Apple limiting what Apps can use GPS on the new iPhone
Having launched the new iPhone and with the new SDK on the way Apple have added in a couple of clauses to curb what developers can do with the GPS built into the new iPhone. According to Electronista the agreement states that the GPS cannot be used for real time navigation applications.
Looks like Apple are planning to keep the navigation pie all to themselves. TomTom are known to be working on an application, so the question is do they have an exclusive agreement?
So, what’s the use of GPS if you can’t get real time data out of it? I think we’ll see the most innovative GPS aware applications coming from areas outside of navigation. Some sort of "what are people listening to near me" type of app is going to be a good bet!
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From the Engadget coverage of this story – Update: Astute commenter Austin points out that these terms are copied almost word-for-word from the Google Maps API terms — which means that TomTom and others are probably free to use their own maps to do real-time guidance.
http://www.engadget.com/2008/06/11/iphone-sdk-agreement-forbids-real-time-route-guidance-dancing/