Nope, nope, nope. Your virus laden phone might send a virus laden email to my Emile address.
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Apple Working to Add Support for Sideloading and Alternate App Stores in Europe
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Yeah I didn’t quite understand the mention of employer either.
Employers will give you a phone based on their needs and wants. That’s different to your personal device that you buy considering your own needs and wants.
'To protect users from the aforementioned risks of sideloading,'.....Apple should do NOTHING! Let the EU handle the risks!
Apple is planning to allow for alternate app stores on iPhones and iPads ahead of European legislation that will require the company to support sideloading, reports Bloomberg.
The change would allow customers to download apps without needing to use the App Store, which would mean developers would not need to pay Apple's 15 to 30 percent fees, but to start with, Apple is only planning to implement sideloading support in Europe.
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. 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.
The European Union's Digital Markets Act that went into effect on November 1 requires "gatekeeper" companies to open up their services and platforms to other companies and developers. The DMA will have a major impact on Apple's platforms, and it could result in Apple making major changes to the App Store, Messages, FaceTime, Siri, and more. Apple has until March 6, 2024 to comply with the EU's rules.
According to Bloomberg, Apple's software engineering and services employees are working to open up "key elements of Apple's platforms," with Apple using a "significant amount of resources" for the change. Apple is planning for the functionality to be ready for iOS 17 in 2023, which would put it ahead of the deadline. There is a danger that these drastic updates could impact work on new features slated for iOS 17, some employees told Bloomberg.
To protect users from the aforementioned risks of sideloading, Apple is 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.
Apple could open up underlying app frameworks and APIs to third-party app developers, providing deeper access to core system functions and hardware. Third-party apps could in the future get access to camera technologies not available now, and Apple is working to open up NFC in a limited way that could allow for Apple Pay alternatives. Apple is also considering further opening up the Find My network to accessory makers like Tile. As of now, Apple lets third-party device makers create Find My accessories, but there is a requirement that prevents them from working with non-Find My apps and services.
There is an aspect of the Digital Markets Act that would require Apple to allow developers to install third-party payment systems within their apps, and Apple has not yet "made a final decision" on whether it will comply with the rule. Apple is also undecided on how the Messages app might be made available to third-party services, as the DMA requires interoperability between messaging platforms.
Apple has to comply with the Digital Markets Act because the European Union can fine a company as much as 20 percent of its global revenue if the laws are violated. If Apple does not implement the changes, fines could be as high as $80 billion.
In addition to resulting in major changes to the App Store and other Apple services, European legislation is also pushing Apple to adopt USB-C across all of its devices, a change that will be made in 2023.
Article Link: Apple Working to Add Support for Sideloading and Alternate App Stores in Europe
I hope you are absolutely right! Apple can direct such inquires to the EU commission......
He or she won't be right.
The EU mandates statutory warranties on products sold in the union. While they won't have to provide support for your 3rd party "modifications" to (or installations on) the product, they still have to provide warranty support for other defects, e.g. hardware defects (as a seller of phones).
Whatever 3rd party software you crappify your phone with, the chance of Apple having to provide warranty support will be greater than "0 chance".
You're right of course. Letting users install software on their device freely and without the firm hand of Apple centralised distribution is an absolutely unmanageable disaster. A responsible company like Apple would never even consider putting such a device on the market and put its customers at risk.
Oh, wait, here's the Mac with "Security. Built right in." That's odd.
This was kind of the point I was making. All the arguments against sideloading on iOS are straw men because they quickly fall apart when applied to Android and desktop. Its 100% about Apple's need for control and their gaslighting of the userbase into thinking a feature the Mac has had since the 1970's is the devil.
By the number of fearful posts I see on here from people who clearly have no experience of Android I'd say it has worked.
I'm quite hopeful that the legislation will be extended to games consoles too. Imagine Steam on PS5 alongside the PSN!
Of course it’s about Apple’s control, and it’s about all the people who want Apple to have that control instead of giving control to app developers.
I would MUCH rather have Apple in control than developers.
I’ve no idea why this is such a hard point for some people to understand.
Right now us consumers have a lot of power over developers. We get all the apps we want from a single store instead of having to shop at many different stores. And along with that we get the power to make sure app developers do things we want them to do (such as not tracking us across 3rd party apps etc).
If Apple no longer has the ability to control the relationship between developers and consumers, our power as consumers is diminished as our individual power is meaningless against an app developer. It is only under the collective control of Apple that we hold the power. Think of Apple as the consumer union fighting the dirty tricks that app developers use to extract as much money and data out of us consumers.
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I'd be more worried about how much control Apple has over consumers. Did you know Google offers a 1 hour refund grace period so if you dislike an app or game you paid upfront for you can get a refund, no questions asked? Apple doesn't offer such a feature. I know Google has a lot of other issues but this one is definitely pro-consumer.
I try to think of it in small town terms. I'd much rather have a high street lined with independent shops all in competition with each other for my business than one huge Walmart/Tesco/<insert national big box retailer>. I'd actually like that big box to co-exist (or even have several box boxes with the indies) so I have even more choice!
Alternate storefronts will likely end up larger entities anyway. Look at how the PC game marketplace has evolved. Steam might be the biggest but you can still choose Microsoft, Epic, GOG or support the developer directly via platforms like Kickstarter throughout development.
Your street of independent stores means your shop is less convenient, and probably more expensive, and means you’ve given your personal data to a lot more people.
