Apple Working to Add Support for Sideloading and Alternate App Stores in Europe

[Bokito]

I hope there is an option to keep your iPhone locked entirely.

The App Store is far from perfect, but it’s better than any possible alternative.

Opening up a mobile platform isn’t a good idea. On the Mac I have tools like Little Snitch and iStat Menu’s to keep track of everything that happens on my system. Such functionality is sort of possible on mobile, but mobile isn’t made for it. But if you’re gonna allow sideloading you’ll need these tools.

Even if Apple is gonna check every App like they do on the Mac a lot of people will be angry at Apple when their phones are somehow compromised. Apple should send all the bills to the European Union for having to make this work and for any fallout (loss of sales) in the event of bad PR.

 

[CarAnalogy]

I sure can't wait to deal with the first relative who punches themselves in the balls with this.

I honestly don't see how it's any different than Windows S mode. Users actually like it because they feel safer and may well be, but I as an administrator can disable it to install software from wherever I need, then re-enable.

I believe the Mac has the same switch but it's (now) off by default.

Android is the same way, you have to explicitly enable sideloading.

I don't see why it would be any different on iOS. Yes, you will still have those users who go out of their way to get into trouble, but even they know it's their own fault when they do that.

The main argument has been: as soon as it's allowed popular apps will pull their apps from the App Store and require it.

I used to believe that but now I don't think it's an issue because there's still not enough incentive for the companies with that kind of market pull to actually do that. There also is still the Internet, technically you can do this already. If Apple pulls Twitter, open Safari. Which, by the way, Apple has been accused (I think rightly so) of limiting Safari so that it stays inferior to native apps in ways it doesn't have to be.

At this point I think it will just be a necessary balance for Apple to make sure they stay motivated about the App Store, which they clearly currently are not.

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

It's pretty straightforward. Emulators, despite being cool are a legal gray area. Apple not allowing them isn't because of a conspiracy, they're not doing it because of legal reasons. If they allowed emulators they would be hit with lawsuits from Sony, Nintendo, Sega, whoever. It's not worth the hassle of getting sued by everybody and fighting it out in court so nerds can pirate old games. I'm sure Apple would be happy to sell you an emulator for $5 and take 30% otherwise.

The Google Play store allows emulators. Steam allows emulators. The Windows Store allows emulators. The Apple App Store is the only one that doesn't.

 

[DanTheMan827]

It's actually so ridiculous how far this has gotten. The App Store is no different than buying a Costco membership, in this case the iPhone is the membership and the developers are the vendors selling their product inside Costco who charges a per square foot and percentage of each sale at the till.

It's so funny that people bitched that they didn't have alternatives and options when there is a whole a OS and eco system called Android that specifically caters to this EXACT way of doing things.

The App Store is quite literally the store, it's in the name.

The thing with retail stores though, you always have the ability to shop at different stores at no additional cost to you... but in order to access the Google Play Store for example, you need to purchase an entirely different device.

The EU forcing Apple to open up is a good thing, I just hope it means Apple brings sideloading to other regions as well.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

I’m sure they are. While they’d take a hit on some IAP’s and some of their users would be driven into financial ruin by some app created by malicious actors, this literally locks them in as one of the technologies of choice chosen by the EU. With this change any competition that MIGHT have decided to try to beat Google will just piggyback on one of those.

No one should be surprised that this merely puts a governmental stamp of approval on the duopoly… which, not too long ago, was something they didn’t like

 

[mrat93]

Now you're the one being silly. This is being pushed by corporate lobbyists. The self important people who read the articles written about it and comment on it are not the ones influencing anything.

I don’t have a great response to this, honestly. I think you’re mostly right.

Me personally, though… If Apple allowed basic sideloading, I’d be questioning why any of my legislators are fighting for third party app stores that would mostly benefit corporations, not consumers.

 

[GLS]

I know this may come as a shock to you, but not all of the AppStore apps have family sharing enabled.

Yes, I know.

But the apps we use do. Maybe they still will down the road. Maybe not.

Uncertanity, which is what this is going to bring to everyone, no matter what you want to do with your devices.

Color me skeptical, but aside from "freedom to put on my device what I want by God!" I don't believe this is going to save consumers money at all, which is a common talking point.

 

[4743913]

Yes, I know.

