To date, the tech giant had kept a tight fist squeezed around developers' throats, rejecting any new applications for its signature device that offered "duplicate functionality" — widely regarded as a code for "competition."
With a ban against "duplicate functionality" in place, Apple was free to reject any applications that competed with the proprietary programs that come bundled with the iPhone, most notably the company's Safari web browser.
But over the last 24 hours, Apple has suddenly approved four new web browsers for its iPhone App Store: Edge Browser, Incognito, Webmate and Shaking Web. The browsers range in price from free to $1.99.
Apple has made no formal announcement about a change in policy.
The move opens up the iPhone to competition from some of the biggest names online, including Mozilla and Opera. The Opera web browser in particular presents a unique opponent for Apple because of its popularity on mobile devices. Opera offers popular versions of its web browser for devices that run on the Windows Mobile and Symbian operating systems.
Tech writer Erica Sadun said that another roadblock probably would have prevented Opera from reaching iPhones: its versatility.
"[E]ven though Opera representatives state that this rejection was due to duplicated functionality, Opera would have had a tough time getting through a different gate: Apple will not allow programs to interpret code," she wrote for ArsTechnica.com. "Opera, being a full-featured browser, interprets JavaScript downloaded from the Internet, an absolute … no-no [for iPhone applications]."