Since its inception, the success of Apple Computer Inc. has depended on its ability to walk the fine line of maintaining its proprietary technologies without alienating the people who make the company successful: those who develop software for Apple devices and end users who ultimately buy and use Apple products. There are countless well-documented instances of the company’s stingy approach drawing the ire of consumers and developers alike. It is again questioning how well the industry giant is walking that fine line, as Apple’s strategies have inadvertently spawned a fast-growing cottage industry of developers and consumers needing to look beyond the mainstream. app store to meet your needs for iPhone apps and satisfy your desires for functionality that Apple has deliberately restricted.
Apple’s strict regulation of the apps it will allow in its app store has been sending waves of dissent among the ranks of iPhone fans around the world ever since the company launched its app store in July 2008 and began making decisions. policies regarding the applications created. by independent developers. We have seen countless apps denied listing in the app store for reasons that have been mysterious, vague, overly censorship, anti-competitive, and unevenly enforced.
Apple further fell out of favor with free-thinking technology enthusiasts with its vigorous legal battle over jailbreaking the iPhone, which they lost. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has been petitioning federal regulators for years to add an exemption to the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) to make it legal for consumers to customize the iPhone’s operating system to allow it to run any app the iPhone uses. consumer wants, whether Apple has approved the application or not. Typically, Apple strenuously opposed this proposal and fought it at great cost, arguing that modifying the iPhone’s operating system ultimately creates a derivative work that infringes its copyright. Federal regulators were unequivocal in their response. They stated in no uncertain terms that it is absolutely legal for consumers to jailbreak an iPhone once they have purchased it from Apple.
The cumulative result of discontent with Apple’s app store policies combined with the now perfectly legal jailbreak possibilities is that there is a growing movement among many of the more progressive developers to avoid the app store altogether and find other means to distribute your iPhone apps. to end users. After all, you no longer need to have your app in the app store to have a legitimate business iPhone app to offer to consumers. One need only spend a few minutes on a jailbroken iPhone to see more than enough evidence of this trend. Cydia is one of the leaders in jailbreaking software, and their store is full of apps, hacks, mods, and tweaks that would never be allowed on the app store. You can install themes that customize the entire look of the iPhone operating system, find apps that spoof caller ID, add custom video ringtones (so that every time a particular person calls you, your phone shows a video that you selected) and many others.
Further evidence of this growing trend can be seen in the recent launch of Microgaming’s new iPhone casino, which allows players (currently only outside of the US) to play adapted versions of classic casino games for real money. This fully-featured, state-of-the-art mobile casino was developed specifically for the iPhone by the world’s largest online casino software company (in partnership with mobile specialists Spin3), and with these deep pockets they decided to develop a browser-based based on an app that completely bypasses the Apple app store, creating an iPhone casino that works without the need to download or install any software.
Whether or not Apple will change course to meet the needs of this expanding segment of its iPhone customer base remains to be seen. Anyway, one thing is for sure: the iPhone jailbreak has started. Cydia and iPhone casinos are just the beginning. A new generation of iPhone apps is being created right now that will push the boundaries of this revolutionary device to its full unbridled potential.