But the apps we use do. Maybe they still will down the road. Maybe not.

Uncertanity, which is what this is going to bring to everyone, no matter what you want to do with your devices.

Color me skeptical, but aside from "freedom to put on my device what I want by God!" I don't believe this is going to save consumers money at all, which is a common talking point.

quit worry about how people spend their money.. are you the US government?

 

[Marie.D]

Thank you very much, I can’t wait to be able to sideload effortlessly and not have to do the 7 days gymnastic with the current way.

 

[GLS]

quit worry about how people spend their money.. are you the US government?

I couldn't care less about how much other people spend. I do care about how much I and my family do. I'm not convinced this is going to magically save us money.

Apple is gonna make back that 30% somehow, someway. They aren't doing this because they are alturistic.

 

[Mousse]

I hope there is an option to keep your iPhone locked entirely.

Even on Android, the default is no sideloading. You have to jump through several hoops to enable sideloading. Easy as pi though. I'm thinking Apple will make the task a bit harder with lots of caveat👍👍👍 and scare tactics (voids your warranty or something☠️).

People should be mucking about sideloading stuff unless they know what they'r doing. This is from a guy who champions sideloading.🥳

 

[Rogifan]

You think the EU is going to tell Apple they aren't allowed to charge for their services?

Yes.

 

[enterthemerdaverse]

And why wouldn't you have similar concerns for personal computers and laptops?

Is it time for Microsoft and Apple to lock down personal computing? Should every software developer need Microsoft's permission (and to pay a 30% Microsoft tax) to make PC software?

I have had concerns for my desktop computers since I was a 14 year old who installed an infected pirate game on my Amiga. I learned lessons very early, before there was an internet. Even during the web years mistakes were easy to make, especially before we had firewalls and signed apps.

You must pay attention to the international threat actors that exist today. They didn’t exist 30 years ago but devices were still attacked. In the last decade, especially since Epstein and his EA crew invented bitcoin (no lie) to enrich themselves from global crime and blackmail, attacks have become very profitable.

Personal and corporate data sold on the dark web are cyber gold.

The data of activists and upcoming politicians is gold. If they can get a young person’s data from their phone they have that person for life. If that person wants to go into politics, they are owned before they even hand out their first flier.

So attacks will step up with sideloading. They will be looking for every weakness and bug that Apple hasn’t patched Or discovered yet.

What was called a cat and mouse game will become a lion vs deer game.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

How did so many of you ever manage to use a computer at all without safety rails protecting your every move.

Speaking as a person who grew up with a Windows XP desktop in the house, they didn’t.
The computer was crashed with a virus longer than it was actually usable.
Same thing for the Windows Vista laptops, corrupted files everywhere.
Since the majority of those same people moved to iPads and or newer more secure operating systems, it’s barely a concern.
By the way, I do think that sideloading should be possible on iOS, but it absolutely should not be easy for the majority to come across.
Verification just like on the Mac should be a thing, but also that menu should be hidden somewhere deep deep deep in the settings, behind three warning pop-ups, two restarts and several password entries.
I say make it an option thats only possible to access through DFU mode.

 

[Rogifan]

As a developer this completely sucks. There will very likely be users who purchase apps that never shop the App Store, which means there will be users who will never find my apps. I could upload to all the other stores, but what will they charge? If there are nine other stores and they each charge $100 annually (the same as Apple) to be a member, that means it will not cost $100, but rather $1000 annually just to maximize the opportunity for downloads on iOS. And there will be no guarantee my apps will get more downloads. Not to mention... that's nine more accounts I have to manage. Nine more sites where the developer has to input their bank information for direct deposits. Nine more opportunities to have bank information stolen because of some hacker. EU legislators are a bunch of ******s. Jeers to Apple for caving on this.

How do they find your apps now? Is Apple highlighting them on the App Store?

 

[Rogifan]

I hope there is an option to keep your iPhone locked entirely.

The App Store is far from perfect, but it’s better than any possible alternative.

Opening up a mobile platform isn’t a good idea. On the Mac I have tools like Little Snitch and iStat Menu’s to keep track of everything that happens on my system. Such functionality is sort of possible on mobile, but mobile isn’t made for it. But if you’re gonna allow sideloading you’ll need these tools.

