Following up from the iPhone OS 3.0 beta 5 release that Apple made available yesterday, they have also distributed a rather interesting email to members of the developer program. According to Apple, all submissions that are sent to Apple will be tested on the upcoming firmware, as opposed to the current version, to ensure full compatibility.
This shows that Apple, obviously, wants everything to be working perfectly when a release comes, but also shows that the final version may not be too far off either. It"s already been said that summer is the target release date for the firmware, and Apple"s WWDC would be the perfect place to do so (and to continue past trends).
You can find a direct quote of the email below:
All apps must be compatible with iPhone OS 3.0
Millions of iPhone and iPod touch customers will move to iPhone OS 3.0 this summer. Beginning today, all submissions to the App Store will be reviewed on the latest beta of iPhone OS 3.0. If your app submission is not compatible with iPhone OS 3.0, it will not be approved.
Existing apps in the App Store should already run on iPhone OS 3.0 without modification, but you should test your existing apps with iPhone OS 3.0 to ensure there are no compatibility issues. After iPhone OS 3.0 becomes available to customers, any app that is incompatible with iPhone OS 3.0 may be removed from the App Store.
Most developers, as the email states, should have no problems anyway as most applications are already compatible. Good news for iPhone users, in a way, especially those using OS 3.0 currently.