So now we can apparently have arbitrary 3rd party malware on yet another platform (it's not going to get less frequent by virtue of not being on the Apple App Store, is it?), who should I look to for decent, preferably also not battery killing, anti-virus software for iOS?
Apple announces ability to download apps directly from websites in EU
701–710 of 1001 posts
Re: Apple announces ability to download apps directly from websites in EU
#702So now we can apparently have arbitrary 3rd party malware on yet another platform (it's not going to get less frequent by virtue of not being on the Apple App Store, is it?), who should I look to for decent, preferably also not battery killing, anti-virus software for iOS?
Why can’t you pay your 30% for the App Store?
Re: Apple announces ability to download apps directly from websites in EU
#703> Alternative app marketplaces. Marketplaces can choose to offer a catalog of apps solely from the developer of the marketplace. How does that count as a "marketplace"? > Web Distribution ... will let authorized developers distribute their iOS apps to EU users directly from a website owned by the developer All of this just makes it crystal clear what Apple's goal is: to prevent competition. It's not about security li…
> All of this just makes it crystal clear what Apple's goal is: to prevent competition. Web Distribution requires stricter app and developer review than Marketplace distribution.
Apple makes more money from marketplaces than apps downloaded from the web.
Re: Apple announces ability to download apps directly from websites in EU
#704Earlier quoted context omitted.
But does it? I haven't seen any hard evidence, and lots of anecdotal tales of technology illiterate grandparents, fathers and mothers being better off.
Particularly when there are better alternatives. For example, put a physical hardware switch on the inside of the device that disables new stores from being added. Now you can set up your technically disinclined relatives with Apple's store, and a couple of others you trust if it pleases you, then flip the switch and they can't get into trouble because they can't add others. Move the switch back and the device won't…
What happens when Meta, X, Google et al. move to their own stores where they distribute apps unencumbered by Apple's privacy policies? Your relatives then contact you and insist that you flip the switch for them so they can install Facebook and Instagram from the Meta store so they can continue scrolling cat memes.
I have yet to hear a convincing argument (from multi-store proponents) about how to prevent this. If the big social media companies pull their apps from Apple's official store and move to their own stores (with unfettered access to spy on users) then they will be successful at dragging their users with them. Furthermore, there is no evidence that GDPR has had any success stopping them from siphoning up all the data they want.
Re: Apple announces ability to download apps directly from websites in EU
#705> Alternative app marketplaces. Marketplaces can choose to offer a catalog of apps solely from the developer of the marketplace. How does that count as a "marketplace"? > Web Distribution ... will let authorized developers distribute their iOS apps to EU users directly from a website owned by the developer All of this just makes it crystal clear what Apple's goal is: to prevent competition. It's not about security li…
> it's all about maintaining their app store monopoly.
Does this only makes sense if you assume payments are tied to the App Store? They aren’t.
If you remove payments from your list of motivations, what do you presume Apple’s motivation is to encourage apps to list themselves on the App Store and not a third-party marketplace?
Re: Apple announces ability to download apps directly from websites in EU
#706Earlier quoted context omitted.
The premise of a walled garden is to keep unwanted things out, not to imprison you inside. Apple maintaining a store where they've vetted everything in it is fine, and if you like you can refuse to install anything from outside of it. That doesn't justify them prohibiting you from installing anything from outside of it. It should be up to you. If you wanted to, you could even configure your phone to not add any new s…
I'm not arguing that it shouldn't be opened up. I'm just stating that by being a walled garden it is safer. When things eventually open up, when Apple is finally forced to permit other app stores on their mobile devices, I'll take a hard pass on them.
Consider these two statements:
1) I happy having a walled garden, I feel safe
2) I am happy being imprisoned in a walled garden with no door, I feel safe
Re: Apple announces ability to download apps directly from websites in EU
#707Oh wow. This would be great to have in North America because I own my phone and stuff.
Re: Apple announces ability to download apps directly from websites in EU
#708> Alternative app marketplaces. Marketplaces can choose to offer a catalog of apps solely from the developer of the marketplace. How does that count as a "marketplace"? > Web Distribution ... will let authorized developers distribute their iOS apps to EU users directly from a website owned by the developer All of this just makes it crystal clear what Apple's goal is: to prevent competition. It's not about security li…
> it's all about maintaining their app store monopoly. Does this only makes sense if you assume payments are tied to the App Store? They aren’t. If you remove payments from your list of motivations, what do you presume Apple’s motivation is to encourage apps to list themselves on the App Store and not a third-party marketplace?
Ads
Re: Apple announces ability to download apps directly from websites in EU
#709Earlier quoted context omitted.
> It's going to be an iOS-like walled garden experience. You say "it's going to be" as if this hasn't been the Apple device business model from the start.
I mean... it hasn't been their model from the start ; the Apple II was wildly successful in part because it was so open, and Macs never had a walled garden (though the situation there does seem to have gotten somewhat worse over time).
When the Mac was introduced, there were two loud groups of people:
Those complaining bitterly that Apple had ruined the product by eliminating expansion cards, and holding the case shut with a special screw that needed an "only available from Apple" screwdriver.
And those who gladly bought the first computer that didn't need users to open up the case and mess around with expansion cards and dip switches and so on.
And so it goes.
Re: Apple announces ability to download apps directly from websites in EU
#710Earlier quoted context omitted.
debating about how they run the store is totally valid, but there being only one store absolutely does make iOS safer overall
The vast majority of Android users use the Play Store (or the Amazon thing) exclusively. So Android is not different than iOS in this regard. The vanishingly few remaining users use F-Droid (sometimes exclusively), which is probably the safest app store on Earth, with GNU/Linux and *BSD distros' base repositories. Open source only, reproducible builds with public recipes written independently, trackers removed (becau…
If the argument is "the number of stores is not a useful metric", I agree.
If the argument is "Apple in particular has a huge vested interest in making sure that their first party App Store doesn't distribute malware", that's somewhat stronger.
I don't know which argument nektro was trying to make, I could read it either way.
Personally, I lean towards the point about vested interests, although it is only "lean towards" not "fully embrace": what they care about isn't strictly security, but their bottom line, and being a US company with US moral norms and US payment providers, this can also be observed in the form of their content rules — they seem to treat sex as a much more important thing to hide than violence[0]. This does not sit well with people like me who think violence is bad and sex is good.
[0] A bit over a decade ago, the app submission process flagged the word "knopf" in German translations, telling me it was a rude word and I might get in trouble if I was using inappropriate language. It's the German word for button… or knob (but in the sense of button, it's never a dick), and so I can only assume someone got a naughty words list in English and translated it literally rather than asking for a local list of naughty words.