Yes, ‘sideloading’ on a smartphone is fundamentally no different than installing a piece of software from Steam or the developer’s website on a Mac, on Windows, or GNU/Linux, etc. and should be treated the same.
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Apple Accuses Epic Games of Wanting a 'Free Ride'
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Funny that Epic evidently has no issues with paying Sony and Nintendo their 30% cut, and Fornite makes even more money on those platforms compared to iOS.
And spare me the "but the PS5 is a console while iOS is a computing platform" argument. Money is money, regardless of where it's taxed.
And spare me the "but the PS5 is a console while iOS is a computing platform" argument. Money is money, regardless of where it's taxed.
You have that option. It’s called Android. I don’t understand why you want customers to have less options by forcing everything to conform to Google’s way of doing things instead of having the choice between 2 different approaches to technology.
I think people forget what those options (or lack thereof) meant for iOS and Android users back in the past.
You could sideload on android phones since day 1 (someone correct me if I'm wrong here). This meant rampant piracy, higher incidences of malware, less profits for developers, and consequently fewer apps available on said platform. Human nature will always be human nature, no matter the platform. We have seen it play out on the PC platform for decades.
Monument Valley Devs Reveal Shocking Mobile Piracy Stats
'Monument Valley' was one of last year's most surprising hits. It's also, sadly, one of the most-pirated mobile titles, as up to 95% of all Android versions are 'unpaid.'
gamerant.com
Android users lose $2.4 million to malware scams that use Facebook and TikTok ads as bait
At least 128 cases have been reported since February. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.
On the flip side, what the absence of sideloading meant for me as an Apple user was that I had a wider variety of paid apps to choose from, back when I had just purchased my first iPad and was experimenting with apps to see what worked and what didn't. For example, I paid for Notability, PDF Expert and Goodreader (all are PDF annotation apps that weren't available on Android). Even today, I continue to maintain a Notability subscription on my iPad while the app is still conspicuously missing on Android!
This is the benefit a closed ecosystem brings. Prior to the iOS App Store model, nobody downloaded apps, because viruses and malware were rampant, and it devastated the trust that users had because again, nobody was in a position, much less had the financial incentive, to do anything about this. Apple recreated a market that had ceased to exist, and they did it with their promises (of a safe and secure market) and their technology (eg: biometric authentication to streamline the purchasing process) and their ability to aggregate the best users in the market. You see what happens when people ca no longer pirate software and are made to pay for software the honest, old-fashioned way? Developers make more money, they are in turn incentivised to develop for iOS, and we iOS users benefit in return.
The irony is that were I to migrate over to Android, having the freedom to sideload any app I want is a moot point because the apps I want aren't available on Android to begin with, even if I were willing to pay for them!
Granted, given the recent ICEBlock debacle, I can see the argument for allowing users to access apps that are otherwise not available in the App Store, but it means that the whole "open vs closed" debate is at its core a discussion of tradeoffs and compromises. Each side has its respective pros and cons, and you cannot latch on to one particular feature that you want, insist that it's all that matters, and pretend all the other drawbacks will magically not matter or just cease to exist.
Sales agreement? No right to expect? They can still do what they can to maximize their interest. Especially if said agreement isn’t coacher.
Well who knows. Perhaps they will be next in line if they win over Apple. Tactical decision to pick your fights.
Plus sideloading was available on both platforms from day one. It took a while before the AppStore was introduced
Every day apple gets it’s way
Is a step back in our ability to have choice
Is a step back in our ability to have choice
Why do you think we chose apple products in the first place?
Yeah, I’m not understanding why it’s okay when Nintendo does it but not when Apple does it.
Buy an Android device and you can load whatever.
For now at least.
I dont see why your desire overrides mine to have a safer, controlled environment.
You have an option now but you want to remove mine.
Why is that fair?
Windows is bad in that it has a lot of issues caused by people loading software without checks.
Over decades I've spent countless hours reinstalling Windows and fixing issues with other people's computers because they clicked on a link, opened an email or installed something they thought was safe.
