∞ What would happen to Android if Apple licensed iOS?

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It’s interesting listening to people talk about Android and all of the manufacturers that have adopted the operating system. But what would happen if there was an alternative?

[ad#Google Adsense 300x250 in story]Specifically, what would happen to Android if Apple decided to license iOS to other manufacturers?

Before I go on, I’ll say this — I don’t ever expect that Apple would license iOS to anyone. They built it, and in my opinion, they will keep it.

When Apple first released the iPhone and iOS other manufacturers were left with old operating systems that didn’t stand a chance competing with it. So the search began for a modern alternative that could be licensed.

The result was Android.

Because it could be used fairly easily, manufacturers had an operating system and Google had a lot of customers eager to use it.

I’m not saying Android isn’t a good OS — those that use it seem to like it a lot. It doesn’t seem as polished as iOS to me and others I’ve talked to about Android, but Apple is known for its polished, easy-to-use operating systems.

Because most companies are using Android as an alternative to iOS, I’m willing to bet that most of them would leave Android in favor of iOS if given the chance. Why use the imitator when you can have the real thing?

I’m sure that many companies would try to release devices using both operating systems, and I’m sure that Google would offer some nice incentives to keep manufacturers from leaving. That said, I don’t think it would work.

Manufacturers aren’t exactly thrilled with Google these days since it went from being open to closing down many of the changes carriers and phone companies want to make.


  • http://twitter.com/mattarlet Matt Arlet

    We’d have a lot of really bad iOS phones. Just look at what the manufacturers did with several of the Android phones. Plus you’d have sporadic updates, and a host of other things. Sounds like a terrible idea for Apple, and a terrible idea for users.

  • http://twitter.com/ankleskater Ankle Skater

    But we may also have some really cool iOS phones with features Apple has not thought of, or would not deign to include. For example, we might get iOS phone running … Flash? :-/

    • Jth9234

      Flash sites suck on any Android phone I have seen though, yeah it runs it but not well, many of the smaller screen isn’t adjusted properly and of course its blamed for the Android phone’s terrible battery life.

      I have seen them run the video well, which is what matters more. I think Flash should be thrown on slightly more powerful devices like Tablets, keep it away from smartphones. Of course the super genius Steve Jobs doesn’t want to see Flash anywhere except maybe traditional computers…

      • Gjgustav

        Flash doesn’t even work on tablets (see Ars Technica’s Playbook review), so Steve has a good reason to keep it out of iOS.

        • http://applesucks.squarespace.com Stephane Beladaci

          Stop the kool aid guys, Art Technica? Really? Say “Flash” on there and in 10 mn you are going to get insulted by Apple fanatics LOL Flash ROCKS on Playbook, go to the store check it out!

          Also, I invite you to read my email response to Steve Jobs’ open letter “Thought on Flash” posted on Apple’s website last year:

          http://tinyurl.com/65w3bop

          And you might find interesting to know that Google is expected to take Apple’s app crown by July

          http://news.cnet.com/8301-27076_3-20058080-248.html#ixzz1KwpDnWgD

        • Jth9234

          Ummmm… go try the PB and get back to me on that one…

          • http://www.sk1wbw.wordpress.com Wayne Williams

            If you can find one. Didn’t they sell all 5 million production models in the first weekend?

      • Anonymous

        Flash just generally sucks overall. I generally block it on my computers, even in Google Chrome. Doubt it is actually the technology but the implementation by developers. Strangely except for Hulu.com, I don’t miss Flash. I keep getting told that should but I can’t seem to care.

    • Yacko

      Unless the wireless companies quash certain features. Or add certain “features”. That’s one thing we have from Apple – independence, at least for the most part.

    • http://mangochut.net/ mangochutney

      I don’t think we’d see any iOS phones running flash. Licensing the OS != allowing changes to said os.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1612910296 Brian Kohler

    Maybe then, someone would invent a way to dispense with the need to be tethered to itunes.

    • http://www.smiley-dread.com Ian

      I get why “power users” are frustrated with iTunes “tethering”. But what I really want is to decouple the Device section from the rest. I mean let iTunes manage the media library, the creation and management of playlist and the iTunes Store while having a new app — maybe iOSSync — that contains just the Devices section where I have control over iOS versions and backups as well as deciding what gets synced or not using existing iTunes APIs; which is ironically what Palm should have done instead of hijacking iTunes directly. Another feature would be to manage multiple iOS devices by assigning priority or sync preferences such as device A’s data needs to be transfered to B.

