By Slash Lane
Published: 02:32 PM EST (11:32 AM PST)
Apple on Wednesday put a call out to developers, encouraging them to submit their updated applications built for iOS 5 and iCloud, set to launch in one week.
The invitation to submit iOS 5- and iCloud-compatible applications was made in a pair of posts to Apple's developer site on Wednesday. The company touted that iOS 5 will
soon be available to "hundreds of millions of iPhone, iPad and iPod touch customers."
Developers can take advantage of more than 200 new features and an updated software development kit with over 1,500 new application programming interfaces and developer tools.
Developers are asked to test their existing applications for compatibility with iOS 5, review the Data Storage Guidelines, and submit new applications that take advantage of what iOS 5 has to offer. Developers can measure their software against Apple's "iOS 5 Readiness Checklist" in preparation.
The golden master build of iOS 5 was supplied to members of Apple's development community
on Tuesday, following the announcement of the iPhone 4S. Golden master builds of software are typically identical to the final version of the software that will be released to the public, and developers have access to the update in advance to ensure their applications work properly.
The general public will be able to install iOS 5 on their iPhone, iPad and iPod touch next Wednesday,
Oct. 12. A major part of the software update will be Apple's new iCloud service, which stores and syncs data on remote Apple-hosted servers.
iCloud is free for all users with a device running iOS 5, as well as those who run Mac OS X 10.7 Lion on their Mac. As a result, Mac developers can
also take advantage of iCloud, as Apple invited them to do on Wednesday.
With iCloud Storage application programming interfaces for the Mac, software available on the Mac App Store can store documents and key value data in iCloud. Those documents are automatically kept up to date on all devices, including Macs and iOS.
Developers also have a checklist for OS X Lion applications available to ensure that their software is ready for the Mac App Store. All software available on the iOS App Store and Mac App Store must be approved by Apple, and iCloud- and iOS 5- compatible software should soon begin appearing for download as developers update their applications and submit them to Apple.
