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I'm not sure why this article tip toes around the fact that these are stolen units that companies are using to develop these hacks. Apple clearly wouldn't sell these units, nor authorize this type of use, so they must be stolen. 

With every release they seem to make the functionality for people who own their music worse and less convienient. In the latest release you can no longer see all the songs from a single artist without navigating in and out of every album, what a pain. Also purchasing songs straight from the app is no longer allowed. They are definitely pushing everyone to a streaming model, which I am not interested in.

I completely agree with Apple being tight with access. I don't trust any of these third party developers with my info, and especially with my location. They're in it to make a buck and they may tell you they won't sell your data/location, but when the revenue comes up short, they're selling it to the highest bidder. My opinion is to lock it down and make developers stay open with their intent and compliant with good privacy and data practices. It's my data, my location, my device, they can relax with their faux outrage. Most likely their app's gonna suck anyways, there aren't many life changing apps out there.

The alternative for the developer is to not build on the iOS platform. Apple doesn't force them. Build your app as a website, then promote it yourself and ask people to add the URL as an icon on the iPhone's home page. That would mean they get all the money and don't have to deal with apple or the App store at all. They won't do this though because then they take all the risk of marketing, hosting, and updating the platform. It's easier to pay 30% and get the App store and it's benefits.