EU tells Apple to open everything up to its rivals • Hacker News Board

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

#201

Post by antiterra » Tue, Sep 26, 2023, 10:32 PM UTC

1letterunixname wrote: post #185

nunez wrote: 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…

I guess you either are unaware or have an outdated device. I have Brave set to the default browser on iPadOS and iOS. There was/is previously a restriction on including dynamic content or non UIWebView/WKWebView rendering, but I'm unaware of current IAS-MAS policies. You're also demanding the impossible/very difficult because mobile browsers don't support extensions. It's just not a thing. Also, Firefox is already av…

If running gecko instead of webkit is one of his requirements then, no, he’s not currently welcome to make that improvement.

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

#202

Post by frizlab » Tue, Sep 26, 2023, 10:33 PM UTC

cmdli wrote: post #184

I, for one, do not look forward to having to sideload Facebook, Instagram, Google, Gmail, and every single other megacorps app just because they want to track my every click. I would rather give power to Apple than all the other companies.

Same here. Side loading will open the door to a whole new category of malware/adware/crapware. Yes of course the App Store is not perfect but at least Apple has control over it and can stop things when they are degenerating. I’m not looking forward to a new Facebook VPN that will “enhance my phone,” available through side loading only, that I will of course never install but which my grandma or another unsuspecting entity would…

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

#203

Post by hamandcheese » Tue, Sep 26, 2023, 10:33 PM UTC

frizlab wrote: post #194

1letterunixname wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess you either are unaware or have an outdated device. I have Brave set to the default browser on iPadOS and iOS. There was/is previously a restriction on including dynamic content or non UIWebView/WKWebView rendering, but I'm unaware of current IAS-MAS policies. You're also demanding the impossible/very difficult because mobile browsers don't support extensions. It's just not a thing. Also, Firefox is already av…

Safari on iOS does have support for extensions or am I missing something?

Extensions that are less powerful and must go through App Store review. Which is fine, if you want that keep using Safari! But I'd like to run actual Firefox.

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

#204

Post by musictubes » Tue, Sep 26, 2023, 10:34 PM UTC

account-5 wrote: post #9

About time. Never understood how apple seemed immune to this when the likes of Google and Microsoft were targeted for their monopolistic behaviour.

Google and Microsoft got into trouble because they used their dominance in services and OS to strong arm manufacturers to only use their stuff. They used their clout to hurt competition.

Apple does very little of this IMO. No one is forced to use Apple equipment and no one is forced to work with them. It is trivially easy to avoid Apple either as a consumer or developer. If you don’t think you can make enough money publishing to the App Store then you can code for some other purpose. If you want a phone that allows apps that Apple doesn’t allow you can get an Android.

I do not understand the argument that Apple has to sell devices that work the way you want them to. There is no false advertising, nobody is getting fooled, and nobody is being forced to work with Apple or pursue their customers. Apple has made a very popular system, why do so many people feel entitled to change what they do?

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

#205

Post by beebeepka » Tue, Sep 26, 2023, 10:35 PM UTC

1letterunixname wrote: post #185

nunez wrote: 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…

I guess you either are unaware or have an outdated device. I have Brave set to the default browser on iPadOS and iOS. There was/is previously a restriction on including dynamic content or non UIWebView/WKWebView rendering, but I'm unaware of current IAS-MAS policies. You're also demanding the impossible/very difficult because mobile browsers don't support extensions. It's just not a thing. Also, Firefox is already av…

Are you implying iOS browsers, including Firefox, are not mere WebKit skins?

Also, mobile Firefox supports plenty of what I consider essentiall extensions. It's almost as if you got those things wrong on purpose

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

#206

Post by rossng » Tue, Sep 26, 2023, 10:35 PM UTC

1letterunixname wrote: post #185

nunez wrote: 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…

I guess you either are unaware or have an outdated device. I have Brave set to the default browser on iPadOS and iOS. There was/is previously a restriction on including dynamic content or non UIWebView/WKWebView rendering, but I'm unaware of current IAS-MAS policies. You're also demanding the impossible/very difficult because mobile browsers don't support extensions. It's just not a thing. Also, Firefox is already av…

Firefox on Android does support addons (in a limited way, though you can install any addon if you _really_ want to). I wish iOS users had access to diverse rendering engines and browser addons.

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

#207

Post by sbuk » Tue, Sep 26, 2023, 10:35 PM UTC

grishka wrote: post #193

dnissley wrote: post #167

Earlier 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.

Who decided the iPhone is a general-purpose computing device?

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

#208

Post by jansommer » Tue, Sep 26, 2023, 10:36 PM UTC

cmdli wrote: post #184

I, for one, do not look forward to having to sideload Facebook, Instagram, Google, Gmail, and every single other megacorps app just because they want to track my every click. I would rather give power to Apple than all the other companies.

We can sideload on Android, but those apps are all on the Play Store, which actually gives them more tracking capabilities, because it's hard to block stuff using Play API's

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

#209

Post by grishka » Tue, Sep 26, 2023, 10:36 PM UTC

cmdli wrote: post #184

I, for one, do not look forward to having to sideload Facebook, Instagram, Google, Gmail, and every single other megacorps app just because they want to track my every click. I would rather give power to Apple than all the other companies.

A good solution to apps wanting to track your every click is not organizational but technical. Just don't give them APIs for reliable cross-app tracking. That advertising ID? It simply does not need to exist at all. Same for all the attribution bullshit.

Besides, sideloading enables installation of modded apps giving users more choice.

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

#210

Post by Condition1952 » Tue, Sep 26, 2023, 10:37 PM UTC

cmdli wrote: post #184

I, for one, do not look forward to having to sideload Facebook, Instagram, Google, Gmail, and every single other megacorps app just because they want to track my every click. I would rather give power to Apple than all the other companies.

I’m looking forward to downloading free and open source software from f-droid.

I don’t care about gmail because I don’t use it