Apple has a rule that disallows apps from the app store if they "duplicate the functionality of one of apple's own apps". Alternative browsers for instance are

Apple has a rule that disallows apps from the app store if they "duplicate the functionality of one of apple's own apps". Alternative browsers for instance are effectively banned, you can only skin safari. There have been plenty of examples where they have abused this rule. Google maps was around before Apple Maps, but when it launched it became the default app, and there is no way to change it. On android, the user can swap out gmaps for an alternative. Luckily iOS never became dominant, and so the long term damage to the market is limited. In the short term, certainly a lot of developers made some quick money on iOS, and as one of them I can see why you are so keen to defend them. But in the long run, if they had reached dominance then it would have been a catastrophe for the industry on a scale far worse than Windows dominance in the 90s. There are a lot of other reasons that it would have been bad, that often don't occur to people in cozy western environments, such as the impact it would have had on developing countries. A lot of elitist iOS developers say its not a problem that you can only develop iOS apps on a Mac, because "anyone can afford a Mac mini", but try telling that to a highschool student in India.