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iOS 17 will reportedly set the stage for sideloading apps on iPhone

techcrunch.com

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Re: iOS 17 will reportedly set the stage for sideloading apps on iPhone

#211

Post by brookst »

WaitWhatHuh wrote: post #199
TexanFeller wrote: post #10

I'm dreading this. I want privacy hostile companies like Facebook to have to comply with the app store rules and respect system settings relating to privacy. As a user, I'm thrilled when Apple wields its big stick to stop big tech companies from overreaching. Before there was a bit of a compromise, I could use evil apps with some peace of mind that they wouldn't do something egregious. Now I suspect evil apps just wo…

>I want privacy hostile companies like Facebook to have to comply with the app store rules and respect system settings relating to privacy. How about you spend 10 minutes looking at what Apple is actually doing and realize they are just as if not more "privacy hostile" as Facebook/Google/etc. They've been on a hiring spree since they announced their "privacy" update in 2020 to build out their own Ad Tech/DSP/Self Ser…

> they are just as if not more "privacy hostile" as Facebook/Google/etc

You're going to have to back that up. Apple is degrading their privacy value prop for sure, but show me their Cambridge Analytica or their "Incognito mode" that still ties web activity back to user identity.

> How is this good for privacy?

That's a straw man. It is possible to believe that 1) Apple is curbing the worst excesses of abusers like Facebook, AND ALSO 2) Apple is making some mistakes that weaken their own privacy story.

> Apple was pulling a monopolistic move and kneecapping their competition for profits sake.

This is a recurring theme on HN and I find it so strange. Are we really supposed to form opinions on what we imagine faceless committees motives are, rather than the actual corporate actions?

I honestly don't care why Facebook does the things they do. My opinion would not change if it turned out it was from the most noble and altruistic motives. Just like I'll judge Apple for what they do. I don't think it's fruitful to argue about whether individual people are a "good person" or "bad person", and it's even less meaningful for giant multinationals.

Re: iOS 17 will reportedly set the stage for sideloading apps on iPhone

#212

Post by filchermcurr »

mort96 wrote: post #118
sergiotapia wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

None of this affects you whatsoever. Just don't use a sideloaded apps. I don't see why this would bother you in any way. Personally if Apple finally allows me to install whatever I want on my phones then I may return to their phones. Until then, I will use Android since I can download and install any .apk I want on my device.

> None of this affects you whatsoever. Just don't use a sideloaded apps. I don't see why this would bother you in any way. That's unfortunately wrong. Say you use WhatsApp to keep in touch with your friends. Say Facebook pulls WhatsApp from the app store and makes it only available via side-loading. What do you do? You have to decide between trying to move everyone you know off of WhatsApp, or you side-load.

An unattractive decision is still a decision you can make.

If you believe so strongly that you shouldn't sideload applications, you absolutely have the choice to not do it. It may not be a choice that you like, but it is a choice available to you. Which I think is what's so wonderful about this whole situation. It's opening up options that were previously unavailable.

Besides, this kind of Sophie's Choice has been around forever. Your friends all use Facebook Messenger but you're morally against Meta. Do you compromise your principles so you can see gifs your friends post or do you stand your ground and potentially miss out?

It's just a variation on another theme that's been around for ages. Only this time it actually adds exciting possibilities rather than a binary 'use' or 'don't use' choice.

Re: iOS 17 will reportedly set the stage for sideloading apps on iPhone

#213

Post by sjsdaiuasgdia »

hoffs wrote: post #182
yamtaddle wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm the opposite, as looking at android, where do we see this? 1) Android hasn't made things as hard for malware vendors as Apple has, and 2) Android's not as lucrative a market as iOS Those together mean incentives are significantly different, so we might not see the same behavior on iOS as we have on Android, from companies that are upset about not being able to to distribute as-effective malware as they'd prefer…

Citation needed

For the money part, https://www.businessofapps.com/data/app-revenues/

iOS is 15% of the mobile device market but generates 67% of the app revenue.

Re: iOS 17 will reportedly set the stage for sideloading apps on iPhone

#214

Post by op00to »

onli wrote: post #142
josephcsible wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is everyone so worried that Facebook, etc. will pull out of the App Store and require sideloading on iOS just because it'll be possible, when they haven't pulled out of the Play Store or required sideloading on Android where that's already been possible all along?

