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Developers Looking to Set Up Alternatives To Apple's App Store
TechDirt is reporting that in response to the frustrations with Apple's app store dictatorship, a few developers are looking to set up their own alternative app stores. Alternate app stores would only work on jailbroken phones, making their adoption scope limited, so the question is whether Apple will go after these start ups on the legal battlefield. "Apple, which collects a 30% commission from sellers on its store, doesn't break out the site's revenue. Brokerage firm Piper Jaffray estimates the site generated about $150 million in sales last year and projects total sales will grow to $800 million this year. Apple did not respond to requests for comment. But it has said in the past that with the iPhone it was trying to strike a balance between a closed device like the iPod and an open device like the PC."
I honestly don't want unapproved code going on my phone. I don't want code written by some unaccountable company or worse--individual developer. If my phone crashes because of an app I put on there, I want it to be someone's fault from a consumer standpoint. If it makes me lose data, I want it to be someone's fault. Having an approval process makes perfect sense from a consumer standpoint, and even better sense from a business standpoint. I don't get what all the whining is about. You can always jailbreak your phone if that's what you really prefer. Just don't expect Apple to support any problems you encounter while using unapproved applications.
The problem with windows mobile for the longest time isn't that they restricted what you could put on the phone, but rather that there was no good way of telling which applications were worth downloading, finding a central place that hosted and sold them, and a review system to let you know that the apps didn't just crash your phone.