Apple update promises to untether the iPhone

November 12, 12:36 PMSF Technology ExaminerJason Brooks

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Rumor has it that next week, Apple will release its 2.2 upgrade for the iPhone and iPod Touch. If the reported feature enhancements for 2.2 are correct, the update may be enough to get me and my jailbroken iPod Touch back on the straight and narrow.

The killer feature in question is support for downloading podcast episodes directly to the device—in contrast to the current setup in which users must route podcast downloads through an iTunes-bearing Mac or PC machine.

As I've mentioned in the past, I use Linux on my computers at home and at work, and I do so, in part, because Linux and open source software doesn't erect arbitrary roadblocks in my path.

Apple is the king of arbitrary roadblocks — things like the form-over-function, one-button, hockey puck iMac mouse come to mind. However, with the iPhone/iPod Touch, Apple produced a class of product that's so much better than the competition that I was willing to put up with some arbitrariness to get my hands on one.

When I got my iPod Touch last January, the device lacked support for native applications, but it was easy to work around this gap by jailbreaking my new Touch — hacking the device to allow the installation of new applications.

The other big roadblock was that unlike all other iPods, the Touch/iPhone was barred from working with any media player but iTunes—and iTunes does not run on Linux. Another arbitrary roadblock.

As it turns out, Apple's arbitrariness around keeping the iPhone tethered to iTunes is a pain not only for Linux users like me, but to anyone who uses their iPhone or iPod Touch as a podcast-listening device.

Due to yet another arbitrary Apple rule, iPod or iPhone devices shan't be synced with more than one instance of iTunes, so if you sync at home, you're all set with up-to-date podcasts for your ride in to work, but you'll have to make due with old podcasts for your ride home. If you sync at work, the reverse is true.

Regular iPods depend on an external computer to fetch podcasts, anyhow, but the Internet-enabled Touch and iPhone could grab new episodes without an intervening copy of iTunes.

Recently, an App Store developer sought to offer a podcast application that would do just this—permit iPhones to download podcasts straight from the Internet. True to form, Apple banned this worthwhile application from their store, citing duplication of existing features—even though many App Store apps duplicate existing iPhone features.

I did jailbreak my iPod Touch back when I first got it, it took about six months before Apple filled the native apps gap with the 2.0 firmware update, bringing me and my Touch back on the right side of Apple's law.

After the podcast app banning incident, I jailbroke my device again, but the only illicit app I really use is MobileCast, which with I can pull down my up-to-date NPR hourly news summary before I head out the door in the morning and in the evening. If the rumors are true, Apple will have re-earned my firmware allegiance in just under three months.

At the rate that Apple has adjusted its software and policies to address my qualms, maybe I'll be able to ditch my annoying iTunes on Windows XP on VMware on Linux workaround in time for my iPod Touch one year anniversary.

I know that iTunes for Linux is too much to ask, so I'm hoping that Apple will deign to dissolve the encrypted link through which the Touch and the iPhone must talk to iTunes, and allow Apple customers to pair the devices they've purchased with the players and platforms they choose.