iOS 5 to Kill the Jailbreak Community?

On the 1st of January, iDB published an annual predictions for the iPhone for the coming year. In there,iDB mentioned that 2011 was going to be the year of iOS, and even though we have yet to see what Apple is cooking up for us, it seems that I was right about that point.

My 2011 predictions for the iPhone didn’t stop there. On top of dropping a few features think the iPhone 5 will sport,iDB also made the bold statement that Apple will open the doors to a world of apps and tweaks that are currently only available in Cydia. Want to call it crazy? Not so fast…

Earlier today, iDB received a tip via our contact form from an anonymous person who commented on Alex’s post about MobileNotifier. Here is what our anonymous tipster had to say:

bad timing for jailbreak developers especially those working on notification. im not working on that but i know we are about to take the jb community by surprise

It seems that this was sent from the same person who tipped us earlier this month about a new feature in iOS 5 that will transcribe your voicemails to text.

Interestingly enough, this tip came in a couple hours before MG Siegler published an article on TechCrunch about iOS 5 reportedly bringing widgets and revamped notifications. Same tipster? I can’t tell about that, especially because our guy didn’t specifically mention widgets, but it does look like stories match.

So is Apple going to kill the jailbreak community with iOS 5? Only a handful of people know for sure at this point, but these legit-looking tips sure make it sound that Apple is at least going to take a stab at Cydia.

At this point though, it’s hard to believe Apple would allow everything and anything in the App Store. Also can’t see jailbreak apps like MyWi getting the seal of approval, but other tweaks such as my Cydia favorite Xpandr might.

So, why would Apple allow jailbreak apps in the App Store? The main reason that comes to mind is the big bucks that this market represents. With about 10% of all iPhones jailbroken, Apple probably wants its share of the cake.

What’s your take on this? Do you believe Apple would allow currently outlawed apps in the App Store? Is that something you’d be excited about, or would you prefer jailbreak apps to remain something for the underground connoisseur?

Via By: iphonedownloadblog.com