

Why not allow people to buy iphone apps and run them via simulator under Mac/Win? - amichail

It's not clear to me that this would result in fewer ipod touch/iphone sales.  In fact, it might result in more as the simulator would act as advertising.<p>Even if the simulator only runs under Mac, it would still be a significant improvement over the current situation.
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hboon
Not everything works (or works the same) in the iPhone simulator on the Mac as
the device. You can't make/answer calls, no accelerometer, vibration, certain
effects are missing, performance is different, multi-touch is hardly usable,
since you use the mouse+keyboard to simulate it, etc.

And there is no simulator for Windows at the moment.

It's going to be a lot of work to package it so that it is secure (DRM),
works, and is polished enough for consumers. Probably not worth the cost
considering how the App store is selling apps like hot cakes.

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jws
I think "quality of user experience" might be a reason.

Operating the simulator feels like doing watch repair with mittens on. You are
denied your fabulous desktop input and output devices and can't easily access
the fabulous iPhone specific interface devices. The result is a shabby
experience.

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amichail
It would depend on the app.

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mcav
At least with web-based iPhone apps you can use something like Fluid to create
a site-specific browser to view the iPhone version of websites on your
desktop.

