 4. We are excited about this release, and look forward to hearing feedback from MonoTouch developers as they explore all the new features that Apple unveiled at last week's iPhoneOS 4 announcement. This release is only available to developers that have access to Apple's iPhoneOS 4, as the API is currently confidential.

The support for iPhone OS 4 that we are now shipping is a testament of our approach to support native iPhone application development: Offering developers their preferred language to leverage the exact same APIs that Objective-C developers would use.

iPhone Developer Agreement

While, we have heard little direct feedback from Apple regarding recently reported changes to the iPhone Developer Program Agreement, we have heard consistent feedback that Apple is concerned about inefficient apps created using abstraction layers that hide native APIs.

We believe that several bloggers and journalists have misjudged MonoTouch by characterizing it as an abstraction with disregard for its actual features. As MonoTouch does not hide native APIs and is not an abstraction layer, we continue to believe that MonoTouch conforms to the spirit and intent of the terms spelled out in the developer agreement.

MonoTouch brings the best of multiple worlds: The C# language and the iPhone OS frameworks. And it does this without abstraction layers, inefficient libraries, glue or exposing a different set of APIs than those of the native iPhone OS. When developers create iPhone and iPad applications using MonoTouch, they use the C# language to take advantage of the features found in .NET like garbage collection, full type safety, and Language Integrated Query while interfacing directly with iPhone OS libraries, including UIKIt, CoreGraphics, CoreAnimation, GameKit, AudioToolbox, AVFoundation and many more.

We have also heard many positive updates from middleware vendors within the iPhone ecosystem. Some have already reported direct approval of their platforms, and Unity (a Mono licensee on iPhone) have reported that they will be meeting with Apple this week to discuss the matter.

New Apps Since iPhone OS 4 Announcement

We are also pleased to announce that since the iPhone OS 4 announcement, several MonoTouch users have received App Store approval for listing their iPhone and iPad applications, including Touch Playbook, Really Simple, and LCARS Reader.

Readers interested in seeing a more general listing of MonoTouch applications in Apple's App Store can look to the Apps page at MonoTouch.info.

Enterprise MonoTouch

It is important to point out that the new iPhone Developer Agreement terms are for AppStore deployment and not the Enterprise program that allows deployment of in-house application to users in the enterprise (using the Enterprise Deployment program).