Are you certain this isn't just you?<p>I've heard of exactly one of the dozen-odd apps you listed, and that one only because it's been on the frontpage of HN so often. I don't have a copy of it though.<p>I think that people who customize their iPhones to this level just assume that it's normal to do so. Among people I know who have them, there's a sharp divide between the small percent who have seven pages of apps and most people I know who have maybe 3 or 4 apps installed.
You can replace the built-in apps with different ones but this can go only go so far as to change the icons you tap on dashboard. The lack of unified way for apps to interact with each other is seriously crippling the platform's capabilities.<p>As I use both an iPad and Android phone on daily basis, I'm find this especially lacking in tablet setting. An app wants to open a web page in standalone browser? They will always do that in Safari. Sending an email? Only through the default app. About the only 3rd party application that I can consistently use from more than one place is probably Read It Later (called Pocket now) - and that's only because apps' developers took time specifically to integrate with it.<p>And that's basically how it works on iOS now: for application X to interact with Y, it must specifically account for Y. Any similar replacement app Y' or Y'' will not be supported unless handled separately. It's easy to see how this model doesn't scale to diversity.
I can't say that these are my big pain points. Intents are elegant, but apps are a comfortable model. Just as everyone has been conditioned by the modern web to "open webpage X to do action X", you "open app X to do action X". The workflow isn't as elegant, but in blurring the line between the app and the document I'd argue that they've done most users a favor. You'd be amazed at how few people are aware of the "open with" dialogue in Windows.<p>More than intents and access, I think apps need more memory and the ability to do some background processing. I keep going back to Safari because the fine third party alternatives seem to fall out of memory much more easily.<p>My biggest pain point with iOS is waiting for web enabled apps to load data. I'd like to see the top 5 pictures on my Instagram feed and the top 10 or so Facebook updates the instant I click the app icon. I'd like Dropbox and Kindle to refresh my document list whenever it changes. I'd like cloud-enabled notes apps to sync/update before I open the app. Of course, this requires some management (user controls,bandwidth limits, battery level, etc.), but nothing Apple can't handle.
It's going to be interesting in the long term how the battle between consistency and flexibility/innovation plays out.<p>In general people seem to be happier using the software that they know everyone else is using even if they hate it (case in point, pretty much every version of Windows).<p>On the other hand when a "killer app" comes along that is a big enough step forward to make everybody pay attention, this is more likely to happen on the most "open" platform.<p>Apple has done well so far because a significant enough of these "killer apps" have been developed by them in house.<p>Take web browsers for instance, even though HN will argue the merits of various browsers endlessly from an end user point of view they are usually all so similar as to make no difference.<p>However with iphone you are essentially locked to safari (or other browsers which are essentially safari skins).<p>What would happen if a third party developed a completely new browser that revolutionized mobile browsing?<p>If that were not available on iPhone due to apple's policies then what would happen to their market share?
I use all the default iOS and Mac apps (except for Safari - I prefer Chrome).<p>I've found that Apple eventually incorporates the best features of these alternative apps into their core apps anyhow.
This is <i>exactly</i> the design of Android that makes so many people dislike it. the Intents API does literally <i>everything</i> that you mention. It is effectively somewhat annoying in certain situations, but I think it's probably going to win.<p>edit: typo
My own usage barely strays from the default apps that Apple includes. If anything, I'd argue that Apple has done a great job with updating and keeping those relevant to what I need from my phone.
How easy would it be for apple to allow apps to register themselves with the ability to open certain files/handle certain situations and then present that in the system menu for those who want to tinker with that?<p><pre><code> default web browser >
default music >
etc.</code></pre>
Its been said but I would like to point out that this type of customization is trivial on android. The ability to customize many parts of my phone is one of the reasons enjoy using the platform. I have recently seen online communities springing up with non-coders showing off their individualized android phones.
Hmm... some of the apps mentioned have costs, some require logins, some don't integrate well with other apps, some don't exactly rock the design department. While each of them has something to love, I don't know how much real scale this "replacement" process is. B/c to get some of these great features, I have to give up confidence that it's "Apple vetted and integrated". For a techie, it's a relief to have a non-apple capability, but I wonder about the average consumer, who likes the "free, integrated, no accounts/logins required, apple-ly cute" aspects of default apps.<p>If anything, I expect to see things go the other way: Apple will replace google maps with it's own maps, and any other app that we really love a lot will have an Apple analog: integrated deeply but controlled by them. Siri was but the first step, I fear.
The only default app I have "replaced" is the calculator app. I use calctimate. <a href="http://www.skypaw.com/apps/calctimate/" rel="nofollow">http://www.skypaw.com/apps/calctimate/</a> However, that app isn't important and never is triggered to launch by other apps (like mail or safari). Plus, I only use it maybe once a month.<p>Also, you can set default clients if you jailbreak. However, I just think everything is so much smoother and faster when you use the default apps Apple provides.
The default apps work fine for me... I use "notes" and sync it with my google account using the default mail app. The only 3rd party app I use a lot is "WhatsApp" - and that's just to text some friends around the globe.<p>I then have a few games and some useful server monitoring apps... as well as some comics. 3-4 pages of 3rd party apps maybe? But none of them replace the defaults for me...
I wouldn't count on it any time soon. Currently those apps are going to be the ones you get because the iPad /iPhone is still somewhat of a specialty device. I don't think we'll see it iOS 6 but possibly in later versions of the operating system. As the platform becomes even more mature and people begin to use it more as a primary device I can see Apple letting you swap out default apps.