I don't think there is any news here. He's saying that Apple should abide by the Digital Markets Act, which goes into effect in November. A summary of the changes the DMA will require would be nice.
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EU tells Apple to open everything up to its rivals
241–250 of 1001 posts
Re: EU tells Apple to open everything up to its rivals
#242Earlier quoted context omitted.
Now apply this argument to PCs in the 90s and you can probably see how dumb it is.
Was Microsoft preventing people from installing firefox on their PCs? Am I misremembering this era?
> Was Microsoft preventing people from installing firefox on their PCs?
It wasn't FireFox, but Netscape definitely was actively worked against.
> Am I misremembering this era?
Apparently.
But here is a link to refresh your memory.
https://bootcamp.uxdesign.cc/the-netscape-microsoft-browser-...
To save you a click:
"The Shell Execute Bug
However, Microsoft’s most significant tactic was the infamous “shell execute bug.” This bug caused some users to fail when trying to install Netscape, but it was not present when installing Internet Explorer, giving Microsoft yet another advantage. While Microsoft claimed the bug was unintentional, many believed it was a deliberate attempt to prevent users from installing Netscape. The bug caused significant damage to Netscape’s market share and cemented Microsoft’s dominance in the browser market."
Re: EU tells Apple to open everything up to its rivals
#243Earlier quoted context omitted.
If only there were phones that did exactly what you wanted
The Pixel 5's security update end of life is in two weeks[0]. This is a phone that launched October 2020. My iPhone XS which I bought in 2018 just got the iOS 17 update and it's working pretty well. I want to be able to load whatever I want on my phone, but I also don't want to have to buy a new phone every couple years (or sooner! Looks like the 5a is still in production with security updates ending in 11 months) to…
The rumors are that the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro will launch with a promise of 7 years of updates, including not only security fixes and bug fixes but also feature drops. We’ll see what’s announces next month, but Google might be about to jump ahead of even the iPhone on this point.
Disclosure: although I have worked for Google in the past, I haven’t worked for them in more than 8 years, never worked on Android or Pixel beyond internally testing pre-release Android OS versions, have never had anything to do with setting their lifecycle policies, have no inside information on these rumors, and am not speaking for Google here.
Re: EU tells Apple to open everything up to its rivals
#244Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's not about personal choices, it's about enabling fair competition. If you sell a general-purpose computing device and market it as one, you should relinquish any control of it once it's sold.
Who decided the iPhone is a general-purpose computing device?
The EU did, by qualifying Apple as a services gatekeeper on iPhone:
1. An undertaking shall be designated as a gatekeeper if:
(a) it has a significant impact on the internal market;
(b) it provides a core platform service which is an important gateway for business users to reach end users; and
(c) it enjoys an entrenched and durable position, in its operations, or it is foreseeable that it will enjoy such a position in the near future.
Re: EU tells Apple to open everything up to its rivals
#245I have never owned an iPhone and even I find this a very bad idea. A lot of people buy iPhones because they prefer the choices made by Apple. If there were secondary AppStores, you would have a Metastore and a Googlestore very quickly, since Whatsapp and Google Maps have become indispensable for large parts of the world. You don't even have to take them off Apple store, but make newest features custom store only. The…
Nobody is forcing anyone to use third-party app stores. The EU is just forcing Apple not to engage in anti-competitive practices. If you want the security of an all-Apple ecosystem, you will still be free to do so. If I want the freedom to install whatever I want to my iPhone, I will be free to do so. Nobody is trying to take away your right to use your phone as you want, they are trying to grant you the right to use…
Yes, nobody wanted virues/malware on Windows, and nobody was forced to install them. We all know how it went.
If people didn't want malware, they were free to read carefully and not click on untrusted files/links.
What if you want the freedom to install whatever you want on your gaming console? What about your Printer? Your watch? Your car infotainment system? The list is endless.
Consumer choice is off course being taken away here, for good or bad I am not sure. But to pretend as if it's not is wrong. Apps like Whatsapp are such must haves that their mere extra features on a diff store will propel that store to stardom.
Re: EU tells Apple to open everything up to its rivals
#246Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you like Apple's policies, just don't sideload and install everything from their official AppStore. Nothing will change for you then. You can do it on MacBooks as well.
That’s stupid. Apps will just not be in the App Store and you’ll have to side load to be able to have them. Which we (at least I) explicitly don’t want to do. And explicitly and even more don’t want my computer illiterate entourage to do!
Android allows sideloading, yet most apps are still available in the Google play store.
Re: EU tells Apple to open everything up to its rivals
#247Earlier quoted context omitted.
>False dichotomy. No it's not. Currently all the apps that want to be available on Apple's platform have to submit to Apple's rules. If alternative app stores are allowed, they won't have to do that. As a consumer I like the current state of matters more. >Also, that misses all the other areas I'm reacting only to the App Store part. I'm all for opening electronic wallet or allowing browser engines into App Store. Th…
The point is choice. As a consumer, you can choose to only get your apps via the official Apple store, which comes with all the "Apple rules" you want. As another consumer, I prefer freedom and hate monopolists so would choose another store. Everyone is happy!
why not just buy an Android?
Re: EU tells Apple to open everything up to its rivals
#248Earlier quoted context omitted.
Switch to another phone then. Easy peasy. Why would you buy a phone with this known limitation if you care about it?
It's not about personal choices, it's about enabling fair competition. If you sell a general-purpose computing device and market it as one, you should relinquish any control of it once it's sold.
> If you sell a general-purpose computing device and market it as one, you should relinquish any control of it once it's sold.
The freedoms we have, and the freedom that should be protected is market choice to buy or not buy any consumer product.
If you don’t like Apple, don’t buy its products and purchase a device from a large number of competitors. It is really that simple.
There is no rule that consumers have a right to do anything. You are not guaranteed a right to install a Windows app on your iPhone, or iPhone apps on Windows. You aren’t guaranteed that your coffee machine can run Python.
Re: EU tells Apple to open everything up to its rivals
#249There will be side-effects of well-intentioned, feel-good policies of supporting multiple app stores: - Malware including ransomware, password theft, and identity theft - Lookalike, counterfeit apps - Software piracy - Lowering of curation standards by Apple Certain other software bits cannot be open sourced, including specific cryptographic keys. There is a great deal of Darwin/XNU that is already FOSS. What would b…
> - Lookalike, counterfeit apps
- Lowering of curation standards by Apple
That has already been happening on the official App Store! Kosta Eleftheriou has done a ton of scholarship into the proliferation of bad apps. (Not to mention, poor UX such as archaic search.)
People imagine multiple app stores on iOS would be shady data-hungry operations from the likes of Meta or Google. But opening things up would just as likely, and perhaps more so, foster curated, transparent app stores such as an iOS equivalent to F-Droid.
Re: EU tells Apple to open everything up to its rivals
#250Good! I'm looking forward to having to uninstall a crypto miner on my mom's phone because it told her the only way to play a slots app is to allow third-party apps.
This sounds like a false dichotomy. It's possible to opt-in for a "dev" mode which gives the user more choice, but not implemented because of the potential profit loss.
Imagine arguing against press freedom because a relative might fall for some disinformation.