Cydia came into the picture last weekend after opening up an app store for unauthorized iPhone and iPod Touch applications on Friday. Although the company has long been involved with the distribution of unauthorized applications, Jay Freeman (creator of Cydia) recently announced his intention to not only monetize the app store but also to give developers an equal (or increased) revenue split compared to Apple’s offerings.
At this time, Cydia’s website payment methods are set by the developer and the majority of applications on Cydia are available for free. It should be noted that if Freeman intends to pay developers more than Apple’s 30 percent commission, things could change. Cydia offers applications unavailable through the Apple App Store (which had 15,000 apps available in January) and will likely work closely with Rock Your Phone — a small company that is offering a way for non-jailbroken iPhones to still run unauthorized applications.
There is a third company that is reportedly creating adult game applications and other adult content (which will be eagerly received, according to user comments). Other comments express concern not only over payment methods and the security of credit card information on Cydia, but also over the security of the applications they install, potential iPhone Trojans emerging from adult content apps, and concerns that Apple will now crack down on jailbreaking of iPhones once and for all.