      As far as tethering goes, except for the initial registration I know people who use their iOS devices without ever reopening iTunes. Of course they miss out on new iOS versions but hey never touch a running system. There are enough cloud solutions which work quite well with iOS to make sure calendar and address data are in sync if needed and iTunes Media such as music, books and Apps can be obtained OTA. Third party apps also cover podcasts and video can now be stream with airplay.

      I personally do not want to do an over the air software update not even over WiFi and gladly accept present day iOS devices as secondary tools that work in conjunction with my decentralized and unclouded computer.

  • http://applesucks.squarespace.com Stephane Beladaci

    If you miss Flash on iDevices and want to know why Apple does not allow it, I invite you to read my email response to Steve Jobs’ open letter “Thought on Flash” posted on Apple’s website last year:

    http://tinyurl.com/65w3bop

  • Anonymous

    From the comments made so far, it’d surly be a dog’s breakfast.

  • http://www.sk1wbw.wordpress.com Wayne Williams

    Jim, you can admit it. Android sucks. I’ve used it, I own an Android phone and it sucks. I want to hit my head with a brick after using it. And no, I’m not an Apple “fanboy” so do yourself a favor, all Apple haters, don’t lose credibility by calling me a fanboy. I’ve used Apple stuff since the day the Apple // came out, so I know what I’m talking about. I also have a WP7 handset and I’ve used Blackberry, so I’m not bashing Android just because you may think I’m a fanboy. I actually do hate Android. It’s painful.

    And yes, we’d have tons of crappy iOS handsets from the likes of Samsung and others, all plastic and bendy like a Dell Inspiron laptop.

  • Marathonmanjh

    OS licensing has been tried, it does not work. Remember Power Computing? Great hardware, I even bought one. It cannibalized Apple’s hardware. So, even if it were to work (for us), it would work against Apple. It’s a lose-lose proposition for Apple. It won’t happen and I for one am glad it won’t even though I did buy a Power Computing computer, I actually felt guilty? bad? About it. Yes, I have been using Apple products THAT long. I should have bought the stock when it was at 8 dollars a share, but I had no money!!! Arggg.

  • http://mangochut.net/ mangochutney

    While I believe that the gains in iOS marketshare would be substantial, the benefits for Apple would be marginal.
    Apple would have to deal with fragmentisation on the hardware side and a diluted iOS brand.

    Google would rub their hands about this, because it would make them seem less bad.

  • http://twitter.com/Antwush ankusharma

    licensing iOS to other manufacturers isnt really going to add anything to the growth/spread of iOS, IMHO, since OEM’s are only going to manufacture it and maybe, lend their solid network to sell it. Apple already has both of ‘em in place via Apple retail stores and securing multi-year deals with outsourced manufacturers and component suppliers. Why then would it let its baby escape?

  • Anonymous

    Apple would never want to relinquish control of what hardware runs iOS. The ability for us to update our iPhone or iPad independent of telecommunication carriers alone is one examlple of why Apple keeping the hardware standardized and maintining full control over iOS will remain successful.

    In a hypothetical situation though phone manufacturers would be jumping over each other to get hold of the source code to iOS, but the fractured market created by different hardware configurations would destroy the streamlined backend ecosystem in iTunes. App Store developers would need to consider different hardware specs in the design of their apps and this would create confusion for users just as Android currently does. There is no way Apple would be able to roll out updates to iOS as efficiently as they currently do and this would partially damage the hard work it has taken to be able to maintain full control over all decision making processes.

    In the hypothetical situation that Apple were to do this, market share would massively increase (for the operating system), but the profits and market share they see now would substantially decline with more competition in the amount of competing handsets (hardware). iOS already has dominance in markets are if you are to consider all the devices it runs on i.e iPhone, iPad and iPod. There is no need for Apple to risk reputation or decreased profits by licensing iOS to anyone.

  • http://twitter.com/ankleskater Ankle Skater

    I own and like iPad2 (and iPad). But it’s important to be honest and fair. RIM’s launch of the Playbook has been a debacle. But there’s no question Flash plays on Playbook quite well (please try it yourself before dissing this and not just go by other people’s reviews). Adobe has released the next version of Flash for Honeycomb, and I expect that to be as good or approach the performance on Playbook.

    I think Apple’s assessment of Flash was spot-on when they assessed it in the early years of the iPhone. But with duo-core processors, performance issues are disappearing. I would not be surprised if Apple is keeping an eye on this internally because many websites are showing no signs of switching to HTML.

