Apple’s convoluted app approval process has earned the company the wrath of many developers, many of which have been politically nice to Apple while still voicing their disdain for the process in their statements with the media. Not so for Facebook lead developer Joe Hewitt, who has given up his reign as the Facebook iPhone developer and gone on to developing Facebook for the mobile web.

Here’s what Hewitt has to say about Apple:

My decision to stop iPhone development has had everything to do with Apple’s policies. I respect their right to manage their platform however they want, however I am philosophically opposed to the existence of their review process. I am very concerned that they are setting a horrible precedent for other software platforms, and soon gatekeepers will start infesting the lives of every software developer.

The web is still unrestricted and free, and so I am returning to my roots as a web developer. In the long term, I would like to be able to say that I helped to make the web the best mobile platform available, rather than being part of the transition to a world where every developer must go through a middleman to get their software in the hands of users.”

To date, Facebook for the iPhone is the only platform that Facebook has developed officially for. Facebook for Windows Mobile, though dubbed an official app, was developed by Microsoft, Android’s version is made by third-parties, and BlackBerry also develops their Facebook version internally at Research in Motion. The Facebook native app project has been handed off by Hewitt to someone else.

(via: TechCrunch)