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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

#181
post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Have you actually seen how a wide-open computing device looks like in regular person's hands?! Wide open computing has also enabled generations of tinkerers, skilled workers, creatives and innovations that changed our lives for the best. The few negatives don't override the fact that open computing on consumer tech has been a net positive in the grand scheme of things.

> Wide open computing has also enabled generations I totally agree with you. I love open computing! I grew up with it and it afforded me the chances in life that allowed me to get where I am today. And I hate what Apple has done to it and how it treats us, developers. But exactly because we want open platforms in the future, we need to be on Apple's side on this one. I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but we need to…

>But exactly because we want open platforms in the future, we need to be on Apple's side on this one.

Tell me the name of your dispensary because I also want to buy what you've been smoking.

>But exactly because we want open platforms in the future, we need to be on Apple's side on this one.

It sounds counter intuitive because it totally is.

>Because it's clear we need both closed and open platforms on the market - each has its use cases and customers.

Why in the name of Christ do we need closed platforms? People(mostly Apple shills) keep harping on about how closed platform = security, but you can secure open platforms too if there's the will for that. Servers exposed to the web run almost exclusively open platforms(linux and FOSS SW stacks) and those who are run by competent companies and people are very secure. The "closed = more secure" argument is totally bullshit and you know it.

Do you think Windows would have been that much better if only Microsoft would have been allowed to decide what you can do with their OS and what apps you can sell/run? Honestly. The correct solution Microsoft implemented was to better secure Windows with firewall, antivirus, virtualization, core isolation, etc., not lock it down so they own it instead of you. It's not perfect, but better than being locked down. If Microsoft can secure Windows against malicious threats to protect its users then so can Apple secure iOS if they want to, instead of selling you the BS argument that the only way to secure it is to lock it down and give them exclusive control.

>Regulation ensures startups have a harder job while big corporations simply add another lawyer on the payroll.

Not this regulation. You are confused.

>Regulation is why Europe is so far behind in the high-tech field.

Super false again. Europe can't keep up with the US in this field because it's not a single 300 million people country with a single culture, language, defense and legal framework, but a collection of 26 countries with different languages, cultures, laws, militaries and spending habits, each doing their own thing, so scaling up a consumer product of one country across that many members is much more difficult to gain escape velocity and become a global leader than it is in the US. And this is after we gloss over the fact that the US is the No. 1 world economy, owns the money printer to the world reserve currency being able to dump trillion in a sector, and is the sole WW1 and WW2 victor and their tech supremacy in SV is an extension of their investments in WW2 tech that continued to bore fruit decades alter and keep them No. 1 while Europe was bombed to shit. This is why the US rules tech, not because EU has some more regulations.

>Personally, I'd rather have a whole bunch of chaotic startups trying everything and fighting Apple every which way.

Start-ups have absolutely no chance against Apple in the smartphone space anyway (how many people do you know who will buy a phone today, made by a start-up, that can't run iOS nor Android?), but this regulation will help a little.

And these regulations aren't in palce to create startups to compete with Appel, but to prevent startups ad iOS developers being abused by Apple's ban hammer. Apple won't allow your app on their store? No problem, just distribute it on another store. Why does this seem bad to you? Why should Appel decide what you can run on the device you bought and own?

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

#182

> Currently, the new version of AltStore is deep in Apple’s approval process and will be ready to go live once it gets the thumbs up from the company. I do hope that EU will push harder and we will be able to install anything we want (even alternative stores) without blessing from greedy mega-corp...

What I don't understand is why people keep using Apple? There are already platforms that allow this. Use them!

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39935888

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

#183
post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> go through some verification Yep. "Some" verification. Random and arbitrary as Apple's verification is known to be. How many times have you read about a dev who had an app rejected, resubmitted it with no changes and had it approved? How many times have you read about rejections without a clear motive and any further explanation?

And how many times have you heard about someone rejected from notorization? It’s been a thing for years now on Mac with many, many notarized apps.

There's an example right in the article?

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

#184
post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That freedom of gay people does affect the freedom of religious fundamentalists to prevent what they consider sin from happening. Except that this is not a good faith or legitimate freedom. Hurting people is not a freedom to anyone but a complete sociopath. The fact that the law forbids me from detonating a bomb in times square is not a restriction on any part of my ability to live life.

And yet for centuries, the freedom of the sociopaths, as you described them, was valued higher than the freedom of gay people. We decided that we should protect the latter from the former by restricting the ability of religious people to act in accordance with their worldview very recently.

So?

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

#185
post #128
post #2

European iPhones will have more freedom than American iPhones. Amazing

That's because Americans often don't get the difference between freedoms from and freedoms to , and confuse the two, thinking Apple's freedom to do whatever they want outweighs their customer's freedom from abusive practices. Same with many other topics - your freedom to own a gun doesn't outweigh other people's freedom from getting shot.

[deleted]

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

#186
post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least those are statistics and not made up fantasy grandma stories.

The statistic: "x% of twitter users clicked yes"

Better than the other statistic: pulled it out of my ass.

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

#187
post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I actually live in the EU. We (the citizens) have zero control over that regulatory body. ZERO. None of those represent me and I have no way of influencing them in any way. Wrong. You can vote for your local representatives who control the EU executive. You can vote for your EU member who control the EU parliament. What you have zero of is knowledge of how the EU works, apparently.

> You can vote And of course I did. None of the politicians I voted for won. Turns out proposing populist measures, like "be tough on those evil multinational corporations" is much more electable than saying uncomfortable truths like "EU is falling behind on tech - we need to lower taxation and reduce regulation if we want to have a fighting chance of catching up". > What you have zero of is knowledge of how the EU w…

Welcome to democracy: you get one vote among millions. If you want more influence you can convince and organise other people, or run for office, but no individual voter gets to dictate anything.

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

#188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> EU's attempted total control of all aspects of the tech platforms is harmful to consumers in a way that is not at all obvious, especially not to the less economically literate. Who is economically illiterate here exactly? If I buy an iPhone, who owns it? Me, or Apple? According to you, it's Apple. Because they own the "platform" they get to decide what software you can run on it. No option to opt out. Apple denying…

It's not a dictatorship, though: you're free to buy an Android phone like me. Just like you're free to buy a shirt from Uniqlo or H&M or wherever instead of Louis Vuitton. Microsoft has something much, much closer to a dictatorship, but I haven't seen much action on regulating them; the only thing that finally reigned them in (a little) was the move to web apps.

Yes so what happens when Uniqlo or H&M starts dictating which items you can wear together or on what days you can wear them?

You're entirely missing the point. Tech companies don't get to dictate what we can do with their products. I don't know why that is so hard to understand. You think that going to a competitor is the answer but the competitor is doing the same thing and so would every company over time because it gives the companies so much power and profit, at the cost to user freedom. This is particularly dangerous in a market that is basically an oligopoly.

The "free market" is great but it doesn't solve every problem or abuse. Users and customers have rights that need to be protected. Why you thing giving up your natural rights to corporations is a good idea I'll never know.

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

#189
post #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 o…

AltServer from the AltStore folks allows you to automate the renewal of sideloaded apps. It’s not perfect, but it’s an excellent workaround. http://altstore.io/

You can also use SideStore which can do the same without a server.
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