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Librem Tunnel Is Leaving iOS

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Re: Librem Tunnel Is Leaving iOS

#41

Post by kop316 »

mullingitover wrote: post #36

I'm not clear on why Librem would need to add an in-app purchase option under app store guidelines, and their article doesn't really explain it either. App store guidelines on this topic are: > 3.1.3(f) Free Stand-alone Apps: Free apps acting as a stand-alone companion to a paid web based tool (eg. VOIP, Cloud Storage, Email Services, Web Hosting) do not need to use in-app purchase, provided there is no purchasing in…

This seems to be where they explain it:

"Even though Librem Tunnel is just part of the overall Librem One offering, because it’s part of a subscription service, Apple is requiring us to add the ability to sign up and pay for Librem One subscriptions within the Librem Tunnel app before they will allow updated versions into the App Store."

However, what you show seems to contradict that?

EDIT: If I were to guess, the flagging was an automated process, i.e. Apple flagged it and sent an automated email to Purism. Whether or not Purism tried to respond or not I do not know, but in the end they decided not to deal with it and pulled their app.

Re: Librem Tunnel Is Leaving iOS

#42

Post by wlesieutre »

zepto wrote: post #33
akmarinov wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's really not an issue right now. Governments ARE forcing Apple to preinstall government apps right now. https://9to5mac.com/2021/03/16/russia-pre-install-iphone-app...

That article completely proves my point. 1. Russia has sufficient leverage . Most smaller countries do not. 2. “These pre-installed apps will also be deletable after setup is complete, just like any other third-party app that is downloaded from the App Store.” That’s as far as Apple was willing to go. The Apps also don’t have privileged access to anything private. If the US or EU forces Apple to allow alternate store…

> 2. “These pre-installed apps will also be deletable after setup is complete, just like any other third-party app that is downloaded from the App Store.”

They aren't even preinstalled. You get a prompt during setup and they're pre-selected to be installed after setup, but you can uncheck them.

"All apps in the list are pre-selected to be installed as part of setup; however, users are able to deselect apps individually if they don’t want them."

Re: Librem Tunnel Is Leaving iOS

#43

Post by vultour »

Off topic but this website has the most obnoxious lower case letter 't' I have ever seen. I had to stop reading after the first two paragraphs and try to figure out what was wrong because the text felt off.

Re: Librem Tunnel Is Leaving iOS

#44

Post by trevor-e »

forgotmypw17 wrote: post #15
phren0logy wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is unfortunate, but isn't this a fundamental trade-off for some of the privacy protections iOS offers? Or am I misunderstanding the situation.

It was never locked before, not even a four-digit screen lock. I have no idea why this happened and no recourse.

>and no recourse

Just curious, the Apple Store was also unable to help you? Hope you are able to recover the data. :/

Re: Librem Tunnel Is Leaving iOS

#45

Post by moistbar »

nemothekid wrote: post #12
forgotmypw17 wrote: post #4

A few years ago, I got my grandmother an iPad. She used it for years until she passed. I just powered it on yesterday and it now "requires activation", which won't complete via WiFi. All the data on it, e.g. pictures, is now inaccessible. It is, effectively, bricked. I'll sooner eat a pile of shit before I ever touch or recommend another Apple product again. Edit: To clarify, it was never locked or password protected…

"Apple won't let me to break into an iPad I don't own" isn't as bad as you are trying to make it seem. In other words, why are you surprised that you can't hack into an Apple device?

That's an interesting take on "this non-password-protected, non-LTE iPad that I do own abruptly stopped letting me look at data I was able to see recently."

Re: Librem Tunnel Is Leaving iOS

#46

Post by Angostura »

forgotmypw17 wrote: post #4

A few years ago, I got my grandmother an iPad. She used it for years until she passed. I just powered it on yesterday and it now "requires activation", which won't complete via WiFi. All the data on it, e.g. pictures, is now inaccessible. It is, effectively, bricked. I'll sooner eat a pile of shit before I ever touch or recommend another Apple product again. Edit: To clarify, it was never locked or password protected…

Sounds like it was an iPad with a SIM snd somehow the carrier SIM has gone bad. Pop a new SIM in and reactivate?