Im not worried about Apple having control over consumers; that’s a net positive for us consumers.
The actual issue we have is that there are not enough operating systems and ecosystems, but regulators seem to be totally unprepared to address that issue, instead focussing on simply breaking what we already have.
I do get to know those people though and probably have them around for dinner at some point. I actually know my local butcher so well he is more than happy to throw me an extra Pork Pie or few slices of Bacon too.
Sadly, you won’t get to know app developers, and they will extract as much money and data out of you as they can once they get the chance of unrestrained access to consumers.
Yay for regulations, it’s why we can’t have nice things, there’s always someone who wants to ruin it 😢
Since when did a single store with no competition ever bring lower prices? It takes a lot of mental gymnastics to draw the conclusions you're coming to. Especially your earlier comment comparing Apples monopoly to some altruistic union. I'd say so far all of your examples are the exact opposite of reality. As far as "giving personal data" goes that's still on Apple to develop a robust operating system that can tightly control what data is available to apps giving users a choice as to what is shared. Where the app is download should be irrelevant.
I would argue that before iOS App Store, you have many many sources of apps for smart phones. The prices then are a lot higher compared to what you get. The cuts taken by intermediate parties are a lot higher than 30% of the software’s sticker price. Developers would be lucky then to get 30% of retail price.
With iOS App Store you start seeing 99c apps. Amazing isn’t it?
The prices in the iOS App Store are decided by developers, not Apple.
Sometime I really wonder why folks thinks that using others IPs for free are fine when it’s not their IP.
I would add that Apple’s iTunes Music Store did the same to music and movies before streaming is a thing..
Apple’s “monopoly” has no bearing on pricing. The developers set the price for their apps. Multiple store would not result in any real price competition. The only competition will be for ability for an App Store to distribute an app or not. While I agree it is highly unlikely that a developer would choose to not list their app on Apple’s App Store there would be no requirement to do so. There would also be no requirement for a developer to distribute the same version of their app on all stores.
Apple’s App Store requirements are public and well understood. There are also requirement on developers to disclose what information they collect. That is unlikely to be a requirement of all stores.
Apple already blocks access to many sources of information without user consent, such as location, contacts, camera, etc. There are many ways to gather information in addition to these. It is also possible for some less reputable developers to require (explicitly or through duplicity) users grant access truly unnecessary for their app in order to use said app.
Non-European opponents of sideloading rejoice!
Apple seems to be hard at work to geo-block you into the security of the walled garden you enjoy so much:
https://9to5mac.com/2023/04/25/ios-16-restrict-features-based-on-location/
Apple seems to be hard at work to geo-block you into the security of the walled garden you enjoy so much:
https://9to5mac.com/2023/04/25/ios-16-restrict-features-based-on-location/
If true, f-you Apple.
May become a market for buying EU Apple ID accounts. This is a feature that could finally make my iPhone not suck worse than a 13 year old Symbian OS based Nokia and actually compel me to buy an iPad again.
The choice when it comes to operating systems is different completely different when we're talking about custom hardware things. When you buy a wheelbarrow, at Home Depot, you don't have a choice for what wheel it has, or what screws it's using or whether the screws are in the metric system or the imperial system standards. Now when you get home, you can go ahead and customize the wheelbarrow to be better for your needs. It's not the same thing with software. The choice comes down to the operating system. Thank gosh we had a choice between windows and macos still, with a lot of popular apps being cross platform. But if you look at the market, it's very clear that Windows is the most used operating system in the desktop and laptop space. On phones, it's different though, and the problem which many large app developers have found, is that it's much easier to develop an app for the iOS space. A lot a lot easier. Because they don't have to think about all the different android specs and camera, specs, and all that stuff, and especially they don't have to worry about how much money they're not gonna make on android, since android doesn't make nearly as much money when you compare it from a manufacturer to Apple spec.
The EU ruling is more about alternate stores than individual applications. Those storefronts could be deliverable via the App Store with Apple changing its rules to allow such a thing without taking a cut but equally making it clear they do not monitor them and alternate portals are liable for customer complaints.
There would be some basic qualifying criteria as well such as an app portal would need to have a minimum of 10 different apps from at least 5 other developers to qualify. This would be to stop every developer just setting up their own storefront for 1 or 2 apps just to skirt Apple's fees.
What I'd still most like to see from Apple is Google's 30 minute refund period on app purchases even if you have downloaded it and used it.
sounds awful. how would that benefit us?
the choice of games would be the same. the prices would overall be the same. but i have to use to different stores for zero benefit.
thankfully Epic pretty much died a death on mac, but i did have to use it to get one game, i forget which, which was an Epic exclusive. in petty revenge ive always made a point of adding any games that are free for a period on Epic, to my library, so whatever tiny fee they are paying for me having it comes from their massive banks. Petty, childish and useless i know.
On my iphone i know every app is a) in the one store b) will work right for my phone c) wont have malware. if i have a problem im confident Apple will fix it.
None of this will benefit the consumer, all it can do is allow a few massive companies to shave off some profits another massive company would otherwise make.
For one thing you'd be able to access an existing Steam library on your PS5 which adds value to your existing purchases. You'd also get more access to sale prices.
The App Store isn't completely malware free.
There are loads of legitimate APK repositories on the internet that I have never had any issues with. Being able to grab an older version of some software can be very useful.