iOS 7 tipping point for more open Apple ecosystem
Many smartphone enthusiasts are already looking forward to the next major Apple mobile OS update iOS 7 and we’ve been discussing features it may or may not bring for some time, as well as wish lists. However with a growing tide of unease about Apple’s continued closed ecosystem we now wonder if iOS 7 may also be a tipping point towards a more open approach.
We seem to be hearing a growing amount of feeling lately regarding Apple’s closed policy, even among Apple enthusiasts, and there would be many who would like to see iOS 7 as a step closer towards a more open system. The much-awaited iOS 6 Evasi0n jailbreak has already been downloaded over 7 million times and this shows the desire to bypass the closed nature of Apple iOS.
It also seems likely that there is now more dissatisfaction over the lack of openness on iOS 6 because of the time it took devs to come up with a jailbreak. This was made much harder this time around because of tightened Apple security measures that confounded the best hackers in the business for quite some time. This has undoubtedly led to the increase in Apple fans who are now hoping that Apple will consider a more open approach and it also seems that this unease is spreading to developers too.
The Evad3rd team that came up with the Evasi0n iOS 6 jailbreak set up a petition recently asking for an open-source iOS and have already gained over 11,000 signatures. Interestingly way back in October last year we also discussed the idea that Apple should cross-license iTunes to Android and this was even backed up by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. He said that if he was young again and was starting up a career in technology he would be more attracted to the open-source community.
Keeping a closed ecosystem does of course boost Apple’s profits so the likelihood of the company wanting to change its current stance seems small at the moment. However Apple has been showing more flexibility recently. For instance at one time the idea that Apple would consider a smaller iPad seemed highly unlikely and yet we now have the iPad mini. It’s also rumored that the much talked about cheaper iPhone could also be on the way and that’s something we wouldn’t have imagined a year or so ago so it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that iOS 7 could in some way act as a tipping point for a more open Apple.
We’re really interested to hear from you about your views on this. Are you an Apple fan and quite happy with the way Apple currently operates? Maybe you’re increasingly unhappy with the closed nature of iOS and think Apple will inevitably have to change to a more open ecosystem at some point? Let us know with your comments.
Source: PC-Tablet
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10 thoughts on “iOS 7 tipping point for more open Apple ecosystem”
” This was made much harder this time around because of tightened Apple security measures that confounded the best hackers in the business for quite some time. ”
If Apple are making efforts to increase security to prevent jailbreaking then its not looking likely they will be interested in a more open iOS…
No, Apple shouldn’t have an open OS, do you remember when we were exited at a WWDC and watching live blogs, with no clue of what new amazing gismo would be thrown at us. Unfortunately that excitement seems to be dying. What ever happened to that excitement of a truly closed Apple, I don’t like knowing what is going to come out of the next WWDC. We seem to find out from the Chinese blogs when they start producing them. That secrecy was the excitement!!!!!
Uhm… Nick Harris, not sure how much of an Apple Geek you can really be if you don’t know what “open” and “closed” OS refers to. It’s nothing to do with keeping upcoming tech reveals a secret, it’s about Apple not allowing any software to run on the phone that hasn’t come from the iTunes store. Unlike say, a non-Windows 8 PC, where you can buy software from anywhere and install it. Or unlike an Android phone, where you can download other app stores besides the Google Play Store (Amazon App Store, PSM, etc), or even just install apps standalone that you’ve downloaded from a website.
You can download and install all the software in the world including android runtime with all the garbage apps that it’s coming with on Windows 8 PC. It’s the RT that is closed.
haha! “Apple Geek” fail >.<
I really can’t see Apple ever having open source code, they never seem to learn from past mistakes and seem to prefer massive fails every now and again compared to listening to their customers. Forget about maps, look at the Podcast App’, the fact that it was actually released speaks volumes to me.
To me a Jailbroken iPhone is as good as it gets, ok- I would prefer a bigger screen as well. I don’t believe they need to release their os, just bloody well listen to their customers. Having said that crapware free Android Jellybean is the 1st android os that I could live with, the longer Apple delay the more the competition catch up. I have a lot invested in apple but I am very close to making the change; something as simple as a podcast app that shows no intention if being fixed is all it takes to lose customers.
Apple actively contributes to some of the biggest open source projects, such as WebKit and the clang compiler, as well as releasing most of the Mac OS X (and therefore iOS) kernel under an open source license.
Apple creating an open system just opens the door for pirated apps on their devices which dramatically cuts into their profits. Android has a ton of torrents out there with GBs of paid apps for “free”. I don’t see apple allowing this on their devices nor do I forsee them giving open source code. something I’d like to see come to iOS (which currently is why I have a jailbroken iPhone) is emulators and a deal with game developers to buy their games like we do apps.
End of the Day: Apple’s App Store has already accounted for over 40 Billion downloads and apple take 30% of those profits. Don’t expect them to allow any way to get pirated apps on their devices anytime soon. It’s just bad business.
6.1.3 is coming out and it’s main function is to unjailbreak all jail broken IPhones u could ignore it but good luck updating apps from then on
ios 6.1.3 is coming out and all the jail broken Iphones are in trouble because you can’t update apps without updating