Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iOS 17 to Support App Sideloading to Comply With European Regulations
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Firstly I can't speak for all developing countries,
Are iPhones As common as Android here? No. Probably one in ten smartphones countrywide at a rough guess, and many of them being older hand-me-downs.
In the lower middle class bracket and above, it's probably around a 50/50 split.
For tablets, iPads rule - I rarely see anyone with Android tablets with the exception of kids who got them from schools.
All in all, it could be 20 million+ Apple devices in this country alone, give or take, that could (and many would) side load pirated software if it were available and as easy to achieve as it is on Android (or Mac OS for that matter).
Last edited:
Says the person trying to dictate to people want they should want.
If nothing else it’s going to be interesting to see how much of a cluster-****ery this all turns out to be.
I suspect the people advocating for this change will quickly find something else to complain about and start demanding further changes to make this worse for the majority.
And eventually regulations will be repealed/reformed once we’ve witnessed the damage.
You can.
iOS is not Android.
There are many difference between iOS and Android.
The ability to install third-party applications independently from Google is a single small difference.
No one buys their smartphone or choose their smartphone OS primarily or only because of how or if it allows installation if apps without going through the OS developer.
…and the government now enables ice cream makers to sell directly to customers.
And you complain that that takes away your choice - your choice of having to get every
scoop from your local monopoly store.
If anyone is a dictator that dictates anything, it’s Apple in this.
And they’re doing it out of greed.
And governments are, slowly but surely, beginning the rein in these gatekeeping dictators.
Last edited:
Very few people will consider it the only reason, but for those for whom it is a consideration, that choice is being taken away. For those people, there will be less/no choice to purchase the product they want.
For some reason there doesn’t seem to be the same concern for maintaining that choice.
Apple make the product, it’s theirs to decide how it works.
we cant buy something else you took that choice away
My version is 100% in line with macOS, there is nothing Android about it. If you think Android is about sideloading, then you have not understood the platform. But every generalization works like that… „if you don‘t like 1 element of xyz, then leave it“, a great way to drive anyone out of any ecosystem.
Sure. But only where it happens to align with the law. Apple uses the streets whose infrastructure my taxes paid for. Then they can gtfo outta my town.
You are telling us that not being able to take off the training wheels of a bycicle is a choice advantage.
There‘s nothing left to say to someone who can lie to themselves like that.
Some people really believe in a benevolent dictator. A big brother that is caring, nurturing, providing for them. That's telling them, everyone what's right and what's wrong, what to do and what not to do. And that is keeping them safe from the external evils of the world. They'll gladly submit to him. They'll defend him in public. And they'll get angry when his power is being curtailed.
You could argue that these peoples' choice of having no choice is being restricted or stripped away.
But overall, having the choice of having choices means freedom.
And I think it's right to err on the side of freedom in such matters of policy.
When your product becomes essential to millions of people and tens of thousands of business, government will regulate your conduct of business.
In the end, government has decided to prioritise millions of people being given the choice to transact with tens of thousands of developers directly and freely.
Over your choice and Apple's choice to limit and restrict yourself (and almost everyone else) to transacting with and through only one party.
However, the App Store will not be taken away from you. You still get to choose to buy everything from and (all apps) through Apple.
Will there be some side effects and aftereffects? For sure.
But in the end, it's an overall win and gain of customer and developer choice and competition.
And as we've seen in Android, where most people are quite happy with downloading everything from the Play Store, it's almost entirely in Apple's hands to provide you with the same experience as today: By pricing their App Store competitively and make developers want to sell through it.
Last edited:
How many people want each choice?
Personally, I believe there are very few people who want to be forced into the benevolent dictator model as a matter of principle.
I also think there are very few people advocating for open access to (and for) apps on such platforms at all costs - or as a matter of principle, whatever the side effects and collateral damage.