Re: Librem Tunnel Is Leaving iOS

#47

Post by meepmorp »

akmarinov wrote: post #23
protomyth wrote: post #6

Apple is requiring us to add the ability to sign up and pay for Librem One subscriptions within the Librem Tunnel app before they will allow updated versions into the App Store. This the basically the summation of it all. Doesn't Apple require the ability to have anonymous logins too when creating accounts on iDevices?

It sucks, they don't require it of Netflix, Spotify, Amazon, Disney, etc What Librem are doing is the right thing though - go to the press, raise a big stink and Apple will back off. It's been proven to work time and time again.

> It sucks, they don't require it of Netflix, Spotify, Amazon, Disney, etc

I believe they do require this of large companies; it's been a while, but IIRC Netflix and Disney+ both allow you to sign up for the service in the app. The HBO app does, too.

You can log in with an existing account, but I thought the requirement was that you need to give a user the ability to sign up for a paid service account in app, and that signup needs to bill through Apple.

It's a moneymaker, no doubt; as a consumer, though, I appreciate not having to hand over credit card details to a random service I'm trying out for a month.

Re: Librem Tunnel Is Leaving iOS

#48

Post by vbezhenar »

bogwog wrote: post #29
protomyth wrote: post #6

Apple is requiring us to add the ability to sign up and pay for Librem One subscriptions within the Librem Tunnel app before they will allow updated versions into the App Store. This the basically the summation of it all. Doesn't Apple require the ability to have anonymous logins too when creating accounts on iDevices?

You're also leaving out that the VPN is just one part of the larger "Librem One" subscription package. It's something customers discover through Librem's marketing, buy from Librem on Librem's website not using Apple's payment/account systems, and not exclusive to Apple platforms in any way. Yet Apple is forcing them to give up 30% of their revenue, because they can.

What about customers who have found an app in AppStore, wanted to try it out only to find that they need to go through external websites and stuff. Not kind of UX you expect from iPhone.

Re: Librem Tunnel Is Leaving iOS

#49

Post by random5634 »

Jyaif wrote: post #40
jsperson wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand, I spend 0% of my time managing iOS devices for my parents and am constantly bombarded with issues from my in-laws with Android phones. I agree that some of Apple's behavior is monopolistic and has some unfortunate, possibly unforeseen consequences, but the end result is pretty nice for the consumers who are willing to accept the compromise.

Do you think that you spending 0% of your time managing iOS devices has something to do with apps not being able to use their own payment system?

This is one of the major features yes. On iOS apps are totally prohibited from their own payment flows in app / on platform - it's completely banned.

This is extremely noticeable in a couple of areas.

Subscription - you get an email from apple BEFORE renewal, and can easily cancel subscriptions - all located in one place - no phone calls or other stupidity (try cancelling a myheritage account by contrast!)

They have integrated monitoring so if you delete an app, it will ask if you also want to cancel out the subscription for the app.

The prompting for purchase and trials is VERY explicit. So for example, NY Times has a banner (not on ios) saying signup for $1/week. Great, you do it. Then you find out that in a month it switches to something like $15/month- I mean, the scams and tricks are endless off app store.

Especially with elderly relatives or younger folks or just folks who don't want to be hassled with this game playing, these features are what make using apple so nice and help drive the premium users are willing to pay (which can be ridiculous!).

One tip - if you have elderly folks, scan their bank statement / cc statement 1x per year, you usually can save them thousands on auto-renewing stuff they no longer use.

Re: Librem Tunnel Is Leaving iOS

#50

Post by jsperson »

Jyaif wrote: post #40
jsperson wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand, I spend 0% of my time managing iOS devices for my parents and am constantly bombarded with issues from my in-laws with Android phones. I agree that some of Apple's behavior is monopolistic and has some unfortunate, possibly unforeseen consequences, but the end result is pretty nice for the consumers who are willing to accept the compromise.

Do you think that you spending 0% of your time managing iOS devices has something to do with apps not being able to use their own payment system?

>Do you think that you spending 0% of your time managing iOS devices has something to do with apps not being able to use their own payment system?

Indirectly sure - it pays for the app store and all of the curation that goes on there. Admittedly there's a crazy healthy profit for Apple, but I believe you are arguing principles so the amount shouldn't be relevant.

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