Many thanks. I wasn't actually aware of this, but it's not exactly as open as I would like. Instead, I think Apple should to open everything up to the develop

Many thanks. I wasn't actually aware of this, but it's not exactly as open as I would like. Instead, I think Apple should to open everything up to the developer community - a free sign up form which gives you access to databases, APIs, widgets, social media integration, statistics etc. My thinking is that each time a smart developer comes along and builds something niche or innovative on top of these tools, it's potentially another route by which people could find the long tail of apps which developers publish. I can see very little down side to keeping this information under lock and key. It would really help Apple to build an ecossytem around the app store.