The iPhone is one of the most popular smartphones in the world and for good reason. It has quality hardware, integrated with many amazing features and well-developed apps that work perfectly inside the iOS ecosystem. But one of the key drawbacks of iOS is the fact that it’s very limiting.
You can only use Apple-approved hardware for your device and apps as well. In essence, while Apple works hard to give you one of the best smartphones in the world, it still has a huge say on how you use it.
Besides, Apple has a lot of limitations for its iOS. This makes it harder for developers to customize and develop apps freely to meet user demands. Android, on the other hand, is relatively more open and it has, in recent years, unleashed the full creativity of developers from all over the world. Although many loyal Apple fans will argue that iOS is the best operating system, those of us who have seen the flexibility of Android beg to differ.
It’s no wonder Android remains the most popular smartphone OS in the world, offering probably one of the best user experiences for everybody. Well, it looks like Apple has been taking notice. We are hearing several rumors that the American smartphone giant is mauling over the idea of improving its iOS platform to make it more open and less limiting for developers. In essence, Apple wants to give developers the same flexibility they get with Android, and this could open up new possibilities in the near term.
The move comes as regulators in the EU and the US continue to question Apple’s practices of closing out its iOS platform. A report on Bloomberg even noted that Apple is willing to go as far as allowing users to set third-party apps like Chrome or Gmail as default apps on their devices.
All major OS providers for smartphones allow third-party apps to be set as default apps except Apple. The sad part is that over the last decade or so, developers have created better applications than those found on the Apple app store and yet iPhone users have not gotten the chance to use them due to the iOS limitations.
It seems like this is about to change. It’s clear that the iOS limits have for years forced iPhone users to use inferior apps while clearly there are better options out there. Anyone who knows a thing or two about technology will tell you that this isn’t a good thing. So, why is Apple making these changes now?
First of all, there’s increasing regulatory pressure from US and EU for Apple to open up its iOS platform in order to broaden consumer preferences. There are reports that several antitrust investigations against the company could be opened in Europe and the US over the coming weeks. Despite this, we are still not sure how far Apple is willing to go to open up its iOS ecosystem but it’s about time.
