7 ms·

Open Source and the iOS App Store

64 points by liyanchang 13y ago

uams 13y ago
This is a really interesting idea. iOS and submitting to the app store has always seemed high friction task. This takes reduces both of them by having a fully baked app that I can just modify. The promise of shipping code to the app store is a bit more tenuous as we have to bank on the developers packaging it up and sending it up to the app store.
- liyanchang 13y ago
  Thanks for the support. To your concern, yes. But we're also looking at how we can give not only commit rights to github but also deploy rights on the app store for frequent committers.
kirualex 13y ago
Not sure it's really relevant, but I happen to have open-sourced a "dummy app" which was originally intended for educational purpose. If some are interested : http://alexiscreuzot.com/ColourLove/ http://alexiscreuzot.com/ColourLove/
lucian1900 13y ago
The missing example for platforms with lots of open source apps is Android. No platform should artificially restrict development and the freedom of running any app. iOS deserves its lack of open source apps, in a way.
- engrenage 13y ago
  No platform should artificially restrict development and the freedom of any app (regardless of how destructive, malicious, misleading, or harmful to the end user or any other party, it might be). End users must be prohibited from choosing a platform which does not obey this rule.
chrisballinger 13y ago
My apps ChatSecure [1] and OpenWatch [2] are fully open source as well. 1. https://github.com/chrisballinger/Off-the-Record-iOS https://github.com/chrisballinger/Off-the-Record-iOS 2. https://github.com/OpenWatch/OpenWatch-iOS https://github.com/OpenWatch/OpenWatch-iOS
- liyanchang 13y ago
  That's awesome. Glad there are others out there as well.
- aaronbrethorst 13y ago
  I get the sense you're a Cocoa Controls user :) I always love getting feedback from users of the site; please let me know if you have any!
atlex2 13y ago
This is a great step-- I note that you chose to open source after your were on the store. As a well-known company, was that to prevent pre-release copycats?
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
jeena 13y ago
It was 4 years ago when I developed a iOS ImagePicker in my free time which I knew I would use in a app at work, just to be able to open source it. And it was the right move, seems like many people liked and used it: https://github.com/jeena/JPImagePickerController https://github.com/jeena/JPImagePickerController even got a couple of job offers because of it (back then there weren't that many iOS developers in Sweden)
CrazedGeek 13y ago
The WordPress iOS app is also open source: https://github.com/wordpress-mobile/WordPress-iOS https://github.com/wordpress-mobile/WordPress-iOS
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
leokun 13y ago
Open Source applications in iOS are nice for developers to help them build better applications, but given iOS is such a closed locked system, it is meaningless for users. A part of the open source idea is that users can know and have some control over the software that runs on the hardware that belongs to them. As long as iOS remains a locked proprietary walled garden owned by Apple and carriers, open source on iOS is meaningless to them. Maybe we've all just given up on that idea though.
- doe88 13y ago
  I beg to differ, I think that if you are knowledgeable enough to know what open source is, what it means and how it works, then you're able to download xcode, build the open source app, bypass the apple store and install it on your device.
  - leokun 13y ago
    As long as you are willing and able to pay Apple $100 a year to install your own apps on your own phone.
    - engrenage 13y ago
      If this is just about you saving $100, why all the rhetoric about walled gardens?
      - leokun 13y ago
        It's not about $100 a year, although that's a real barrier. It's that you and I are not in control over what software our hardware we own can run. Do I lease my smartphone from the company or do I own it, because it sure doesn't feel like I own it when I have to pay someone a $100 a year to run my software on my device. It feels like I'm being robbed. Robbed of money, robbed of choice, robbed of control.
        engrenage 13y ago
seivan 13y ago
I spent some time moving UIKit over to blocks without resorting to swizzling or using external dependencies like libffi. Needed to get that off my desk and ship smaller things. This looks nice!
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
lukifer 13y ago
The obstacle to open source adoption has always been economics, not usability. (Give them paychecks, and the usability engineers will come.) While it's possible to have a successful business model with FOSS, it's typically much more difficult or less lucrative compared to the product/appliance model, and too often completely unviable to make a living. The curious paradox of Apple's walled garden is that it creates an opening to put every line of code on GitHub, yet be confident that the vast majority of customers will still click "Buy Now" rather than downloading elsewhere for free. It may not include Freedom Zero, and so is far from ideologically pure, but the ecosystem still gains the benefits of transparency, trust, and iterative improvement from open source. Outside of certain niches, the market is clearly not gravitating towards FOSS on its own; if the politics of computing is important to us as a culture, it probably needs to move forward in the form of consumer protection laws and antitrust litigation. But in the meantime, FOSS would do well to use the App Store and make the best of a bad situation.

