An iPhone App Store That Apple Doesn't Control 144
waderoush writes "Princeton's Ed Felten has criticized the iPhone and iPad as Disneyland-like 'walled gardens' and says there's no way the iTunes App Store can 'offer the scope and variety of apps that a less controlled environment can provide.' Now there's a central marketplace where developers can sell iPhone-optimized apps without going through Apple's gatekeepers. Launched today, it's called OpenAppMkt and it's a showcase for mobile Web apps — not just the type seen back in 2007-2008, before the advent of the App Store, but also for new games and other apps developed using HTML5/CSS/JavaScript (in some cases, the same apps compiled and sold as native iPhone apps). Xconomy has a behind-the-scenes interview with OpenAppMkt's creators, who say they're not out to compete with the native App Store, but that developers deserve new ways to reach users."
Take a look at their so-called apps. (Score:4, Informative)
Sudoku. A flip clock. A picture of a watch. I'm so not impressed.
Apple also has a web app gallery... (Score:5, Informative)
Apple has a web app gallery [apple.com] too.
The difference between now and then is, that web apps have access to most of the sensor data on the phone... so there are a lot more ideas that a practical to do as web apps now than there were before.
But still native apps will always give a developer the performance edge and full access to every nook and cranny of the device.
Won't install on iPad (Score:4, Informative)
Go to openappmkt.com and click on "Install OpenAppMkt" using an iPad.
Popup sez "To install our app, use the iPhone browser" and offers to text the link to a phone number, same as if attempted on a PC.
It's already been done (Score:5, Informative)
The Cydia App Store [saurik.com] has also been around for a while, serving the jailbroken iPhone market. Of course there is not a huge number of apps on it, but there are also lots of free apps in the Cydia repository.
Re:It's already been done (Score:5, Informative)
However, with Cydia there's a huge range of apps that make your phone significantly better. And most importantly they are the sorts of aps that you can't get on the official app-store. Things like frameworks to change the look and feel of your phone (winterboard, and springboard replacements, new keyboards etc). There's better ways to control your phone like SBSettings where all your critical settings are a simple swipe away.
So no, there aren't a lot of apps that could be sold in the app store (because you'd most likely want to sell them in the official app store), but cydia is like having a couple more isles in the store full of the stuff that will make your life better even though it's officially not allowed.
Now, where's my damn jailbreak for the new iPhone?!?
Sheldon
Re:HTML5 limits (Score:4, Informative)
google ported quake to html5:
http://techcrunch.com/2010/04/01/google-html5-quake/ [techcrunch.com]
so to answer your first question: yes.
I'm pretty sure HTML5 can access your camera and mic, although I'm not 100% on that. They can also work when you're offline, using the iPhones built-in caching.