If you ever had a iOS device, you might have considered or even jailbroken your iPhone or iPad device before. (From Wikipedia : Jailbreaking is the process of removing the limitations on iOS, Apple’s operating software via the use of software and/or hardware exploits). If you had jailbroken your iOS device, you would have heard of Cydia
Cydia, which has been run since 2008, has seen its fair share of challengers through the years, with names such as NoCyFresh, Cyder, OpenAppMkt, Theme It, among others. Some of these alternatives promise to better monetise the jailbreak community.
Unfortunately, Jay Freeman aka. Saurik, the creator of Cydia, who also maintains it, has said that we cannot take Cydia for granted. Saurik has thought of packing his bags and closing Cydia for good.
I always then feel like I have to ask people who see jailbreaking as an “opportunity to better monetize what that saurik chump won’tâ€: are you actually prepared to handle the situation where I get fed up and leave? Do you rely on my software? Are you relying indirectly on the people who in turn rely on me, or my friends?
You might think that all the things that I or SaurikIT contribute are “givens†you can rely on, and that I will maintain them even after you sap the fun of it and bleed away the funding; but I don’t have to, won’t want to, and wouldn’t be able to afford to. Nor, to be clear, should anyone (user or developer) feel entitled to me doing so 🙁
Becareful what you wish for, because Cydia isn’t just maintained out of goodwill, but out of the passion Saurik aka. Jay Freeman has for the jailbreaking community. If Cydia were to close down today, many jailbreakers would suffer, and subsequently, it would be to the worse of the community.