    I have not truly missed Flash on the iPad in the past. But a few days with the Playbook made me realize that I have subconsciously avoided sites that require it.

    So yes, a 3rd party OEM customer for iOS might install Flash, and that would be a good thing.

    • Ronchan

      Great comment. I just can’t bring myself to justify the cost of buying an iPad because I know I visit a lot of Flash enabled websites – or at least don’t want to see a ‘alternate’ version of the same website. I’m seriously looking at getting the upcoming Samsung this summer but also realize that the Android space will not be as built out as iOS for another 6 months to a year. I’d buy an iPad tomorrow if it would just give me the option of Flash.

    • Crisrod63

      Your comment only focuses on one aspect of performance. What about battery life. It’s one thing when the thing can’t even play, granted, but it’s yet another thing when the thing drains your battery in a matter of minutes. I had a bug on my iPhone that the bluetooth of my car would do something to my phone that it would drain the battery in minutes. It has been solved with the release of iOS 4.2, but believe me, it was no fun.

      One more point is that you probably missed the announcement that Adobe was adding iOS support to there Flash server software. This in essence allows you to see all video from an iOS device with out having to have the Flash plugin installed at all. What does that tell you about the state of mobile Flash?

      • http://twitter.com/ankleskater Ankle Skater

        But Flash files have to be converted into HTML5. Not sure how many websites running Flash will do this.

  • http://twitter.com/feralchimp feralchimp

    The comments so far have been interesting, but the question was “What would happen to Android if…” not “What would happen to iOS if…” or “What would happen to users if…”

    I think Jim’s right…manufacturers would (at least) hedge their bets and stop the current practice of “doubling-down” on Android. But given what happened the Last time Apple licensed an OS, I doubt that many established hardware manufacturers would be brave enough to drop Android completely.

    But let’s assume a shop with really top-notch CE design chops (Motorola, Sony) could somehow convince Apple to grant them a broad perpetual license to all future updates to the OS and all derived IP. Would never happen, of course, but it’s necessary to imagine the interesting case, which is that Motorola or Sony could build a great iOS phone with dramatically different performance tradeoffs. For example, what if it kicked ass at making and receiving phone calls? Is that something you might be interested in? What if the battery lasted half as long but the processor were twice as fast? What if it had an integrated Trusted Computing module, or contactless smartcard reader?

    Apple has their design priorities, and they’re great designers, but “one size fits all” is (as it has always been) a fiction perpetrated through superb marketing.

    I’d actually really love to see what Motorola or Sony could build around iOS if they had the right incentives and risk management in place to take their gloves off.

    • http://twitter.com/ankleskater Ankle Skater

      “Apple has their design priorities, and they’re great designers, but “one size fits all” is (as it has always been) a fiction perpetrated through superb marketing.”

      Only agree to an extent. I don’t think Apple’s philosophy is truly one size fits all (although Jobs sometimes dismisses non-Apple features). I think it’s more a case of one size is all they want to make. It is a stark contrast to the kitchen sink approach embraced by others. The likes of Dell want to leave no market niche untouched. Apple’s approach is – here is our product the way we like it.

      It’s a matter of having conviction in your design philosophy. Those who don’t agree can buy alternatives. Jobs said as much himself.

  • Anonymous

    It is hard to imagine Apple relinquishing the user experience with “forked” iOS similar to Androids [including the Chinese variants]. Apple, like Disney, is ultra sensitive to meeting expectations on consumer interface, from ask permission to send user info/location to 3rd Party, junk ware on the desktop, as well as non-standard behaviors for the UI. When a user goes to Disneyland or sees a Disney movie the experience is tightly controlled, This model is hard to maintain if iOS is licensed. So aside from does it make financial sense this would add constraints on HW and Network providers that they would be very unhappy about.

    MS has decided [after Play4Sure and Zune] that for consumer devices a consistent user experience and tight constraints on hardware are required to Windows7 Phone and they even talk about that kind of discipline for their OS Windows 7 eventually 8. This is based on Windows continuing erosion to Apple for desktop and laptop over the last 10 years for share, but more importantly for profit. The PC world is in the commodity low profit margin business, not the best place for a community that aspires to high profit growth and needs investment for innovation.

  • Anonymous

    It would be the end of Android

  • Crisrod63

    The flaw that I see with this argument is why not buy the iOS device from Apple to begin with. It’s not like others have retina displays or the A5 processor. This is a dumb argument. It would make sense if there was hardware parity in the market, but that is not even the case. Apple is still ahead in both hardware and software as far as mobile is concerned.