7 ms·

Google is slowly cracking "open" iOS

19 points by shawnwall 14y ago

jharrier 14y ago
I wonder whether this is a strategy by Google or simply an organic result of their services spreading to other platforms?
jgeorge 14y ago
It seems odd to me that so many blogs are commenting that Chrome being the #1 iOS download today is some kind of global indication of the need to open iOS to Android-like levels of user customization. Not wanting nor willing to get into the merits of that idea overall, but doesn't it strike anyone other than me as obvious that it's the #1 app for iOS today because it came out yesterday with much fanfare, it's free, and it's something most everyone is aware of and would want to play with? An unofficial poll here in my office shows that everyone who downloaded it here did so to, in so many words, "play with it and see what it's like", though nobody yet has stated that they intend to replace their browser use with it. While it's nice that you can get as much of the Google ecosystem on your iOS device as you can, I'm really not sure that the availability of that ecosystem on iOS is any sort of indication of the necessity of opening up iOS to embrace that ecosystem. In other words, "If you want Android, you know where to find it."
- jharrier 14y ago
  I think that the popularity of Chrome and the usage problems that occur because it can't be set to default have merely started the conversation. It isn't just Google apps. Sparrow, for example, is a top notch email client. It's tough to use exclusively because many of the email features embedded within iOS point to the Mail app instead. As third-party applications continue to increase in quality and functionality over the stock apps, users will likely prefer to change default apps. Apple's job is to make users happy.
- mtgx 14y ago
  Being able to set other apps as default is just common sense. It doesn't mean it has to be "like Android".
  - jgeorge 14y ago
    Like I said, not really trying to stir that discussion. I didn't say it wasn't common sense, but the jist of several blog posts I've seen today all seem to imply the same thing as the one here - that the popularity of Chrome for iOS is some kind of watershed moment, when it just seems to me the popularity is more likely because... Chrome's a really popular app and iOS users tend to jump all over newly released functional apps that are free.
valuegram 14y ago
Does anyone know how Apple is able to get away with this, when Microsoft was under so much antitrust litigation in the late 90s for simply bundling their internet browser?
- johnpmayer 14y ago
  This is what I thought. Somebody in Congress should hire another Princeton professor for a few million to figure out if a browser is, in fact, a crucial piece of a mobile operating system. After grueling research, I bet I can predict the answer to that.
- lostlogin 14y ago
  Can the down voters elaborate?
- gte910h 14y ago
  iOS has a far less than monopoly share of the smartphone market
pwny 14y ago
I don't see why Apple is so reticent on this. They wouldn't lose anything by letting users replace most default apps. Of course, they can't allow the replacement of the App Store and continue with their current model but a user that already owns an iPhone and replaces the Mail app or web browser doesn't hurt Apple in any way. They'd probably even have more people buy iPhones (and make 30% on the sale of paid replacement apps). I fear it's because of their compulsion to control the experience from A to Z. (disclaimer: I own an iPhone 4, iPad 2 and MacBook Pro) I'd wager that some sort of (limited) "intent"-like mechanism is coming in a future iOS down the road, although not 6 and probably not 7.
YooLi 14y ago
Apple doesn't care what icons are on the home screen as long as that home screen is on an iOS device, because the device is where they make their money. I doubt Apple is losing sleep because I don't use their mail app. The more revealing take-away from people having iPhone home screens full of Google apps is why they aren't using an Android phone.
- Zikes 14y ago
  Isn't Apple notorious for shutting down apps that usurp their markets?
  - its_so_on 14y ago
    more specifically, Apple is Apple for shutting down apps that usurp their markets. But don't worry - Apple won't be Apple for much longer, and it has given up on all premium differentiation by being idiots.
    - betterth 14y ago
      "Apple won't be Apple for much longer, and it has given up on all premium differentiation by being idiots." That's some hilarious armchair analysis. Got any polls, statistics or.... anything... to back that up? Or just stereotypical Apple-is-going-to-fail bs that people have parroted for the past two decades straight?
      - its_so_on 14y ago
        This time it's different. This time it's failing by deciding to act as much as a beige undifferentiated manufacturer as possible. If you like I can send you a complete analysis.
        betterth 14y ago
        Seeing as I completely and totally reject your conclusion on a fundamental level, I would like to see the analysis. Apple has remained sexy in the face of mainstream, a feat that I'm incredibly impressed by. Say what you will but many, many people still buy iPhones today because of the allure of it -- and if what you had said was true (that Apple was acting as as a beige undifferentiated manufacturer) than the exact opposite would be true. People wouldn't find Apple's products alluring any more. Seems to me that the only people who don't find Apple's products alluring today are the same ones who never have -- and Apple gives as many shits about them today as they did a decade ago (none).

