iOS 7 tipping point for more open Apple ecosystem

Many smartphone enthusiasts are already looking forward to the next major Apple mobile OS update iOS 7 and we’ve been discussing features it may or may not bring for some time, as well as wish lists. However with a growing tide of unease about Apple’s continued closed ecosystem we now wonder if iOS 7 may also be a tipping point towards a more open approach.

We seem to be hearing a growing amount of feeling lately regarding Apple’s closed policy, even among Apple enthusiasts, and there would be many who would like to see iOS 7 as a step closer towards a more open system. The much-awaited iOS 6 Evasi0n jailbreak has already been downloaded over 7 million times and this shows the desire to bypass the closed nature of Apple iOS.
It also seems likely that there is now more dissatisfaction over the lack of openness on iOS 6 because of the time it took devs to come up with a jailbreak. This was made much harder this time around because of tightened Apple security measures that confounded the best hackers in the business for quite some time. This has undoubtedly led to the increase in Apple fans who are now hoping that Apple will consider a more open approach and it also seems that this unease is spreading to developers too.
The Evad3rd team that came up with the Evasi0n iOS 6 jailbreak set up a petition recently asking for an open-source iOS and have already gained over 11,000 signatures. Interestingly way back in October last year we also discussed the idea that Apple should cross-license iTunes to Android and this was even backed up by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. He said that if he was young again and was starting up a career in technology he would be more attracted to the open-source community.
Keeping a closed ecosystem does of course boost Apple’s profits so the likelihood of the company wanting to change its current stance seems small at the moment. However Apple has been showing more flexibility recently. For instance at one time the idea that Apple would consider a smaller iPad seemed highly unlikely and yet we now have the iPad mini. It’s also rumored that the much talked about cheaper iPhone could also be on the way and that’s something we wouldn’t have imagined a year or so ago so it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that iOS 7 could in some way act as a tipping point for a more open Apple.
We’re really interested to hear from you about your views on this. Are you an Apple fan and quite happy with the way Apple currently operates? Maybe you’re increasingly unhappy with the closed nature of iOS and think Apple will inevitably have to change to a more open ecosystem at some point? Let us know with your comments.
Source: PC-Tablet