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iOS 17 app sideloading might only be available in Europe

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Re: iOS 17 app sideloading might only be available in Europe

#211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The migration process is, you ask your carrier for a new eSIM. They send you one via QR code. That's pretty much it.

Dealing with the carrier is usually the worst part of owning a phone. Asking for a new esim is likely to send you down a path of navigating a process where they try to sell you an upgrade, or they send you a QR code that doesn't work, or a million other possible problems.

In my case, it was two clicks in the carrier's web interface and I got the new QR code showed me and even sent by email. No upgrades, no dark patterns, just presented a QR code, I scanned it, worked. It took like 2 minutes

Re: iOS 17 app sideloading might only be available in Europe

#212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It will be quite undesirable to distribute apps through a means where economies of scale are not available for example if there is no US market

I don't think things will be a problem. Distributing software is fairly easy; for most apps, uploading the app binary to their website as though it's an image file or video will be sufficient. And, then you get 30% more money for your business. It will be quite popular just for the cost savings. (Distributing software is not always easy, as game companies that have 100GB game downloads on launch day will tell you. Bu…

The issue about distribution is never the technical aspect you are describing, it's about getting people to visit that website/app store in the first place. If it were that aspect aspect companies like T-Mobile, Equinix, Vodafone, Orange would dominate it. Even after the the app store is available in Europe, these companies have no chance of success.

That is what it looks like will be very undesirable because it will be fragmented and competing with an all-world app store that is bundled with iOS. If you were a developer you would prefer 1000 sales at 30% cut, vs 5 sales with a 0% (supposedly still 30% if the chatter is right on Apple charging for sideloading) cut, so that would kind of feedback loop and make less people list on those app stores, which in turn makes them undesirable.

Re: iOS 17 app sideloading might only be available in Europe

#213
post #204
post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can’t this friend install something else on his phone ? Signal maybe ?

Cool. Does signal allow you to register without a phone number yet? Data-only plans with no phone number attached are quite common in some countries.

Not yet, no.

Re: iOS 17 app sideloading might only be available in Europe

#214
post #208

I think Apple has also done good things with their strict app store policies (from my consumer point of view). Apple has been for example putting limits on data collection and tracking. The main mechanism is to kick apps out from Apps store if they don't play by the rules. I'm worried that side loading will be a step back here. Strong players, like Facebook, may just take their app away from the official store and di…

This is naive. Apple doesn't protect you. The prime example is that apple gives apps unfettered access to network connections. And YOU are unable to block this in any meaningful way. What apple doesn't give you is the ability to manage your own phone. You cannot really manage what apps are doing yourself. You cannot even find out what apps are doing. And you definitely will not be able to manage apple apps, they get…

> The prime example is that apple gives apps unfettered access to network connections. (…) You cannot even find out what apps are doing.

Settings -> Privacy & Security -> App Privacy Report

It shows you per application what data they are accessing, which sensors they are accessing and which domains the app is contacting. It also reports when they were doing this and how often. You can even export this data as a JSON file.

Re: iOS 17 app sideloading might only be available in Europe

#215
post #204
post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can’t this friend install something else on his phone ? Signal maybe ?

Cool. Does signal allow you to register without a phone number yet? Data-only plans with no phone number attached are quite common in some countries.

By providing Signal with any phone number at which you can receive an SMS or text message, you can register a Signal account at that other phone number. For example, you can create a pseudonymous Google account, register a Google Voice VoIP number, and use that as your Signal number. Or you can even use a free throw-away SMS account and use that number when you sign up for your Signal account instead of your real phone number. The Signal service will happily send the throw-away number a text message with the verification code, letting you complete the account sign-up process.

Re: iOS 17 app sideloading might only be available in Europe

#216
post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can’t this friend install something else on his phone ? Signal maybe ?

He'd then have to convince everyone else he wants to talk to to use Signal instead of Facebook. That's the hard part.

Install both? Migrate one friend at a time, starting at the ones you speak with most.

Re: iOS 17 app sideloading might only be available in Europe

#217
post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the GP question was how to migrate your eSIM to another phone. You can transfer the sim but it needs to be activated on the other phone. I have even seen reactivation charges of €5.

I’ve heard of that but never ran into it myself. Isn’t that also the case for some carriers with physical SIMs too?

I guess eSIM is still a luxury for now so they want to milk it. I have only ever heard of first time activation of a sim. Vodafone in NL requires an activation via their app, or phone, before first use. But I think that is normal. The last time I got a physical sim it was in 2013 and I have transferred the same sim across multiple phones since.

Re: iOS 17 app sideloading might only be available in Europe

#218
post #160

As the developer of a subscription app, if unfettered side-loading is allowed I'd be worried about cracked versions of my app being distributed. We've done everything in the client for privacy and reliability, but the obvious countermeasure would be to move functionality over to a backend. This would be history echoing the transition from boxed software to SaaS.

Isn’t it a bit like the movies and music? Those who will steal will steal and those who will pay will pay anyway. There are great pirate movie websites where you can watch all the movies at about the same user experience or even better but Netflix etc are doing just fine. Piracy isn’t what it used to be but I do enjoy these sites. The real problem is the subscription fatigue and fragmentation. I won’t subscribe to al…

>Those who will steal will steal and those who will pay will pay anyway.

That's not been my experience. Every time a crack appeared for my software sales went down. Every time I strengthened the licensing software sales went up. This is for B2B software, god knows what it is like if you sell to consumers.

Re: iOS 17 app sideloading might only be available in Europe

#219

As the developer of a subscription app, if unfettered side-loading is allowed I'd be worried about cracked versions of my app being distributed. We've done everything in the client for privacy and reliability, but the obvious countermeasure would be to move functionality over to a backend. This would be history echoing the transition from boxed software to SaaS.

Sideloading/piracy is already possible on ios with stuff like altstore. It just needs to resign the app every 7 days.

Re: iOS 17 app sideloading might only be available in Europe

#220
post #208

I think Apple has also done good things with their strict app store policies (from my consumer point of view). Apple has been for example putting limits on data collection and tracking. The main mechanism is to kick apps out from Apps store if they don't play by the rules. I'm worried that side loading will be a step back here. Strong players, like Facebook, may just take their app away from the official store and di…

This is naive. Apple doesn't protect you. The prime example is that apple gives apps unfettered access to network connections. And YOU are unable to block this in any meaningful way. What apple doesn't give you is the ability to manage your own phone. You cannot really manage what apps are doing yourself. You cannot even find out what apps are doing. And you definitely will not be able to manage apple apps, they get…

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