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> This means that an iOS app will never be improved by other apps installed on the system I've got apps launching links in iCab, other apps using files from th

> This means that an iOS app will never be improved by other apps installed on the system I've got apps launching links in iCab, other apps using files from the Dropbox app, etc., so that seems a bit inflexible. I get that Android's app-to-app crosstalk is considerably deeper, it's just the characterization of iOS that doesn't seem totally right to me.

rogerbinns 14y ago
Launching apps from file associations isn't integration. (Windows 1.0 did that.) Try sending files instead. The source app on iOS has to integrate every library it wants to support. eg to have Dropbox it would need to include a Dropbox library, and a Google library, and a Box library etc. (And ask for usernames and passwords in each app including the library.) A frequent complaint of users with other browsers installed is how often the builtin Safari comes up instead. Try alternate dialers. On Android you just install an app that claims to handle tel:// urls. You are out of luck on iOS. Try adding another social network that can handle sharing. Again you are out of luck on iOS until every source app adds libraries. And images, contacts, calendars, and whatever some startup thinks of next week. iOS is trivial in this regard - there is essentially no cross app integration. That fits with Apple's walled garden model, and means that apps do not change their functionality after installation which fits in with Apple's review process. Having "deterministic" app behaviour hasn't hurt Apple so far - they rake in over half of the smartphone industry profits.