19 points by shawnwall 14y ago

I wonder whether this is a strategy by Google or simply an organic result of their services spreading to other platforms?

jgeorge 14y ago

It seems odd to me that so many blogs are commenting that Chrome being the #1 iOS download today is some kind of global indication of the need to open iOS to Android-like levels of user customization. Not wanting nor willing to get into the merits of that idea overall, but doesn't it strike anyone other than me as obvious that it's the #1 app for iOS today because it came out yesterday with much fanfare, it's free, and it's something most everyone is aware of and would want to play with? An unofficial poll here in my office shows that everyone who downloaded it here did so to, in so many words, "play with it and see what it's like", though nobody yet has stated that they intend to replace their browser use with it. While it's nice that you can get as much of the Google ecosystem on your iOS device as you can, I'm really not sure that the availability of that ecosystem on iOS is any sort of indication of the necessity of opening up iOS to embrace that ecosystem. In other words, "If you want Android, you know where to find it."

jharrier 14y ago
I think that the popularity of Chrome and the usage problems that occur because it can't be set to default have merely started the conversation. It isn't just Google apps. Sparrow, for example, is a top notch email client. It's tough to use exclusively because many of the email features embedded within iOS point to the Mail app instead. As third-party applications continue to increase in quality and functionality over the stock apps, users will likely prefer to change default apps. Apple's job is to make users happy.
mtgx 14y ago
Being able to set other apps as default is just common sense. It doesn't mean it has to be "like Android".
- jgeorge 14y ago
  Like I said, not really trying to stir that discussion. I didn't say it wasn't common sense, but the jist of several blog posts I've seen today all seem to imply the same thing as the one here - that the popularity of Chrome for iOS is some kind of watershed moment, when it just seems to me the popularity is more likely because... Chrome's a really popular app and iOS users tend to jump all over newly released functional apps that are free.

valuegram 14y ago

Does anyone know how Apple is able to get away with this, when Microsoft was under so much antitrust litigation in the late 90s for simply bundling their internet browser?

johnpmayer 14y ago
This is what I thought. Somebody in Congress should hire another Princeton professor for a few million to figure out if a browser is, in fact, a crucial piece of a mobile operating system. After grueling research, I bet I can predict the answer to that.
lostlogin 14y ago
Can the down voters elaborate?
gte910h 14y ago
iOS has a far less than monopoly share of the smartphone market

pwny 14y ago

I don't see why Apple is so reticent on this. They wouldn't lose anything by letting users replace most default apps. Of course, they can't allow the replacement of the App Store and continue with their current model but a user that already owns an iPhone and replaces the Mail app or web browser doesn't hurt Apple in any way. They'd probably even have more people buy iPhones (and make 30% on the sale of paid replacement apps). I fear it's because of their compulsion to control the experience from A to Z. (disclaimer: I own an iPhone 4, iPad 2 and MacBook Pro) I'd wager that some sort of (limited) "intent"-like mechanism is coming in a future iOS down the road, although not 6 and probably not 7.

YooLi 14y ago

Apple doesn't care what icons are on the home screen as long as that home screen is on an iOS device, because the device is where they make their money. I doubt Apple is losing sleep because I don't use their mail app. The more revealing take-away from people having iPhone home screens full of Google apps is why they aren't using an Android phone.

Zikes 14y ago
Isn't Apple notorious for shutting down apps that usurp their markets?
- its_so_on 14y ago
  more specifically, Apple is Apple for shutting down apps that usurp their markets. But don't worry - Apple won't be Apple for much longer, and it has given up on all premium differentiation by being idiots.
  - betterth 14y ago
    "Apple won't be Apple for much longer, and it has given up on all premium differentiation by being idiots." That's some hilarious armchair analysis. Got any polls, statistics or.... anything... to back that up? Or just stereotypical Apple-is-going-to-fail bs that people have parroted for the past two decades straight?
    - its_so_on 14y ago
      This time it's different. This time it's failing by deciding to act as much as a beige undifferentiated manufacturer as possible. If you like I can send you a complete analysis.
      - betterth 14y ago
        Seeing as I completely and totally reject your conclusion on a fundamental level, I would like to see the analysis. Apple has remained sexy in the face of mainstream, a feat that I'm incredibly impressed by. Say what you will but many, many people still buy iPhones today because of the allure of it -- and if what you had said was true (that Apple was acting as as a beige undifferentiated manufacturer) than the exact opposite would be true. People wouldn't find Apple's products alluring any more. Seems to me that the only people who don't find Apple's products alluring today are the same ones who never have -- and Apple gives as many shits about them today as they did a decade ago (none).