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830 points todsacerdoti | 3 comments | | HN request time: 0s | source
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medhir ◴[] No.25140690[source]
The core problem here is that Apple is still disallowing users from side-loading / installing iOS apps from outside of the official App Store.

My question: what is stopping us from demanding a legislative solution that requires Apple to open up the iOS platform to allow installation of apps outside its sanctioned ecosystem?

With ARM Macs now on the market, the hardware architecture / software differences between their mobile and desktop platforms is becoming smaller and smaller. The argument that mobile devices should be treated differently from any other general computing device has always been weird. But now the disparity is now ever more glaring given how similar iPhones, iPads, and Macs have become. We should be demanding openness and the right to modify software as the end user sees fit. This does not preclude users looking for a more secure experience to continue exclusively loading apps from the App Store.

replies(2): >>25142714 #>>25143478 #
neolog ◴[] No.25142714[source]
Why not get an Android device?
replies(2): >>25142868 #>>25143235 #
halfnormalform ◴[] No.25142868[source]
Because they sell your digital soul to advertisers.
replies(2): >>25142911 #>>25143282 #
threeseed ◴[] No.25142911{3}[source]
Which is exactly what would happen if there were third party app stores.

It would be a race to the bottom where they all ended up with zero margins but where your data is sold to third parties.

replies(3): >>25143142 #>>25143210 #>>25144513 #
badsectoracula ◴[] No.25143210{4}[source]
How does me being able to install an application i downloaded from F-Droid, GitHub or whatever other place i might trust or even developed myself on my phone without having to pay or get Apple's permission mean that Apple will sell my data to 3rd parties?
replies(1): >>25143688 #
1. jimmydorry ◴[] No.25143688{5}[source]
Not GP, but if enough people were conditioned to install their apps from sources outside of the appstore, Apple may end up seeing their AppStore margins shrink and do a pivot to selling user data.
replies(2): >>25143876 #>>25152381 #
2. yoz-y ◴[] No.25143876[source]
That's not it, even with the numbers Apple touts they are getting from the App Store, they could comfortably live without.

It's the third party app stores that would sell the aggregate data instead of taking a cut off sales.

3. badsectoracula ◴[] No.25152381[source]
But that isn't something that has to happen, only something that Apple may choose to do. They do not have to, however.