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I feel like you are conflating two issues in your comparison. Building code for devices, and distributing that code on the App Store. We (programmers) have gre

I feel like you are conflating two issues in your comparison. Building code for devices, and distributing that code on the App Store. We (programmers) have great device access without undergoing corporate review. And this has only gotten better for the Apple ecosystem. I can go to Github, download an open source iOS project and build it for my device. They removed the $99/year barrier. An Apple ID is still needed, but the direction has been positive. Publishing on the App Store is not really relevant. I can experiment, write code, and publish that code without Apple's blessing. Any curated stores (stores for web apps are no exception — like the Chrome store) are going to put limits on what can be published. That is where their value lies. The curation entices users which creates demand that developers can service. Good curation is hard, and doing it well builds user trust. Developers can leverage that trust if they are willing to submit their work for review. And in the case of the App Store, developers can make income from that trust.

harlanji 9y ago
Given the $99 limitation has been lifted it seems reasonable to make general federated "App Store App" that downloads source and puts a build of an app on the phone, wrapped with a pretty UI and clever control channel to your "dev" machine. Value of a particular "store" would be in its own curation. Seems Apple developer portal has enough API to get provisioning keys for Fastlane, might have more generally interesting stuff to make other features like APNS seamless.
- nathancahill 9y ago
  If you're jailbroken, check out Saurik's app Extender. He's active on HN, so maybe he'll chime in.
stcredzero 9y ago
Publishing on the App Store is not really relevant. I can experiment, write code, and publish that code without Apple's blessing. Any curated stores (stores for web apps are no exception — like the Chrome store) are going to put limits on what can be published. That is where their value lies. Here's the dilemma: To have a degree of openness and accessibility for developers while also maintaining convenience for end-users, you have to accept the submissions of new developers that meet a certain (in practical terms, low) bar of standards. So to curate such an ecosystem, while being relatively open to new developers and users at the same time, the below-par apps have to be punished through discover-ability. This is what Apple has done, and it explains why their ecosystem is painful in exactly the ways it it painful. (It's not as painful if you are working at a good company with sharp marketers, or if you have an in with a community that exists outside the app store.) The web simply has its 'knobs' set differently to mediate the curation/openness dilemma. Discover-ability is better. Curation is DIY/free-market. Caveat emptor.
deleted 9y ago
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harlanji 9y ago

Given the $99 limitation has been lifted it seems reasonable to make general federated "App Store App" that downloads source and puts a build of an app on the phone, wrapped with a pretty UI and clever control channel to your "dev" machine. Value of a particular "store" would be in its own curation. Seems Apple developer portal has enough API to get provisioning keys for Fastlane, might have more generally interesting stuff to make other features like APNS seamless.

nathancahill 9y ago
If you're jailbroken, check out Saurik's app Extender. He's active on HN, so maybe he'll chime in.

stcredzero 9y ago

Publishing on the App Store is not really relevant. I can experiment, write code, and publish that code without Apple's blessing. Any curated stores (stores for web apps are no exception — like the Chrome store) are going to put limits on what can be published. That is where their value lies. Here's the dilemma: To have a degree of openness and accessibility for developers while also maintaining convenience for end-users, you have to accept the submissions of new developers that meet a certain (in practical terms, low) bar of standards. So to curate such an ecosystem, while being relatively open to new developers and users at the same time, the below-par apps have to be punished through discover-ability. This is what Apple has done, and it explains why their ecosystem is painful in exactly the ways it it painful. (It's not as painful if you are working at a good company with sharp marketers, or if you have an in with a community that exists outside the app store.) The web simply has its 'knobs' set differently to mediate the curation/openness dilemma. Discover-ability is better. Curation is DIY/free-market. Caveat emptor.

deleted 9y ago

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