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I’m going to guess they’ll do notarization like they do on the Mac and apps won’t be able to update themselves, which could put the brakes on easy and frequent updates. Something about this will come with strings attached that’ll make this not really viable for anything that you wouldn’t find as a binary on GitHub.
Nah. I think it'll be good. They're going to still most likely have Apple IDs attached to them and host them.

This could open doors to plugin frameworks for desktop class apps on the iPad.
 
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I won’t be sideloading anything onto my iPhone
Let's just hope the apps that we need to use don't back out of the app store and make us hunt them down one by one in third party stores and their own sites, with no checks for security and user experience.

But I think it will happen for many of the apps that people use.
 
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Epic need to open their game. I want to side load my own skin and store. That is fair too
You get the problem and illustrate it perfectly.

You build a competitive advantage (this isn't a monopoly) and a government gets to take it away.

Add to their forcing USBc - which I would like apple to do but forcing them to do it I don't. What if they had decided back when that all phones had to accept USB-a (or whatever the fat one is called.)

If you cheer the government forcing businesses to do things one day you may find the pigs standing on their feet.
 
Not sure how I feel about that. I do 'side load' most of my apps on my Mac even when the same app is available on the App Store, but my iPhone has been working just fine and it stores an incredible amount of sensitive information, and it's much more portable than my Mac. I guess I'll just have to take it slow.
 
I don’t understand how sideloading can lead to malware - uncontrolled data tracking and whatnot, sure, probably… but malware? How is it going to alter the operating system? as it is, apps are heavily sandboxed in iOS. They also need explicit permissions to access most things outside of that sandbox, and those are usually “read only” permissions. I don’t see how this would suddenly change just because the app comes from a different source. You may be allowed to install “alternative apps” but iOS isn’t going to allow them to do anything an app from the App Store couldn’t do from a technical standpoint.
Right now, if an app attempts to circumvent those technical restrictions by doing dodgy/hacky stuff, the App Store review usually filters them out (yes, sometimes things get through, but given the number of app rejections versus the number of malware on iOS vs android, rarely). When there's sideloading, that barrier disappears.
 
I already fear my parents mistakenly installing a non-App Store app. And a future weekend of mine being dedicated to undoing it all.
This is by far my biggest issue with it. My parents and Grandparents believe every damn thing they read online. Many time before have they asked me to fix their laptops as they are taking ages to turn on and open thing and each time there are dozens of apps installed that claim to speed to the device.
Since getting iPads I haven't had one of those calls.

I'm really hoping the option to allow side loading is buried deep in settings and gives multiple prompts about how it is potentially unsafe and not to do it if you are being pressured by someone over the phone etc.
 
Right now, if an app attempts to circumvent those technical restrictions by doing dodgy/hacky stuff, the App Store review usually filters them out (yes, sometimes things get through, but given the number of app rejections versus the number of malware on iOS vs android, rarely). When there's sideloading, that barrier disappears.
This is complete BS. You’re confusing Apple-imposed App Store restrictions with a full-on system exploit/jailbreak.
 
Since the App Store review has let entirely scam apps thru reviews and apps that deceive and charge insane monthly fees, my opinion of the "safety" of the app store has dramatically declined. So this might not be any worse for users, at least savvy users. I hope.
 
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Let's just hope the apps that we need to use don't back out of the app store and make us hunt them down one by one in third party stores and their own sites, with no checks for security and user experience.

But I think it will happen for many of the apps that many people use.

well, it certainly has not happened with Google PlayStore. Only apps that would not have been approved anyway are using 3rd party stores only. Any normal app is available at multiple stores. Would be stupid to drop the one with most reach
 
So in the uk we left the eu so would the uk get sideloading
I expect not. It’s an EU law.

And before everyone gets too excited, this is just a different way to buy an app. Apple can still dictate standards that apps need to achieve. This will probably lower costs a bit. But that’s all I expect.
 
Sideloading doesn’t mean full unrestricted access to the system. You can’t sideload any random app and suddenly have access to every apps on the system. Sandboxing is still in place and enforced by the system on a deeper level that no apps will have access to.

The benefit of sideloading is the freedom to install apps that Apple would reject because of their own competitive interests and unreasonable review process.

Imagine Microsoft’s GamePass App Store, nothing malicious about it and yet Apple refuses it.
 
The real question is what it means to side-load an app. Specifically, can apps be loaded directly to the phone? Or does it mean allowing third-parties to install their own app stores on phones? If it's the latter then Apple could comply by only approving third-party stores in the App Store which pay a commission to Apple for each sale.
 
Best guess, this will be like in days past, where financial apps detected if the device was jailbroken and wouldn't work. I know my Bank of America app did that. Guessing something similar will happen. If you sideload apps, it will detect that and tell you it won't run due to security issues.
 
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