Greg Smith afaik, Apple didn't change that rule, so it is still true: any Browser you download on iOS is Safari with a different GUI. After all it would be bad if no one used their browser, right? I really wonder why no one takes that to court, as was done with Microsoft for their Internet Explorer policies, which were a lot less strict...
An innovation is defined as a successful idea. As far as I know, people still pour their money into Apple's ideas, so they are successful and can rightfully be called innovations. Well, they still are not really useful, it's just the brand >.>
As far as easiness goes I totally agree with you. As long as you stick to Apple, stuff just works. No other ecosystem can boast that, because all others are much too fragmented. That's a good thing imho, but I am happy with Gentoo, so what can I say :D