I dont get that on Mac.
And not ever on iOS devices.
It remains bizarre. The apparent difference is that video games still aren't so critical to everyday life? It feels like governments perennially feel entitled to say "oh, this obscure thing that no one else in history even thought of, let alone astonishingly and expertly invented and maintained, turned out to be pretty normal, and pretty much everyone uses it. And on the grounds that it turned out to be pretty normal and pretty much everyone uses it, we who don't even have expertise in the field, let alone the technology, let alone the systems and products, are overriding the company's lifelong leaders in making the rules and even doing the design work. (We'll leave the implementation to the staff, though. They can do that.)"
I can’t get any apps for my google or Android TVs except from their stores. I can’t get any apps for my Roku unless it’s from Roku.
Epic can still make noises you know? And that doesn’t need an Apple developer account. Sure their noise would not be credible but who really cares these days?
Great Epic should open up the Fortnite universe to allow third party developers (Like Apple) to write compatible games to use Epics worlds without paying Epic anything.
Charge for the SDK based on:
1. Small fee plus percentage of sales in App Store
2. Large fee and bulk activation fees per X installations. Can distribute at will. If you don’t pay, customers will be cut off, even for updates.
If you don’t want to paying, don’t update your app constantly like some companies do.
They exercised their freedom of choice to choose fewer options and more managed approach from Apple. Heck, I think Apple can introduce a curated Apple One+ subscription and Apple takes over all aspects of device usage, including what app to download. How long you can use your iPhone each day, what app to use at any given time, and how involved Siri can be, and more. In short, live approved Apple life.
The truth is that the whole ecosystem is locked down to ensure Apple gets a cut of every sale. Consumers should be protected against the egregious extent Apple goes to when exploiting its own customers for shareholder profit grabs! And at the same time, Epic is trying to breach a system because it wants all the money! Both companies are wrong and I cannot stand Epic’s CEO, but what Epic has done is stand up for consumers by standing up for itself. This has benefited consumers in the EU, USA and will continue until the whole ecosystem is about choice for the consumer not locking customers in which does harm competition.
Yeah, I used to jailbreak my devices too but I didn't complain about it, I just did it, we all knew the limitations with the Apple ecosystem. Neither do I complain when my HomePods are no longer supported. I knew full well the business model under which Apple and most major tech companies operate. If you don't understand that then you shouldn't invest your hard earned money in them. It's not like Apple have suddenly changed their business model which is why I can't understand why people whinge about something that has been so for decades. Sell your devices and jump ship if you feel so strongly, but complaining won't make Apple or any other company change to suit you, me or any individual. They sell to a mass market, not the complaining one.
You think it's that simple? Let's make 1 thing clear Apple's core beliefs are in end to end control for curating the experience, that was the original mission. Maybe your not a creative or have the desire for perfection so it might be hard to envision how important it is to have that control but thats what Apple was founded on. I would do the exact same thing and it has nothing to do with money, ive never cared for it to those degrees. We have examples of companies doing it the other way, shoot.... even Android, it's just about 20 years old and it's been a mess for over 10 years.
Exactly this has been their core business model since the very beginning and people want to make it a money thing just because they have money. Its so sad.
Whatever Epic goal was initially and is now, I applaud Epic tearing away the masks on all Apple users, showing them their true colours. Epic has epically showed the world how divided Apple customer base is at least on this side loading issue. For that I applaud Epic for achieving that.
However long this saga will last, I’ll keep watching, with my popcorns.
However long this saga will last, I’ll keep watching, with my popcorns.
Haha true, tho it’s usually a classier interface than Bluetoothing into most of the primitive auto head deck OS’. I’m with Apple on this, privacy is a massive concern so sidedooring or whatever it’s called into iOS is a pretty bad idea. Hardcore gamers use different gear anyway.
Pros and cons.
There’s a reason why many people prefer to game on consoles over PCs, despite the latter being more open and offering more versatility.