It's a talking point. I'm sorry that it is negative and it might not fair to the parent commenter, but it's obvious bs. It is a propaganda point that was placed somehow into the discussion and gets repeated again and again. In no world does it make any sense that an app like FB would not try to be in every big store, but here we are, having that "concern" repeated under every Apple sideloading discussion. Propaganda…

The difference between the Play store and the Apple App store is that the Play store doesn't even pretend to protect against apps that do underhanded, unexpected, and intrusive things. There are numerous stories of iOS apps being pulled out of the store for using private APIs to bypass this or that protection.

Re: iOS 17 will reportedly set the stage for sideloading apps on iPhone

#216

Post by rickdeckard »

cronix wrote: post #168
jclardy wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm the opposite, as looking at android, where do we see this? All big players are still in the play store, because the average user of those services doesn't want to be bothered going to a website, clicking scary looking buttons to enable third party installs, then manually update their own installed apps. Basically the risk would be someone like TikTok dropping out of the store, but I find that unlikely. Maybe at t…

> I'm the opposite, as looking at android, where do we see this? For one, DJI drone software. It's available in the Apple store but you have to sideload it for Android. DJI isn't a small company, and there is quite a large professional market. Edit: meant apple app store, not play store...fixed for clarity

Sorry, if it's available in the play store, why do I have to sideload it for Android?

Re: iOS 17 will reportedly set the stage for sideloading apps on iPhone

#217

Post by tgv »

hoffs wrote: post #182
yamtaddle wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm the opposite, as looking at android, where do we see this? 1) Android hasn't made things as hard for malware vendors as Apple has, and 2) Android's not as lucrative a market as iOS Those together mean incentives are significantly different, so we might not see the same behavior on iOS as we have on Android, from companies that are upset about not being able to to distribute as-effective malware as they'd prefer…

Citation needed

iOS users spend more than Android users, and are even becoming the majority in the US. Here's some citation: https://nix-united.com/blog/are-android-vs-ios-users-really-...

Re: iOS 17 will reportedly set the stage for sideloading apps on iPhone

#218

Post by toast0 »

mort96 wrote: post #123
FloatArtifact wrote: post #86

Having the power to choose side load is a net benefit. For those that have any sort of fear, they simply just get apps from the official store. Could and will people be taking advantage of by side loaded apps? The obvious answer is yes, it's a risk that allows for responsibility and freedom.

What happens when the apps which used to be available on the app store get taken down and made sideload-only, like what Epic did with Fortnite on Android?

If you don't want to sideload, then don't. If companies don't want to be on the platform app store anymore, it's not the end of the world. I ran a windows phone for several years; if there's no app for something, there's usually a website, and Safari is loads more usable than mobile IE or mobile Edge; so you're fine for the most part.

Yeah, you might lose out on playing FPS games on your phone, but is that really a loss?

Re: iOS 17 will reportedly set the stage for sideloading apps on iPhone

#219

Post by daveoc64 »

c7DJTLrn wrote: post #191
bakugo wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

None of this happens on android. It's time to step out of the Apple fantasy land and into the real world.

What do you mean? There's plenty of examples on Android where users have been tricked into sideloading malicious apps.

You just said there would be "five different App Stores", yet this hasn't happened on Android.

Amazon has an app store for Android, but its apps are all on the Google Play Store. It's really there to serve Amazon's Fire platform where Amazon doesn't licence Google Play.

Samsung has an app store for Android, but again, all of its apps it makes available to other non-Samsung device users are on Google Play.

Additional app stores on Android have so far been complementary to Google Play, which remains the place where the overwhelming majority of apps are obtained.

Re: iOS 17 will reportedly set the stage for sideloading apps on iPhone

#220

Post by kmlx »

rabuse wrote: post #201
ascagnel_ wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

iOS 16.4 added a bunch of PWA-focused features. What gaps do you feel still exist?

More low-level camera access would be a nice improvement. Also, the ability to work with raw video data for trimming/editing.

that's browser standards territory.

also, this:

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/WebCodecs_A...

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