… and exhale. Apple finally cut the leash it had on developers since the iPhone SDK was released. At this point it doesn’t really matter if it was done to please developers or to get ready for the competition from Android (which is completely open). I’m betting on a little bit of both, but I admit I’m happy about finally being able to read and write about working with the SDK.

The full message to developers is quoted below:

We have decided to drop the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) for released iPhone software. We put the NDA in place because the iPhone OS includes many Apple inventions and innovations that we would like to protect, so that others don’t steal our work. It has happened before. While we have filed for hundreds of patents on iPhone technology, the NDA added yet another level of protection. We put it in place as one more way to help protect the iPhone from being ripped off by others.

However, the NDA has created too much of a burden on developers, authors and others interested in helping further the iPhone’s success, so we are dropping it for released software. Developers will receive a new agreement without an NDA covering released software within a week or so. Please note that unreleased software and features will remain under NDA until they are released.

Now maybe Pragmatic Programmers will be able to release their upcoming book on iPhone development, and more authors will feel free to write about building apps and services on top of the iPhone platform. Me, I’m glad to see the blog posts with iPhone development knowledge roll in. It felt a little weird to finally have what I’ve been craving for so long and not being able to talk about it. Good times.

[Thanks to Chris Messina for the heads up on twitter]