I predict Apple will open their platforms within the next five years

Everyone is terrified about security due to AI, I don't think that is a reason for less security and control. The concept helps the hacker-type, but most users aren't making their own apps and likely never will.

Even with all the current controls, I found it pretty painless to make some apps for myself on macOS. Xcode 27 removed the extremely painful onboarding workflow for any new project that assumed a person was starting a business... it now just opens an editor and lets you get started. Hooking it up to an agent allowed me to make stuff pretty easily, without knowing Swift or Swift UI. There are still a couple rough edges with config changes the AI tells the user to make instead of just doing it, but I've been pleasantly surprised, and didn't have to pay anything for local macOS apps.

I haven't tried with the iPhone yet, I think that has more problems, but streamlining the process to make it a single click and not have the app expire, is very different than fully opening the platform up.

I predict they won't.