Fantastic news, so if Apple want to be dicks by blocking apps I can now sideload them bypassing Apple's ridiculous walled garden.
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iOS 17 to Support App Sideloading to Comply With European Regulations
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There are many people who would love the opportunity to sideload on iOS.
-Apps have already been trending towards a subscription-based model, long before sideloading was ever a consideration.
-People may want several apps (such as emulators) that are not available on the App Store.
-No, they wont find a way to "bill developers 27%".. The entire point of the EU bill is to bypass Apple as gatekeeper, not to mandate cosmetic changes.
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EU's making it pretty clear here - you wanna do business in our markets, you play by our rules. They dont mess around.
Nothing that I’ve seen suggests that Apple has to grant non-App Store apps any (or substantively) more access to the system than App Store apps have. So, assuming that’s the case, an exploit used by a non-App Store app could also likely be used by an App Store app.
And in either case, that means a vulnerability exists and Apple needs to fix it. Expecting whatever little human intervention is left in app review to stop vulnerabilities instead of actually fixing them is…not wise.
That’s literally one of governments main responsibilities. To regulate business and trade. Ffs…
There would be another vector for attack. Consider a maliciously crafted website that can silently sideload an app that is then persistent, has no icon or indication that it is installed (or masquerades as some sort of iOS service like “Updater” etc). I’m sure there’s already malware that can do some pretty wild things but sideloading just lowers the bar and makes it even easier. Not to mention the “official” apps that are coming like Facebook or TikTok that will offer more “features” but will also no longer be limited to Apple’s restrictions and standards. The good news are stores such as Microsoft Game Pass for better gaming, but the cons outweigh the pros in my opinion.
Yes everyone needs emulators. For the people who want emulators: you do own a valid copy of every game you want to run in an emulator, right?
What gives Apple the right to dictate to government how to regular commerce in their own jurisdictions?
That will not happen as it hasn't happened on Android and it has supported sideloading since it was released, not just that but iOS users are usually less tech savvy than Android users, if they attempt to abandon the App Store they will lose a lot of users.
Does that actually sound like something Apple would do? That would be terribly inefficient to deal with per country. Aren't we tired of those articles, the regulators are coming and wait theres more still on the horizon.
Huh? Did u reply to the right person? None of what you said relates to what I answered lol I simply said that big apps like Instagram will not leave the AppStore all of the sudden once 3rd party app stores are allowed.
Also, even if it doesn’t relate to what I said, I download apps from other sources on my Samsung phone all the time
Absolutely. Would you believe I once had an argument on here about repairability, and most folks somehow had been brainwashed against it?
Microsoft is already planning their own app store. I expect that Google and Meta aren't far behind
Good for them. Hope they have more luck than they did with the Windows Store.Microsoft is already planning their own app store. I expect that Google and Meta aren't far behind
Seriously though, the more the merrier. A half dozen legit app stores would give some proper choice.
How DARE they give iOS users choice and increase competition! The nerve!Microsoft is already planning their own app store. I expect that Google and Meta aren't far behind
I’ve said this many times I can tell you exactly what’s going to happen this year at WWDC. To make anything for Apple devices you need to be an Apple Developer which has traditionally been $99 a year. Now it will be a subscription that will be a percentage of revenue you make as a company as a whole. You don’t wanna pay you have no way to develop for Apple. Small guys not making much money won’t pay much to be developers. The big guys will pay more than ever before. Just wait.
You get my banking info and you get my banking info! Yay!Good for them. Hope they have more luck than they did with the Windows Store.
Seriously though, the more the merrier. A half dozen legit app stores would give some proper choice.
Apple in iOS 17 will for the first time allow iPhone users to download apps hosted outside of its official App Store, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
Otherwise known as sideloading, the change would allow customers to download apps without needing to use the App Store, which would mean developers wouldn't need to pay Apple's 15 to 30 percent fees.
The European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA), which went into effect on November 1, 2022, requires "gatekeeper" companies to open up their services and platforms to other companies and developers.
The DMA will have a big impact on Apple's platforms, and it could result in Apple making major changes to the App Store, Messages, FaceTime, Siri, and more. Apple is planning to implement sideloading support to comply with the new European regulations by next year, according to Gurman.
Apple has claimed that sideloading will "undermine the privacy and security protections" that iPhone users rely on, leaving people vulnerable to malware, scams, data tracking, and other issues. However, Apple must comply with the DMA or it risks fines of as much as 20 percent of its global revenue if the EU laws are violated.
In a December 2022 report Gurman said Apple was considering implementing security requirements such as verification, a process that it could charge a fee for in lieu of collecting money from app sales. Apple has a verification system on Mac that allows users to be safe while giving them access to apps outside of the Mac App Store.
If other countries introduce similar legislation, alternate app stores could expand beyond the European Union. The United States, for example, is considering legislation that would require Apple to allow sideloading.
Article Link: iOS 17 to Support App Sideloading to Comply With European Regulations
This is great for the 1% of the 1% who know what they're doing.
For the rest, it's just terrible and opens them up to all kinds of malfeasance, as Apple predicts.
In reality, politicians just want to be able to add spyware without having to chase zero-days and paying big bucks to zero-day peddlers.
It sounds like you've "completely fallen into" the EU trap thinking they know best what is good for Apple's customers.
As customer, I appreciate the "walled garden" experience (with all its well known compromises) for its convenience and ease of use. If I didn't appreciate it, I would have bought an Android phone instead!
Users in the end are NOT going to benefit at all. They will get the same apps and services as before and pay the same prices as before. What will be different is that instead of paying 30% to Apple, you'll be paying 30% to Epic. Do you think that's a good move? Would you rather give more money to the company that makes devices that YOU love (because hey, you have an iPhone too, right?) or give that money to Google, Microsoft, Epic, Amazon etc?
Think of it like this: zero actual benefits for the users, Google makes more money and most important of all, you get a federated App Store and payment processing system environment in which users have to go through whatever hoop Google, Microsoft, Epic, Amazon etc decide you have to go through to use their software.
Is that a good thing? Because to me, it sounds like a nightmare.
You do realise that nobody forces customers to buy iPhones, right? As an Apple customer, I deliberately chose the "walled garden" experience because for me it has way more benefits than drawbacks.
Other people are free to act differently and if they want the freedom to install whatever they want on a phone, they can get one from a countless list of Android phone makers.
You've been brainwashed into thinking Apple has no competition.
I want my phone to stay the way it is. I don't want to download apps from the web. I don't want to put my credit card information on a thousand different websites. I don't want to manage my subscriptions in five different places. I don't want to install junk App Stores from Microsoft, Meta, Google, Amazon, Epic just to get their software and services.
I want one App Store. I don't want to deal with multiple registrations, multiple payment processing systems, and multiple sources of junk just to get the apps and services I want.
Let me have what I want. If you don't like it, buy a Samsung phone and enjoy all the "benefits" of being free to install apps from whatever source you want.