Frameworks are a way to share code and other resources between application. As sharing code between applications is not really possible on the iPhone (as is dynamic loading of libraries) it does not really make much sense to use Frameworks on the iPhone – except maybe for the nice handling of reusable code. Where with Frameworks the specific files are accessable after the Framework is added to a project, working with Static Libraries is a bit more of an hussle. You not only need to add the library, but also need to make sure to set the right Header Search Paths, which can become troublesome when working with SVN’ed projects. And because the architecture differs on the iPhone (ARM) and the Simulator (i386), having precompiled libraries is not the best solution. But adding a depended library project to your projects kind of negates the advantages of having reusable code by adding unnecessary complications. Recommendation? Just add the desired files to your project. And if you really mind, don’t copy, but only include by reference.

• Introduction to Framework Programming Guide (Mac OSX)
• Creating a static library for the iPhone
• How-To Construct iPhone Framework Bundles For Cross-Compiled iPhone Libraries