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Apple must open iPadOS to sideloading within 6 months, EU says

arstechnica.com

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Re: Apple must open iPadOS to sideloading within 6 months, EU says

#151

Post by realusername »

anileated wrote: post #80

Do I think side-loading and alt app stores would make iPads and iPhones more versatile devices? Yes. Do I believe indie devs will be worse off? Unfortunately, also yes. If you are a solo app developer, you will now have to keep presence on all app stores out there, since if you don’t publish on one then a copycat will. Every store would have its own review processes, fee structures, billing and tax procedures. Since…

> Do I believe indie devs will be worse off? Unfortunately, also yes.

There's a high number of indie devs which just gave up with the cumbersome appstore process. The ones you see on the appstore are the ones who made past this filter already.

I personally advise single devs against making an app unless you are really sure to have the motivation to go through all all of this.

The mobile stores are particularly bad and unsuited for hobbyists or single devs at the moment.

Just compare that to a website where you deploy and you are done.

Re: Apple must open iPadOS to sideloading within 6 months, EU says

#152

Post by toyg »

shafyy wrote: post #105
KolmogorovComp wrote: post #89

Has there any alternative store that has been launched yet? Who are the contenders? Epic, Spotify, Meta?

AltStore ( https://altstore.io/ ) is available, but only has two apps last time I checked.

For all the publicity that the AltStore solo developer tries to push, it's not really a marketplace - it's a hack that Apple let live precisely because it will never get any serious traction.

Re: Apple must open iPadOS to sideloading within 6 months, EU says

#153

Post by meepmorp »

gtufano wrote: post #148
madeofpalk wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1) Users win. The first alt app store didn't even launch and it pressured Apple to change it's review policies TWICE. Once to allow game streaming services, and then to allow game emulators. Hell, even developers won here. 2) How did this play out on every other platform. Sure - piracy exists, but most don't and it's pretty non-impactful AFAICT.

Piracy is not-impactful is not true. The disappearance of indie software that do not depend on a remote server (or that's not software on a remote server) is basically due to the inability to monetize with sales native, stand-alone, software. And that's for the piracy. In some way, the success of the App Store towards indie/solo developers is because there was a way to sell things without the piracy easily steal your…

Piracy literally cannot affect the economic wellbeing of content or software producers. It is logically impossible!

If it weren't, you wouldn't be experiencing this cascade of downvotes, so get with the program.

Re: Apple must open iPadOS to sideloading within 6 months, EU says

#155

Post by FooBarWidget »

dzogchen wrote: post #145

Sideloading is such a horrible term for “installing apps without Apple’s approval”. And Apple illegally even tries to STILL require their approval.

I agree. I have no idea when "sideloading" as a term became a thing when it's just plain old "installing software".

Re: Apple must open iPadOS to sideloading within 6 months, EU says

#156

Post by ghusto »

anileated wrote: post #80

Do I think side-loading and alt app stores would make iPads and iPhones more versatile devices? Yes. Do I believe indie devs will be worse off? Unfortunately, also yes. If you are a solo app developer, you will now have to keep presence on all app stores out there, since if you don’t publish on one then a copycat will. Every store would have its own review processes, fee structures, billing and tax procedures. Since…

> If you are a solo app developer, you will now have to keep presence on all app stores out there, since if you don’t publish on one then a copycat will

I really wouldn't worry about it. Those of us who care about this kind of thing are the small minority. I'm incredibly happy to have this in the EU, but am under no illusions that it means the average Joe is going to care enough to jump through the hoops necessary to install (yes, install!) an alternative app store.

Re: Apple must open iPadOS to sideloading within 6 months, EU says

#157

Post by toyg »

threeseed wrote: post #10
codetrotter wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_24_... They had valid reasons for it.

It doesn't change the fact that it's arbitrary at this point. There are no rules that are governing what is or isn't a gatekeeper. It's just whatever EC decides that day.

> There are no rules that are governing what is or isn't a gatekeeper.

Tell me you've not actually read the regulation without telling me you've not read the regulation.

Re: Apple must open iPadOS to sideloading within 6 months, EU says

#158

Post by spacebanana7 »

changoplatanero wrote: post #149
DCKing wrote: post #67

The iPad App Store is perhaps an even more dysfunctional place than the iPhone in how much it holds hardware and use cases hostage to the manufacturer's vision. Just imagine how much more versatile the iPad Pro would be if only you could run Linux VMs on it in the moments you want to do anything remotely tinkery on an iPad. Apple's hardware since the 2021 iPad Pro (with M1) has had the ability to do this. The iPads h…

Is it right to say that currently the cost of the hardware is being partly subsidized by the profits Apple makes from the software? If some of the profit from the software gets taken away will we see the price of the hardware rise?

In an economic textbook sense, yes.

In the current situation Apple has to consider that a marginal price rise in hardware will lose marginal revenue in software, thereby shifting the equilibrium price of hardware lower.

Re: Apple must open iPadOS to sideloading within 6 months, EU says

#159

Post by xoac »

dainiusse wrote: post #123
BillyTheKing wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

totally agree - the iPad Pro could be a great second coding/programming tool - I'd love to justify buying myself one, but.. I just don't see a use-case if I can't work on it. I don't design stuff, don't really feel like I need a separate browsing device either

Yep, I've got one and don't use too much. Too big for scrolling, too limited (software) for work. But Apple knows iPad might cannibalize mac and limit it's uses on purpose

Not sure if this is true. I mean wasn’t the vision that you actually don’t need the mac for most things when the ipad came out?

Re: Apple must open iPadOS to sideloading within 6 months, EU says

#160

Post by TaylorAlexander »

DCKing wrote: post #67

The iPad App Store is perhaps an even more dysfunctional place than the iPhone in how much it holds hardware and use cases hostage to the manufacturer's vision. Just imagine how much more versatile the iPad Pro would be if only you could run Linux VMs on it in the moments you want to do anything remotely tinkery on an iPad. Apple's hardware since the 2021 iPad Pro (with M1) has had the ability to do this. The iPads h…

Oh gosh if I could use a series of iPad apps to run a Linux system on an iPad I’d be so happy. I mean I could get an android tablet but I don’t really like android. I’m fine with iOS and I love Linux, so sticking those two together would be really nice.

Actually I’d love to run a Linux VM on my iPhone too!

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