Apple to allow outside applications on iPhone

Apple Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs said today that outside developers would be allowed to make software programs for the iPhone.

“We are excited about creating a vibrant third-party developer community around the iPhone and enabling hundreds of new applications for our users,” Jobs wrote in a posting on Apple’s website.

Developer kits will be made available in February, the website said.

Apple has held back from providing iPhone development tools because the company is concerned about opening the $399 device to viruses, malicious programs and privacy attacks, Jobs said.

But that decision was controversial. Last month, the Cupertino, Calif., company released an update that disabled many of the non-Apple applications users had installed on the iPhone, a move that generated criticism from customers and developers.

The iPhone debuted June 29 in the U.S. and will be available in Britain, Germany and France starting next month. As of Sept. 10, Apple and its U.S. partner AT&T Inc. had sold more than 1 million of the phones.

Jobs said the kit would also enable developers to create applications for the iPod Touch.