64 points by liyanchang 13y ago

uams 13y ago

This is a really interesting idea. iOS and submitting to the app store has always seemed high friction task. This takes reduces both of them by having a fully baked app that I can just modify. The promise of shipping code to the app store is a bit more tenuous as we have to bank on the developers packaging it up and sending it up to the app store.

liyanchang 13y ago
Thanks for the support. To your concern, yes. But we're also looking at how we can give not only commit rights to github but also deploy rights on the app store for frequent committers.

kirualex 13y ago

Not sure it's really relevant, but I happen to have open-sourced a "dummy app" which was originally intended for educational purpose. If some are interested : http://alexiscreuzot.com/ColourLove/ http://alexiscreuzot.com/ColourLove/

lucian1900 13y ago

The missing example for platforms with lots of open source apps is Android. No platform should artificially restrict development and the freedom of running any app. iOS deserves its lack of open source apps, in a way.

engrenage 13y ago
No platform should artificially restrict development and the freedom of any app (regardless of how destructive, malicious, misleading, or harmful to the end user or any other party, it might be). End users must be prohibited from choosing a platform which does not obey this rule.

chrisballinger 13y ago

My apps ChatSecure [1] and OpenWatch [2] are fully open source as well. 1. https://github.com/chrisballinger/Off-the-Record-iOS https://github.com/chrisballinger/Off-the-Record-iOS 2. https://github.com/OpenWatch/OpenWatch-iOS https://github.com/OpenWatch/OpenWatch-iOS

liyanchang 13y ago
That's awesome. Glad there are others out there as well.
aaronbrethorst 13y ago
I get the sense you're a Cocoa Controls user :) I always love getting feedback from users of the site; please let me know if you have any!

atlex2 13y ago

This is a great step-- I note that you chose to open source after your were on the store. As a well-known company, was that to prevent pre-release copycats?

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

jeena 13y ago

It was 4 years ago when I developed a iOS ImagePicker in my free time which I knew I would use in a app at work, just to be able to open source it. And it was the right move, seems like many people liked and used it: https://github.com/jeena/JPImagePickerController https://github.com/jeena/JPImagePickerController even got a couple of job offers because of it (back then there weren't that many iOS developers in Sweden)

CrazedGeek 13y ago

The WordPress iOS app is also open source: https://github.com/wordpress-mobile/WordPress-iOS https://github.com/wordpress-mobile/WordPress-iOS

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

leokun 13y ago

Open Source applications in iOS are nice for developers to help them build better applications, but given iOS is such a closed locked system, it is meaningless for users. A part of the open source idea is that users can know and have some control over the software that runs on the hardware that belongs to them. As long as iOS remains a locked proprietary walled garden owned by Apple and carriers, open source on iOS is meaningless to them. Maybe we've all just given up on that idea though.

doe88 13y ago
I beg to differ, I think that if you are knowledgeable enough to know what open source is, what it means and how it works, then you're able to download xcode, build the open source app, bypass the apple store and install it on your device.
- leokun 13y ago
  As long as you are willing and able to pay Apple $100 a year to install your own apps on your own phone.
  - engrenage 13y ago
    If this is just about you saving $100, why all the rhetoric about walled gardens?
    - leokun 13y ago
      It's not about $100 a year, although that's a real barrier. It's that you and I are not in control over what software our hardware we own can run. Do I lease my smartphone from the company or do I own it, because it sure doesn't feel like I own it when I have to pay someone a $100 a year to run my software on my device. It feels like I'm being robbed. Robbed of money, robbed of choice, robbed of control.
      - engrenage 13y ago

seivan 13y ago

I spent some time moving UIKit over to blocks without resorting to swizzling or using external dependencies like libffi. Needed to get that off my desk and ship smaller things. This looks nice!

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

lukifer 13y ago

The obstacle to open source adoption has always been economics, not usability. (Give them paychecks, and the usability engineers will come.) While it's possible to have a successful business model with FOSS, it's typically much more difficult or less lucrative compared to the product/appliance model, and too often completely unviable to make a living. The curious paradox of Apple's walled garden is that it creates an opening to put every line of code on GitHub, yet be confident that the vast majority of customers will still click "Buy Now" rather than downloading elsewhere for free. It may not include Freedom Zero, and so is far from ideologically pure, but the ecosystem still gains the benefits of transparency, trust, and iterative improvement from open source. Outside of certain niches, the market is clearly not gravitating towards FOSS on its own; if the politics of computing is important to us as a culture, it probably needs to move forward in the form of consumer protection laws and antitrust litigation. But in the meantime, FOSS would do well to use the App Store and make the best of a bad situation.