Installer vs Cydia

Taken from here: installerapps.com

I had Cyndia installed some time ago, but i deleted it. Now full story.

When the iPodTouch was first hacked there was a tiny program installed that would let you install other 3rd party applications. This tiny program was known as Installer(or Installer.app) and became the standard for putting those applications on your iPhone or iPod Touch. A few months later an application called Cydia started surfacing. This application boasted that it did what Installer did. . .but better.

It’s really just semantics. . .they both deliver 3rd party applications to your iPhone and iPod Touch. . .and they both work. For most end users. . .that’s all they care about. For the rest, here is a brief explanation.
How Installer Works

Installer uses XML files(RSS) to syndicate those 3rd party applications to your device. Much like an RSS feed delivers blog posts and podcasts. . .it essentially does the same thing on your iPhone. . .Except it’s bringing applications to you(instead of podcasts).
How Cydia Works

Cydia uses the same system that you see on some linux distributions(like Ubuntu). . .APT. This means that Cydia uses dependencies(which makes it better for the developer since there will be less bandwidth).
Differences

The biggest difference is that Cydia is open source and even though Installer /might/ become open source later. . .it isn’t just yet.Cydia uses dependencies so you don’t need to install those runtime packages(like Jiggy) that you see in Installer. It’s the same with the BSD Subsystems package as well.
Conclusion

I am glad there is an alternative to Installer. . .in case for some reason someone decides they don’t like it or want to use it anymore. My biggest issue here is the redundant work being done. With the App Store available as an official replacement to Installer/Cydia it doesn’t make sense to split things up like this. Developers are being forced to managed two repository sources if they want to maximize their audience(sort of like game developers putting their game on multiple consoles).

I just think our progress would be much further if we worked together instead of separately.

Posted in: installer