That doesn't seem like the kind of uncompromising approach to fantastic user experience that has made Apple so successful.
Does anyone have the link for Instacast for Android?
Maybe for a few exceptional cases like Facebook or Twitter, but 99.99% of developers don't have near that much leverage.
In this case, for example, if Instacast isn't in the AppStore most people will simply choose an alternative "podcatcher" that is.
Honestly, most of the companies who could vote with their feet on this issue need the AppStore a lot more than the AppStore needs them.
Discoverability is a huge problem, and honestly, more than 80% of the apps aren't very good. And given that iOS apps are still in the gold rush stage, that percentage of crappy apps is growing by the day.
If a significant number of the developers who vote with their feet are part of the top 20% (for quality), and the boycott becomes more widespread, I think Apple would have to respond.
In the post-Jobs era, who knows if something like this could have an impact.
Especially the massive number of young kids buying apps courtesy of the iPod touch.
Keep in mind, 20% of 500k apps is 100k apps. Do you really think there are are that many 4 star apps in the app store?
> I’ve been following some discussions about the future of software applications, and a phrase that came up in my dinner with Robb Beal has been echoing in my mind.What it comes down to is this: if you want to develop software, you can build for the Web and/or Unix and/or OSS platforms; or alternatively, you can be a sharecropper. Your choice, but I think it’s an easy one. Especially since the users out there want you to do the right thing.
> What Robb actually said, in a conversation about Mac software outputs like Ranchero and Watson and his own Spring, was that building for the Apple OS feels like being a sharecropper.
http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/200x/2003/07/12/WebsThePla...
Just like I would get banned from Google if I didn't follow their rules.
One major difference is that iOS enjoys an advantage in apps that Mac never had in software. I think that could change, though. There is a positive feedback loop in which the most popular platform attracts developers and hence has the most software and so people buy that platform. I don't perceive that system to be in a stable state at the moment, much like it wasn't in, say, '88. People routinely develop for both platforms. And who knows, perhaps that will be the steady state answer this time; we're a lot better at abstraction than we used to be. But I think it's possible that Android could become popular enough (and perhaps Apple drive enough developers away), that the whole thing could pass a tipping point.
What I'm saying is, I don't think the beauty of the apps is the most powerful force in play here. I think the existence of apps is a lot more powerful. At least, that's what I think happened last time beauty fought pragmatism.
With iOS vs. Android, from the consumer's perspective, the differences are really subtle. The major issue at hand with developer freedom is hidden from view for most people.