Would a plugin store kill the need to jailbreak?

[BigQid]

I feel like for most people that jail break, the things that they choose to use jailbreaking for are small modifications to the way their phone works. If there was a market where you could buy small modifications to the phone, most people who jailbreak now wouldn't. Apple would probably put some limitations on what the plugins could do, but I still think it would improve iOS devices significantly and mitigate many of the advantages that Android has.
I know there will also always be apps that people will want to use that Apple wouldn't allow, but this conversation isn't really about that. A better description is probably modification store.

 

[Mexbearpig]

For me it would. But for some people, they use stuff Apple would pass out at the thought of them doing that. But realistically. It would take years for it to happen.

 

[BigQid]

Why would it take years? Just let the people that are already writing modifications do it through Apple approved processes. How hard can it be? With apps, they had to build a whole architecture and set standards. They had to create something when they had nothing. With there is lots of stuff out there that could be brought in.

 

[Iscariot]

The only reason I would jailbreak or otherwise modify my phone would be to change the SMS tones. If I could buy an app or plug in for that, I would.

 

[BigQid]

I want weather to be displayed with time. I'd pay $10ish for a speech to text in the keyboard that's at least as good as Google's keyboard. I guess my point the iphone still has so much untapped potential if they would loosen up their control freakishness.

 

[(marc)]

Why not just jailbreak?

 

[BigQid]

1) You shouldn't have to
2) security concerns
3) It seems like every update that comes out, Apple is trying to unjailbreak your phone which is annoying.

 

[chrmjenkins]

Apple's control scheme is to preserve the experience on the phone. Allowing a plug-in store would change that, and would need very serious controls. With the effort it would take, they're better off offering the modifications themselves.

 

[BigQid]

There was a time when there was only 1 browser option. Now you can change it. I know Apple is a bunch of control freaks, but I think that outside of the non-app store apps, most of the things that people do on their jailbroken phones don't change the experience all that much. Adding a third party speech to text to the keyboard might be a bit much to hope for, but Apple should be working on that too.
Apple's should continue to focus on a consistent user experience, but let third parties work on small changes to the phone. If I were Apple, I'd look at what people are doing with the phone that I'm not letting them do now and let them do some of the things that wouldn't hurt the experience.
Weather in the little info bar is a perfect example. A mod that showed what the weather today and tomorrow is in that bar is not going to hurt anybody's experience. A mod that made it so that when you turned on your screen from sleep mode, it showed your to do list or a calendar would not ruin the iphone.

 

[ideal.dreams]

I don't think it would kill the need for a jailbreak. I have mine jailbroken for many other things...things there's no way Apple would approve in a store on the phone.

 

[(marc)]

1) You shouldn't have to
2) security concerns
3) It seems like every update that comes out, Apple is trying to unjailbreak your phone which is annoying.

1) It takes 10 minutes - not a big deal.
2) Huh? As long as you change the OpenSSH password from the default one (common sense) jailbreaking doesn't change iOS' security. Actually, the security hole that let you jailbreak from within Mobile Safari was patched by Apple long after there was already a patch available for jailbreakers.
3) Most of the time, the dev team cracks the updates in a matter of hours or days. For instance, iOS 4 was cracked while still in beta.



Seriously, many people consider jailbreaking to be somehow "unclean" or think it will "mess up" their device. There's nothing wrong with jailbreaking, so a plugin store is simply not needed.

 

[csjo00]

The primary reason I jailbroke my phone was to get tethering. I bought a smartphone, I think I deserve this .. for free.

$20 tethering charge and 2GB data plan? Seriously?
$5 one time charge for a tethering fix? Okay..

Other than that, stuff like Activator and SBSettings should already be in the firmware. NoSpot is necessary.. Who seriously uses Spotlight search?
iAd Killer and No Folder Badges makes everything better and prettier.

Then AndroidLock just gives my phone a little more spunk and security from spying eyes.

 

[waloshin]

Solution:

Either Jailbreak or buy an Android!