There's probably a great majority of people that want
- reasonably secure operating system
- reasonably easy access to apps, in-app purchases and in-app subscription management
- at competitive prices
- without being at the whim and mercy of a single all-controlling entity like Apple or Google and
- without thinking or publicly advocating too much about it
Again, it's in Apple's hands to satisfy most of these people with an attractive App Store that is priced and governed competitively.
The greatest number of people will be happy when sideloading is possible but not necessary or forced upon them.
One potential plus for Apple is the existence of other app stores means the monopoly argument is less valid and it reduces the pressure to lower fees while allowing for new ones.
I bet you are quite correct and their sales/marketing group is diving deep into this.
Ahhh so it’s all a matter of principle with no discernible benefit to consumers. Why not just let consumers decide, and continue to decide, whether they prefer the iOS or Android model instead of forcing one or the other on everyone?
Because unfettered free-for-all capitalism is so wonderful at providing consumer-friendly software solutions... In this case it will ruin the App Store and we will have no choice but to buy from less secure third-party app stores or forego using apps that have left the App Store. Some choice. Again, if the EU wanted to achieve choice through diversity of commercial offerings, they would have allowed Apple to keep the App Store, but made them guarantee the security and quality of apps offered in the store.
They in fact can keep the App Store. But now it‘s being measured if they really deliver compared to others.
As far as we know, Apple did nothing to ensure quality or security, because that work is being done by the devs.
Not the same thing. Built from the same core parts. But one has "less" the other has "more". Meant for different things to do different things. If they are the same. Let's say Apple has more macOS devices in the wild than the 3-5% they currently do.
Ok, fine with that. I don't understand it. So either it's not iOS or it is too close for comfort?
Android is more open that iOS is. We have this with Mac vs PC. And we are allowed to have that. Why not have that with iOS and Android?
Go! If a product isn't giving you want you want. Pick another one. Let that show up in the sales stats for Apple to review and see that they are not making a product people want. They adapt or they don't. They offer it or they don't. That's usually how it's supposed to work.
Since we have an alternative to their product. If we didn't, then we can argue that they control the market and with out them blah blah blah, monopoly, blah. But that isn't the case. This is just complaining about 1 feature that VERY few of the mobile device public use (its not 50% or even close!).
None of us really care about how much a developer makes (they should be charging what they want to make!) and or what Apple/Googles cut is on the sale(known since the start!). None of that actually matters since you pay a greater cut for everything you purchase. Everything costs more than it does to make it. We live in a world of middle men/women. All collecting a piece of the pie. Imagine walking into a warehouse and having a large portion of what is offered in that warehouse totally free. Would you then complain that a product that costs something has 30% of it going to the warehouse? Would you complain that you can get something for less at another store while in that store, and not either leave it to get it elsewhere. Or, just buy it where you are because its convenient and you're also shopping for other things that are either free or cheaper there?
You want to shop back alley and take your chances. I'm cool with that. Just don't want it on my device. You want to put emulators and pirate to your hearts content. I'm cool with that too, just leave my device out of it. If you want to change Apple, do it the right way. Vote with your money.
Allowing direct transactions between manufacturer (or in this case developers) and consumers is a benefit for both.
So is eliminating the middleman. Not saying it has only benefits and no drawbacks - but there's clearly benefits.
The great thing is that consumers can still continue and benefit from the iOS App Store model - by choosing to purchase through Apple's storefront.
Neither is someone having a monopoly.
Of course you do have a choice.
No one wants to get rid of Apple's App Store.
They'll just have to have a compelling offer.
If an App isn't in the App Store, you just use another app.
No one forces you (as in "having no choice") to use Apps that aren't available in the App Store.
Its both. It is what we (the folks you mentioned) want. And what Governments want.
We (the people) want the device we purchased the way it is. The Government's want access to your devices. They simultaneously want Apple to protect the consumer while also banning apps they (the governments) don't like. And while allowing back doors that only the government can get into.
Governments also want more openness on all devices. Which like I stated many times. Makes them the same. Google already has that. Let them continue to have that. And let Apple continue to have its closed option. Let the people pick what they want.
And here I thought we lived in a mostly free world.