521–530 of 587 posts
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I would totally pay for apps on a Mozilla store. This is a great idea.
The only risk I see is their progressive views at times being a little too progressive, leading to "safetyism" and a too restrictive policy on what can go in the store and what cannot, or this somehow affecting which app get prime real estate, whilst others are burried. Screw it, I might as well spit it out: it should not be a woke app store.
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)
> 7. The gatekeeper shall allow providers of services and providers of hardware, free of charge, effective interoperability with, and access for the purposes of interoperability to, the same hardware and software features accessed or controlled via the operating system or virtual assistant listed in the designation decision pursuant to Article 3(9) as are available to services or hardware provided by the gatekeeper. Furthermore, the gatekeeper shall allow business users and alternative providers of services provided together with, or in support of, core platform services, free of charge, effective interoperability with, and access for the purposes of interoperability to, the same operating system, hardware or software features, regardless of whether those features are part of the operating system, as are available to, or used by, that gatekeeper when providing such services.
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I hope Epic does this for the Bandcamp store on iOS (Epic bought Bandcamp recently). The iOS app disallows the purchasing of digital music, but if they can get around the App Store policies then I can purchase digital music from the app without needing to go to the mobile site.
I'm curious what benefit this would actually yield to you? Is it simply just the case of not having to leave the app? Because aside from that, there would (likely) be no IAP; you'd still be required to give your financial info directly to the app.
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Because Apple forced DJI to comply for their version, but since sideloading is available on Android as an alternative, they basically told Google to go pound sand. Edit: I misspoke in my original, which I fixed
I suspect as well the version is Android has features the iOS one does not due to limitation placed on it from the store, Issues they got around by simply removing it from the draconian store.
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All applications on fdroid's main repos are a) open source b) built by fdroid's CI from source without depending on external executable binaries.
That's irrelevant when you're never going to read the source code. It's like saying that you can trust a chinese chemical plant to make good chicken because if you pay for a flight over there they'll let you read their recipe. Unless somebody actually puts that effort in to check that out and conduct a huge factory-wide audit in their own time for free then you are getting zero benefit from that.
https://f-droid.org/en/docs/Inclusion_Policy/
One of the reasons I trust F-Droid more than Apple's App Store and Google Play is that F-Droid prohibits proprietary ad and tracking libraries. F-Droid reviewers are also more technically proficient than Apple's App Store reviewers and less likely to err in judgment.
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Meta already does all sorts of stuff that violates Apple's TOS, they just do it server-side. > I don't have the freedom to choose the version of the app I want. Sure you do. You can either use it or you don't. Regulating data privacy isn't Apple's job, if you want that fixed then you should take it up with the government or someone who can actually hold them accountable.
> Regulating data privacy isn't Apple's job It's part of why I pay them, so I say it is. > if you want that fixed then you should take it up with the government Yeah, I'd strongly prefer the government do what it obviously should and reign in abusive, dangerous stalking-at-scale across the entire economy, but absent that, it sure is nice to have a choice to still get some of that regulation in one area of my life, by…
This is really not true. Android has a thriving open source ecosystem of great free apps without any tracking. F-droid even has reproducible builds.
Apple doesn't have this precisely because the lack of sideloading. Not many open source devs want to pay the 100 bucks to offer something for free and to deal with the hit and miss app store review process.
> Take away that option and I'm sure as shit not going to feel more free.
No options will disappear. You don't have to use sideloading. The same way most users on Android don't do it. Even alternative stores like Huawei's are a fringe phenomenon.
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.
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Obviously the implication is that only plebs are using Android and affluent people are on iOS
Income demographics are almost certainly part of it, sure. I expect iOS also makes users feel safer or more comfortable spending money than Android does, and that the average iOS device in the wild is generally more pleasant to use than the average Android device. There could also be age-related demographic factors contributing (that is, Android users may skew older, and older people might spend less on software, and…
Dark patterns are the same, by any other name. I left MacOS because the squeeze got too rough, and didn't even consider iOS for daily use since it's file syncing options are a clown show. If Apple has reached this market position through unfair or anticompetitive means, I don't see why or how it would stop regulators from ruling in favor of competition.