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A first look at Europe's alternative iPhone app stores

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Re: A first look at Europe's alternative iPhone app stores

#21
post #2

European iPhones will have more freedom than American iPhones. Amazing

I'm in two minds about this. You're not wrong , but I would be terrified if my parents had this "freedom". If some popular app required them to give it full access to their phone, they would do it, and they wouldn't understand the risks involved. I have always recommended Apple ecosystem products to my family specifically because it is relatively hard to do the Wrong Thing, and I honestly believe Apple being forced t…

Being terrified of freedom is... fucked up.

Re: A first look at Europe's alternative iPhone app stores

#22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

at least some of Apple's chickens would finally appear to be coming home to roost, and us in-the-know Americans appreciate those in-the-know Europeans for leading the charge (on both this antitrust protection and separately, GDPR/privacy regulation as well).

The Europeans have done some good work on things like privacy, but as for Apple and their app store, it's really trivial to simply not buy an iPhone . There are lots and lots of other phones out there that aren't nearly as monopolistic in their treatment of users.

we're talking about trust busting, not personal device options or preference.

Re: A first look at Europe's alternative iPhone app stores

#23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in two minds about this. You're not wrong , but I would be terrified if my parents had this "freedom". If some popular app required them to give it full access to their phone, they would do it, and they wouldn't understand the risks involved. I have always recommended Apple ecosystem products to my family specifically because it is relatively hard to do the Wrong Thing, and I honestly believe Apple being forced t…

You could use parental control, to keep your parents safe :P

great idea. (who knew the name goes both ways?)

Re: A first look at Europe's alternative iPhone app stores

#24
post #2

European iPhones will have more freedom than American iPhones. Amazing

The US is not a very free country, despite the claims to the contrary. Try drinking some beer in a public park while having a picnic and see what the police do to you. The main "freedom" in America is the ability of wealthy interests to screw over everyone.

Re: A first look at Europe's alternative iPhone app stores

#25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Europeans have done some good work on things like privacy, but as for Apple and their app store, it's really trivial to simply not buy an iPhone . There are lots and lots of other phones out there that aren't nearly as monopolistic in their treatment of users.

we're talking about trust busting, not personal device options or preference.

Again, Apple does not have a monopoly, or anything approaching it. 50% marketshare is a lot for a single vendor, but it's not even close to 100%, and there are plenty of viable alternatives which apparently a lot of people don't want to consider because it isn't "cool" enough for them.

Re: A first look at Europe's alternative iPhone app stores

#26
I have no interest in distributing IOS apps but I would like to be able to install and run my own code on IOS.

Right now I can install my own code on my iPhone but if I don't have a Apple developer account Apple will remove apps after a week. And presumably when the account lapses, so does the install.

How, if at all, are these Apple restrictions affected? Are we still stuck in the thrall of Apple or do we get more options?

Maybe one day that could make it possible to install projects directly from github.

I suspect that there are thousands of interesting projects on the Apple Store that you can't find unless you know exactly what they are called because for obvious reasons the App Store search is a POS. Github would be a much more useful source of the apps that Apple doesn't profit from.

Re: A first look at Europe's alternative iPhone app stores

#27
post #12
post #2

European iPhones will have more freedom than American iPhones. Amazing

Remember that freedom isn’t a resource that a society can have more or less of. Freedom of one person or group always comes with a restriction of freedom of someone else. It’s a delicate balance, not a “do whatever you want” kinda thing.

I wouldn't say "always"; the freedom of gay people to have gay sex in the privacy of their homes doesn't affect anyone except themselves, and certainly doesn't infringe on the freedom of others. In other cases the restrictions of "freedom" are not really legitimate – e.g. the "freedom" to not see interracial marriage or something like that (and I did see some twat complain about that on HN just a few months ago).

But in some cases, yes, there's an interaction of conflicting freedoms and finding the right balance can be tricky, and consumer protection laws are a good example of that.

Re: A first look at Europe's alternative iPhone app stores

#28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

we're talking about trust busting, not personal device options or preference.

Again, Apple does not have a monopoly, or anything approaching it. 50% marketshare is a lot for a single vendor, but it's not even close to 100%, and there are plenty of viable alternatives which apparently a lot of people don't want to consider because it isn't "cool" enough for them.

again, this has nothing to do with 'market share' (of smartphone devices i think you mean?)

Re: A first look at Europe's alternative iPhone app stores

#29
post #2

European iPhones will have more freedom than American iPhones. Amazing

The US is not a very free country, despite the claims to the contrary. Try drinking some beer in a public park while having a picnic and see what the police do to you. The main "freedom" in America is the ability of wealthy interests to screw over everyone.

Let’s steer clear of bitter partisanship and hyperbole, please. Freedom is a complex and nuanced concept.

Re: A first look at Europe's alternative iPhone app stores

#30
post #27
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Remember that freedom isn’t a resource that a society can have more or less of. Freedom of one person or group always comes with a restriction of freedom of someone else. It’s a delicate balance, not a “do whatever you want” kinda thing.

I wouldn't say "always"; the freedom of gay people to have gay sex in the privacy of their homes doesn't affect anyone except themselves, and certainly doesn't infringe on the freedom of others. In other cases the restrictions of "freedom" are not really legitimate – e.g. the "freedom" to not see interracial marriage or something like that (and I did see some twat complain about that on HN just a few months ago). But…

That freedom of gay people does affect the freedom of religious fundamentalists to prevent what they consider sin from happening.

But in general, there might exist creative counterexamples. I haven’t found any though.

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