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EU tells Apple to open everything up to its rivals

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Re: EU tells Apple to open everything up to its rivals

#321
post #241
post #36

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.

[flagged]

perhaps you could provide a link instead of being snarky?

Re: EU tells Apple to open everything up to its rivals

#322

I was at [IAPP Global Privacy Summit]( https://iapp.org/conference/global-privacy-summit/ ) 2022, where Tim Cook gave a keynote. He started with highlighting all of the ways Apple protects its users privacy (many of which are great, and the reason I use Apple products!), but then he pivoted to make the case that Apple being forced to allow rival app stores would compromise their ability to protect users' privacy. Thi…

>Why can’t Apple…

Because not all users choose what goes on their phones.

Some users have it chosen for them by abusive family members.

Asked and answered.

Re: EU tells Apple to open everything up to its rivals

#323
post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>you can only run Safari on iOS Apple mandating WebKit is the only thing holding v8 back from a total monopoly, while WebKit itself has no chance of being a monopoly in the forseeable future, so I doubt there's a good anti-competitive case to be made for forcing Apple to stop doing this. It would only accelerate the monopolisation of the browser market if this happened. It would be good for consumers in the short ter…

Just like Apple mandating WebKit is the only thing holding v8/Chromium from a total monopoly, the App Store monopoly is the only thing holding back "use Meta omni-permission store or get cut off from FB/IG/WhatsApp". And then Meta getting most companies to use their store because they'll take 10% and just the data.

I've never installed the Meta omni-permission store on my Android, but I've certainly installed Facebook's applications via the Play Store.

I'm not sure why the situation would be any different with iOS. It seems to me that the app store would still utterly dominate even if it were exposed to competition.

Re: EU tells Apple to open everything up to its rivals

#324
post #166

Fucking good. It's bullshit that you can only run Safari on iOS or that the App Store is the only store you can use. Yes, I understand the security implications of a third-party browser having deeper integrations into the OS and potential battery life concerns. I also don't care. I want to run Firefox on my phone. The actual thing. With containers and extensions. Let Safari compete on the merits. I want the choice of…

> But a monopoly on core system functions isn't necessary to keep that high bar high.

That's an extraordinary statement to make, got any matching evidence? Lots of competitors have been trying for over a decade but nothing has emerged thus far.

While I don't believe Apple's current methods and models are the only way that could possibly work, I haven't seen any other successful way either.

It's a bit like PKI and E2EE in that way, lots of noise around it (be it Secure Boot, Signal or Boot Guard or something else) but no true alternative. All we get so far is regurgitated ideas with Clipper chip concepts.

Re: EU tells Apple to open everything up to its rivals

#325
post #166

Fucking good. It's bullshit that you can only run Safari on iOS or that the App Store is the only store you can use. Yes, I understand the security implications of a third-party browser having deeper integrations into the OS and potential battery life concerns. I also don't care. I want to run Firefox on my phone. The actual thing. With containers and extensions. Let Safari compete on the merits. I want the choice of…

>you can only run Safari on iOS Apple mandating WebKit is the only thing holding v8 back from a total monopoly, while WebKit itself has no chance of being a monopoly in the forseeable future, so I doubt there's a good anti-competitive case to be made for forcing Apple to stop doing this. It would only accelerate the monopolisation of the browser market if this happened. It would be good for consumers in the short ter…

> I would accept were it not for Apple adding 43% to the purchase price of most paid applications, which is much worse for the end user than the average piece of malware.

I think malware on your phone could easily cost you much more than 43% of all your mobile app purchases.

Re: EU tells Apple to open everything up to its rivals

#326
post #166

Fucking good. It's bullshit that you can only run Safari on iOS or that the App Store is the only store you can use. Yes, I understand the security implications of a third-party browser having deeper integrations into the OS and potential battery life concerns. I also don't care. I want to run Firefox on my phone. The actual thing. With containers and extensions. Let Safari compete on the merits. I want the choice of…

You care enough to buy iPhones and iOS, but not enough to buy Android and do all those things.

It turns out in practice I don't make much use of the extra freedoms that Android allows, certainly not to the point that it justifies buying worse hardware

Re: EU tells Apple to open everything up to its rivals

#327
post #309
post #261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The rendering engine is a boring, unimportant implementation detail that users do not care for. Then I'm sure users won't mind when I'm allowed to install my own rendering engine on my own computer, that I own, because I bought it, and, therefore, own it.

Apple is trying to prevent familial and household abuse where people install invasive software on devices of household members to spy on them or otherwise take away their privacy and freedoms. What solution would you suggest? Just look the other way?

Lol, this excuse is a new variation on "think of the children", I had not seen it in the wild before.

Apple is just trying to keep support costs low and extractive prices high. Everything else is fanboyish rationalisation.

Re: EU tells Apple to open everything up to its rivals

#328
post #207

Earlier 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?

Guy named Turing. It was a while back, though.

Re: EU tells Apple to open everything up to its rivals

#329
post #149
post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't seem ridiculous to me, I get where you're coming from. Only I'd say you've been misled. As others have pointed out, you can have both a walled garden store and an Apple curated store — and this is how Android operates. More menacing though, are Apples reasons for not wanting competition. Put simply; if Safari wasn't the only allowed browser on iDevices (other browsers are just skins over what is essentiall…

If there were other app stores besides Apple's for iDevices, Google would require you to download the Play Store to access Gmail, YouTube and Google Maps. Once there's an alternative major app store where Apple's strict privacy rules don't apply, why should companies with a more relaxed privacy stance stay on Apple's store? Your Bank, Facebook, Adobe, and Amazon will likely move to the store with the lowest standards…

Being on the default store is 1000% buff. Literally your Bank, Facebook, and Amazon aren't going to just disappear off the shelves of the biggest store. On Android, Amazon actually run their own app store and they still have all their apps on the play store.

Re: EU tells Apple to open everything up to its rivals

#330
post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just like Apple mandating WebKit is the only thing holding v8/Chromium from a total monopoly, the App Store monopoly is the only thing holding back "use Meta omni-permission store or get cut off from FB/IG/WhatsApp". And then Meta getting most companies to use their store because they'll take 10% and just the data.

I've never installed the Meta omni-permission store on my Android, but I've certainly installed Facebook's applications via the Play Store. I'm not sure why the situation would be any different with iOS. It seems to me that the app store would still utterly dominate even if it were exposed to competition.

Google's Play Store allows Meta apps more permissions than Apple's App Store currently does.

Meta lost tens of billions in market value (and an estimated $10 billion a year in revenue) when the new Apple App Store privacy rules went into effect. That's a powerful incentive.

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