The company plans to add platforms like Google’s Android, Nokia, Symbian, and Palm.  Furthermore, the firm will introduce API (application programming interfaces) to bring  in content on the Web or in other databases.  And customers will be able to integrate their apps with online services such as Facebook, Twitter, and OpenTable.

One challenge involved in developing an app is determining the platform.  Computerworld reports that BuildAnApp ameliorates this dilemma with proprietary software that enables the app to be delivered on three of the most influential smartphone platforms.

BuildAnApp has 16 basic templates, including one titled “other” that allows for a wider range of page types selected from other templates.  Computerworld says “the company is also developing a ‘pro’ version of the service for skilled developers creating more sophisticated applications.”

BuildAnApp in all likelihood will not support superior development such as that from Rhomobile and Appcelerator, which support languages such as Ruby, JavaScript and HTML.

The company’s focus is to ease development for smaller businesses.  The user picks a template, chooses typical types of pages and populates the app with information.  Once finished, the developer can keep the app private by requiring a password.

Because the program is in beta, customers have a free 30-day trial, after which time they can pay $7.99 for a one-time content or app update or pay $14.99 per month to make unlimited updates.  Customers can take it one step further by paying $59.99 for unlimited updates for six months.  BuildAnApp will also submit the developed app to Apple’s App Store for $19.99, which includes resubmissions in the event that the app is rejected.

Computerworld mentioned an interesting analogy: “Analysts liken the emergence of a service such as BuildAnApp to the evolution of Web development from pure HTML coding to easy-to-use design services such as GeoCities and Blogger.”

A small business could use a mobile website but apps have advantages.  For instance, consumers can access and use the information even when out of range of their wireless networks; an app layout may not only look better than a mobile website, it may also be easier and more logical to use; and apps generally run faster because they operate locally.

• None Found

One of these developers is Joe Hewitt, who worked for Firefox and its acclaimed developer plug-in Firebug. He was so agitated with Apple’s policies that he handed off the Facebook iPhone app to another engineer at the company. Ars technica believed that his decision could have been due to an issue with his Three20 framework rather than issues with the Facebook app. However, he later reported to ars technica that it was because of another experience which he was not at liberty to disclose.

The Three20 framework initially derived from work he did to create the Facebook app and it was named for iPhone’s 320-pixel-wide screen. The open source framework is used by several iPhone developers, which gives them drop-in support for several user interface enhancements in their own iPhone apps. Then Apple stepped in by rejecting apps that relied on the framework and used a private API (Application Programming Interface) call, which goes directly against the controversial iPhone Development Agreement. Although Hewitt should have been aware of this issue, it is likely the reason he decided to break away from iPhone development.

Other developers have proposed different reasons for discontinuing their development with Apple. Second Gear developer Justin Williams cited to the way the App Store is being managed and the risks involved for most developers. The recent rejection of Google Voice for iPhone is one example of what Williams was referring to. Fed up, when Williams attempted to transfer his apps to another developer that purchased them, the Apple Developer Connection prohibited this action, making the transfer much more difficult and costly to its users (who had to re-purchase the app), further illuminating his frustrations with Apple.

Apple leaves a sour taste in developers’ mouths for multiple reasons. Developer Rogue Amoeba, maker of many audio apps for Apple, ran into a development problem that derived from an intellectual property issue. Rogue had a minor bug they needed fix in its Airfoil Speakers ToCall app, the update’s purpose was solely to improve the way audio was received and did not change any functionality.

Regardless, Apple rejected its update multiple times. The reason was both predictable and simultaneously illogical: The app uses Apple-approved images and icons. The original app had already been approved and was in the App Store, it used the same mechanism, and Apple had provided developers public API for accessing these very images. And yet, Apple rejected the use claiming that it was an inappropriate use of “Apple-owned Graphic Symbols.” Like Hewitt and Williams, Rogue Amoeba got so aggravated by its experience that it is no longer developing for the iPhone either.

Developers are starting to question whether they should invest so much time and effort into iPhone development only to have their apps or ideas rejected. These frustrations that Apple has caused could be good news for Google’s Android. But it is unknown whether developers will give Android a try next.

The good news for Apple: in the app world there are plenty of other developers waiting for a chance to catch lightning in a bottle.

• None Found

The problematic licensing language can be found in Section 4 under “Usage Requirements” and provides:

By making calls to the Product Advertising API, accessing the Data Feed, or using Product Advertising Content, you agree to comply with the following requirements:

(e) You will not, without our express prior written approval requested via this link , use any Product Advertising Content on or in connection with any site or application designed or intended for use with a mobile phone or other handheld device.

“This link” is an Amazon contact form where you can request information or permissions regarding the Amazon API.  According to iLounge, one iPhone app developer, Delicious Monster, requested permission to use the Amazon data on their mobile app but was told “no permission is being given right now.”

So far it appears that two apps have been effected by this licensing change, Delicious Library and Pocketpedia.

According to Bruji, maker of Pocketpedia, Amazon sent the developer an email requesting the immediate removal of Pocketpedia from the App Store since the program is in violation of their license agreement.  Bruji is encouraging irate users to join a letter writing campaign to Amazon to get the company to reverse course on this decision.

Meanwhile, speculation is rampant regarding what caused Amazon to make this change, and some are speculating it has to do with Amazon’s recent acquisition of image acquisition based mobile marketing company SnapTell.

In an unrelated development, the New York Times reports that Amazon has removed (read: deleted) ebooks purchased by Kindle users from their devices and credited the cost of the purchases back to the users’ accounts at the Amazon ebook store.  The ebooks in question were unauthorized editions of George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” and “1984.”  Thanks big brother, uh, I mean Amazon.

• None Found