Apple reverses Flash App ban

Apple has changed the terms of its iOS Developer Program, reversing an earlier decision that limited the programs that could be used to create applications ("apps") for its iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.

The change will allow developers to use, amongst other tools, the Flash Packager designed as part of Adobe's Creative Suite 5 (CS5) software, to create apps.

The Packager for iPhone tool was designed to be released alongside CS5, but in April Apple changed the terms of its developer agreement.

An amended clause stating that "Applications must be originally written in Objective-C, C, C++, or JavaScript as executed by the iPhone OS WebKit engine, and only code written in C, C++, and Objective-C may compile and directly link against the Documented APIs" effectively banned the use of the Packager tool.

Today, however, Apple says it is "relaxing all restrictions on the development tools used to create iOS apps, as long as the resulting apps do not download any code".

In a statement the company said it had "listened to our developers and taken much of their feedback to heart."

Adobe welcomed the news as "great news for developers", adding that it had heard of apps created with its tool being approved almost immediately after Apple's announcement. It said it would "now resume development work" on the Packager tool "for future releases".

The decision has no impact on the major controversy surrounding Apple's iOS devices and Adobe Flash: the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad will remain unable to display Flash content, or play Flash video, on websites.