iPhone Will Not Support Third-Party Standalone Apps

Steve Jobs announced yesterday at the Worldwide Developers Conference that software developers will be able to create web applications that run on the iPhone’s Safari browser.

In other words, the only third-party “applications” you’ll be able to run on your iPhone are web sites. For now, the iPhone will not support third-party standalone applications or widgets.

Since Jobs has said in the past that the iPhone will run “the real OS X,” and not a stripped-down version, his announcement that the iPhone will support web applications seemed to many developers like little more than a spin to make it look like Apple was actually working to support third-party development.

Will the iPhone’s closed platform affect your decision on whether to purchase the phone?