Even if Apple is gonna check every App like they do on the Mac a lot of people will be angry at Apple when their phones are somehow compromised. Apple should send all the bills to the European Union for having to make this work and for any fallout (loss of sales) in the event of bad PR.

What do you mean? If you do nothing but use Apple’s App Store how are you at risk?

 

[DanTheMan827]

Speaking as a person who grew up with a Windows XP desktop in the house, they didn’t.
The computer was crashed with a virus longer than it was actually usable.
Same thing for the Windows Vista laptops, corrupted files everywhere.
Since the majority of those same people moved to iPads and or newer more secure operating systems, it’s barely a concern.
By the way, I do think that sideloading should be possible on iOS, but it absolutely should not be easy for the majority to come across.
Verification just like on the Mac should be a thing, but also that menu should be hidden somewhere deep deep deep in the settings, behind three warning pop-ups, two restarts and several password entries.
I say make it an option thats only possible to access through DFU mode.

Signed apps from outside of the App Store is a good thing, but they should also add an option buried even deeper to run unsigned apps... just like on macOS.

Overnight, they would remove almost any reason to want to jailbreak an iOS device.

 

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Scammers rejoice!

If you haven't noticed app store is drowning in all kinds of scams.

 

[Arislan]

Finally we can get some decent WiFi analyser apps and emulators. 👍🏻

The emulators are what I care about. Without the hassle of Apple's rules on emulation, the market should explode with versions optimized for Apple's phone processors. It will be interesting to see how far devs can push the hardware related to legacy console hardware support.

 

[Marie.D]

I hope one of the alternative store will pop up with a decent model for developers. A lot of developers are liking the middle solution between full paid apps and subscriptions, which is you pay and you get updates for the software for a year and you get to keep the software at the end.

Apple refuses to enable such a business model that would help developers tremendously, endlessly pushing for subscriptions to get a cut.

It’s a sad state of affairs that we end up requiring a law to force them to do the right thing but I welcome this, and I’m very excited to see new legitimate apps popping up because they can now distribute their software the way they want it without being gatekeeped by Apple and their, sometimes stupid rules.

The App Store has been a cesspool of scams, forgeries and bad actors for a while now, and there will always be bad apples (no pun intended) that will abuse this. But it‘s still worth it in the end, just like encryption.

 

[compwiz1202]

I happily pay for apps. I want to support developers and know they'll only keep adding features and making quality apps if they get paid (just like you wouldn't work for free).

Cheap folks may like stealing apps through the alternative stores but keep in mind folks can insert anything into those bundles. Tested it with Cydia years ago and tens of thousands downloaded the app without having any idea what was packaged inside it.

Makes me think of music sharing sites. You could get the song or some prank video or soundbyte or malware

 

[Mrkevinfinnerty]

This is the beginning of the end for the App Store 👍

 

[msfdc]

People who are asking for sideloading have no idea how bad it's going to ruin the UX

"but you don't have to sideload"

yeah until microsoft, google, activision, epic, adobe create their stores and make their apps/games exclusive

then you'll have to install a bunch of apps running 20 auto updater/notification services in the background sucking up all the battery

"but android allowed sideloading and that hasn't happened yet"

yeah because iOS is where the money is. once iOS does it, it'll happen

It has been the fact since the android phones being introduced in China, where google is banned. Every android user in China has to have tons of background services for autoupdate, notification and even cryptocurrency mining.

 

[CHI-M]

Good luck to anyone who downloads a trojan. You’re on your own from there, well no you’re not because all your contacts and emails will belong to the attacker and they’ll get it too. Dictators, mafias and cyber criminals love phone data.

You are missing the point. Now that Apple has competition with other app stores, they may scale back the 30% fee since large apps might abandon the app store and go to cheaper ones. Apple might cut it's fee to 5% thus allowing apps to stay. In the end, you might see apps charging less since they dont' have a 30% fee. it's a win for consumers.

 

[TheWatchfulOne]

How do they find your apps now? Is Apple highlighting them on the App Store?

I'm not aware of Apple highlighting it right now. (I have one app available now, but others in development.) But that's beside the point.

Users will only find my apps in stores where they are available, regardless of how they find them within each store. Making my apps available in every store only has the potential to make it more expensive for me, without the promise of an increase in revenue.