Cydia Store Announced, Coming Soon
March 6, 2009
Jay Freeman, the developer behind Cydia, has announced that he plans to launch a new application store for the iPhone called Cydia Store. Cydia already contains paid applications, but developers must use their own means to collect payment. The Cydia Store would basically create a streamlined payment system.
Cydia is a means for developers to distribute applications for the iPhone, specifically applications created for jailbroken iPhones, that wouldn't normally be allowed at Apple's App Store. Many developers with applications that have been rejected because of Apple's stringent iPhone SDK turn to Cydia.
Freeman's store will allow any application to be distributed at a small fee. Freeman has said that the sales commission collected will be on par with Apple's or even less.
According to the Wall Street Journal article, Freeman has already hired a lawyer just in case Apple isn't too pleased with his new idea:
"The overworking goal is to provide choice," he says. "It's understandable that [Apple] wants to control things, but it has been very limiting for developers and users."This just may be the nudge that Apple needed to start legally going after the jailbreak community. According to Jay Freeman's most recent Twitter update, there will be a Cydia update late this evening that will have one package "for sale." Keep an eye out. UPDATE: Jay Freeman has been kind enough to inform us that tonight's package is just the first of many. Numerous developers are on board with the idea, but Freeman wants to take it slowly to be certain everything goes as planned. More packages will be made available for sale as deals are finalized. [via Cult of Mac]