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

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

#451

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is a good thing that mainstream users get their apps from somewhere that they've been reviewed by a third party. A world where sideloading from anywhere becomes a normal thing for mainstream users to do, is bad for privacy and security. eg.: https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2040/1924189728_668c4bc4e2.jpg

Users deserve freedom with their devices regardless whether you think they should have it. The internet is valuable because it is open and free. Meanwhile the appstore complies with authoritarian regimes.

I disagree with the idea that an open internet somehow means that proprietary devices shouldn't be permitted to connect to it.

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

#452

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't personally know a single person outside of developers that have side loaded apps on Android. Maybe I am an anomaly, but it just seems very rare.

It's probably just you. Fortnite went sideload-only on Android in 2018, and had ~40m players on Android. Their userbase is 60% 18-24 years old, so you may not know many players. [0] Leading drone maker DJI's app for Android is also sideload-only, and they've sold hundreds of thousands of drones to people, many of whom probably use Android. [0] https://www.sportskeeda.com/esports/how-many-people-play-for...

I wouldn't sideload a DJI app on my phone - for that matter any chinese manufacturer

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

#453
post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, but the person I responded to spoke as if this was going to be a way to increase consumer choice. It's not. Everyone will not get "the privacy/control tradeoff they want". They're going to get whatever the creator of the app decides. And sure, for TODO apps, you can choose from the 15 billion ones out there. But if you want ride-sharing, you have Lyft and Uber. If you want specific services, you will have to u…

I would rather pay less for Ubers than have Apple’s protections. I would rather pay less for Uber and have Apple’s protections. Apple will still offer Uber, but they will take a smaller cut. Uber will still be available on the App Store because it is the most common App Store.

Apple doesn't offer Uber. Uber offers Uber. Uber offers it through the App Store because that's their only option. And even if the only thing that happens is that Apple takes a smaller percentage, that doesn't impact me at all. I'd still pay the same.

So, in your best case, we have a scenario that is neutral for me. Excuse me for not being thrilled by that.

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

#454

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'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…

Fortnite isn't as big as Facebook, but it's still side-load only on Android and not available at all on iOS

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

#455
post #446

I look forward to this, not for potentially sketchy third party apps but for my own apps. My phone is the computer, camera, etc. that I always carry with me and I'd like to be able to write my own apps, both for experimenting and for my utility. Just sideload them, no developer program, no yearly license fees, write in languages of my choice, have a VM on my phone if I want. If nothing else, imagine your own AI assis…

I think it's been quite easy to run your own apps on your iPhone for years now?

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

#456
post #446

I look forward to this, not for potentially sketchy third party apps but for my own apps. My phone is the computer, camera, etc. that I always carry with me and I'd like to be able to write my own apps, both for experimenting and for my utility. Just sideload them, no developer program, no yearly license fees, write in languages of my choice, have a VM on my phone if I want. If nothing else, imagine your own AI assis…

That would still require Apple to open the various APIs. Even though we will be able to sideload apps, it dosent necessarily grant us access to everything we need to compete with let's say Siri (not from a technical standpoint, but from an integration perspective)

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

#457

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…

[dead]

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

#458
post #380

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The net loss is to society when Meta pulls Instagram from the official store and says "to continue using Instagram, go to instagram.com in safari and follow the instructions".

And they could close overnight from lack of millions of users. Apple is not required to make it “download file and double click” easy, the best course for action would be making it relatively hard to enable so that no one’s grandma will be able to follow the instructions.

It hasn't killed Fortnite and people just as addicted to fb/insta.

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

#459
post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Are you implying that allowing companies the choice to go sideload-only is a bad thing?

Yes, I’ve come to trust apple and they protect their consumers privacy. I don’t have the same level of trust in other companies.

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

#460
post #367
post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the company is big enough (e.g. not using whatsapp is not an option for a lot of people), or if the app comes from a state that can force you to install it by law, yes it can be.

As opposed to Apple being big enough that they can bully developers into both building for their platform and distributing through the channels they christen?

Yes. All hail the walled garden, didn’t know it’s what I wanted but it is.

The PC is my playground, I want my phone to be rock solid and someone else to do the weeding there.

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