Now here’s an interesting idea. At Phones Review we often notice debates between readers in our comments sections extolling the virtues of either the Android or iOS platforms. Many people have fierce loyalties regarding this so how’s this for a thought, Apple iTunes on Android? We know this sounds extremely unlikely but perhaps Apple really should think about cross-licensing iTunes for Android users and apparently former Apple guru Steve Wozniak thinks so too.
Apple co-founder Wozniak took part in a Q&A session yesterday on Slashdot, a tech news site, and despite the fact that he is still so strongly associated with Apple he made it clear that he also uses Android devices so is neutral on the usual platform debate. He raised the question that if Apple could get iTunes to Windows then how about bringing it to the Android platform? Wozniak explained that he enjoys iTunes but wished he could also use it on his Android devices. When you consider the amount of Android devices and the popularity of iTunes it does seem rather bizarre that all of those users can’t access Apple’s phenomenally successful music app.
However, despite Wozniak’s desire for Apple to port iTunes to Android he also acknowledged the closed system that Apple has, with Apple maintaining the distance between iTunes and devices on other platforms. Sadly it also seems that it’s increasingly unlikely that Android users will ever get access to iTunes considering the ongoing patent wars between Apple and manufactures of phones using the Android platform.
Wozniak explained, “I wish that instead of all these lawsuits Apple was sitting down and cross-licensing with the other players,” according to Cnet. It’s not all one way either because as well as Android devices owners gaining access to different features there are also some very decent Android features that could come to the iPhone. Wozniak went on to discuss that if he were younger and developing an interest in technology he would be inclined to the open-source community and even spoke of an empathy for jailbreakers as they remind him of Steve Jobs and himself years ago.
Despite this though, Wozniak still stood up for Apple’s iOS ecosystem and didn’t rule himself out of returning to Apple at some point saying, “If there was something for sure where I’d be a great help to Apple, I’d be there in an instant, as Apple is #1 in my heart.” We can’t agree more with Wozniak regarding all of the ongoing patent litigation and would love to see it all scrapped with every party starting from scratch with a clean sheet, although this will never happen. At Phones Review we also think that allowing Android to use iTunes on its system would be a great idea and a progressive move but all the time Apple is so tight on sharing it seems unlikely this will ever happen.
We’d really like to hear readers’ thoughts on this though. If you are an Android device user would you enjoy having the option of using iTunes on your phone? Maybe you have an iOS device but can still acknowledge that there could be benefits from cross-licensing? Let us know with your comments.