This. All of this. And then more if it again.I’d say first work to decrease the number of dumbasses. Use, say, Windows as a barometer. If the number of dumbasses are decreased such that the amount of money folks are able to scam Windows users out of in a year drops to less than $1 million, THEN claim success and go after Apple to make changes.
I’d bet there’s a LOT of folks out there that have their elderly parents or non-tech savvy family members using an iOS device because they know that “Dell” can’t call them up and have them install malicious software on it.![]()
Ex-freaking-zactly. Ugh…FULLY agree! People keep advocating for this thinking it will add choices but it takes away choices.
Let me spell it out for people. Do I have a choice currently for a completely closed system, that cannot possibly be opened due to some malware or other means, to be locked in to a walled garden OF MY CHOSING? Yes - iOS. Do I have a choice for an open system where I can install what I want from wherever I want by enabling it? Yes - Android.
Now if Apple is forced to change, do I have that same choice? Where is my choice to chose a completely locked down walled garden environment if this changes? Oh look at that, no more choice.
What people fail to think about when making the "pocket computer" argument is that iPhone still needs to do one critical thing than computers don't - call. If my car breaks down or I need to dial 911, I need that phone to work. I think that alone is enough to warrant a higher standard for security than Windows or macOS. Don't you?I recall when iPhone stormed onto the scene: it was a sea of proprietary, locked-down devices that were generating billions of dollars in custom ringtones, wallpapers, and $5 solitaire apps that were controlled by a 12-digit keypad. Android was very janky and everyone was scrambling to immitate Apple’s design aesthetic. The future of mobile seemed so new, so exciting, so full of “what ifs” and features waiting to be developed.
Fast forward 15 years: all those billions in ringtones, wallpapers, and mediocre flip-phone games? Those figures have exploded in value… but instead of going to the walled garden owned by mobile carriers, that money is distributed between Apple, Google, and millions of developers. Untold hours and dollars have been poured into development tools, payment mechanisms, security, and even CPU development. Consumers truly did benefit from the iPhone and Android devices, and I think some are hasty to dismiss just how bad the pre-smartphone era really was. (Anyone here ever use P2KCommander to manipulate Motorola phones?). Developing and selling apps as a sole person wasn’t even possible.
I think Apple has no option but to defend their position…. But the writing is on the wall, isn’t it? Our “phones” have become a de facto personal computer, Apple now commands a dominant position in the US market, and we’re all increasingly wondering why Apple won’t let us use our phone like we would our desktop or laptop. The “security” argument seems flimsy when the only other competitor (Android) allows users to load any apps they choose.
It’s been a fabulous run for Apple, but i think they are going to surrender something in the near future. It’s unfortunate, because I would much rather see Google, Facebook, and Twitter get thrashed after their manipulative, censorious behavior of the last two years. But, as someone else alluded, I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that these players are deflecting anti-trust activity towards apple.
When this walled garden finally busts open, someone please make an enhancement so I can plug my iPhone into a USB dock and use it as desktop. I’ll be your first customer.
Wait. What? "Run by government agency", "fully transparent", and "no funny business"? Those are all contradictory terms.It's NOT a 2nd "Apple run" iOS App Store, I'm proposing a Public Utility-based iOS App Store, run by some new Gov't Agency, & naturally, everything needs to be Fully Transparent (i.e, NO funny business).
I suppose anything can be made “legal” with enough money.If they are going to pass this legislation why not do it to other big companies such as Walmart, Target, Amazon, Microsoft? Why Apple?
Is this even legal?
Lobbyist dollars. Written as it is, it doesn’t have a chance of passing, BUT several pockets will be lined by lobbyists ensuring it doesn’t pass.What are they trying to get out of this? Apple is still going to collect it’s commission people. Please make sure you know this right up front before you waste all this taxpayers time and money
Apple knows. That’s why they are fighting it, because they want the same thing you do.Here's the thing: no matter your political orientation, I don't want anyone getting in the way of my inanimate love for Apple or my stock portfolio. I want money, and I want to get that money when my favorite brand makes it. Apple gives me phones and dollars, and I don't care about anything else, esp. not government regulations
personally I wish those people wanting apple opened up would just buy samsnungs/androids/anything other than iPhone.The writing is on the wall. Whether you like it not, or whether Apple likes it or not ... their policy of 'walled garden' BS is going to end sooner than later.
You want security? Don't be a dumbass when purchasing stuff. The best security is people being somewhat intelligent and not paying $30 annual subscriptions for crap. At the end of the day, Apple can't prevent stupidity. And they shouldn't try to!
Treating people like ignorant babies is never gonna work out.
Future News:All this crap is just being pushed by Google to destroy whatever extra security Apple has in their phones. Eventually it’s going to be where you just install whatever apps from whatever place you want to download them. Then people are going to be crying when their data and identity has been stolen ?♂️?
Or maybe provided free coding camps?Maybe instead of fighting so hard for alternative payment systems... these governments should have been fighting to lower the platform commission fees?
Thankfully, we already have it. Users can purchase anything they want without going through the app store. Download Starbucks PWA app on your phone and pay directly to Starbucks, Apple does not get a cent.Choice, it's a beautiful thing.
Thankfully, we already have it. Users can purchase anything they want without going through the app store. Download Starbucks PWA app on your phone and pay directly to Starbucks, Apple does not get a cent.
![]()
Starbucks®
app.starbucks.com
I’d be fascinated to hear how this is my problem or that of anyone other than your mother.This is just great news for scam artists. We took my 78 year old moms computer away and gave her an iPad because she was scammed twice out of thousands of dollars, now they can get her on her iPad and iPhone, what a big win.
I used to run programs when dos 3.0 was a thing and spent hours learning to program bios and config files to eek out every last bit of memory and CPU performance. For many years this was fun for me and I enjoyed it. I have since moved on to liking different things and so for me I prefer a device that is out of my way and I have less reason to bother with paying attention to it. I spent over 12 years doing proffessional tech support, and strongly suspect I have tons more experience than most of the adverage user so why should I not have the choice to have a device that just does what I need it to and stay out of my way? Why should for your arrogant desire to have the option of two open systems should I lose the choice of my preferred provider when you could easily buy an Android system that has the very options you want.They can work on all those things, and plenty more.
You're using the classic straw man argument which is "doesn't the 'x' entity have more pressing things to worry about?".
It's like saying why should my neighborhood association still worry about me picking up my dogs poo when there's a drunk that keeps crashing into parked cars in the neighborhood.
The neighborhood association should be concerned with BOTH issues!!
I should have the option of deciding which manufacturer receives my money when I buy something. I should be able to buy an app but if I don't agree with the developer's beliefs or face I should be able to send the money to a different developer that deserves it more. If I can't buy the app from a different developer then they have a monopoly over the app and that's just wrong.I demand every brick/mortar retailer in Illinois accept Yemeni Rial currency. Why should I be forced to use US currency??
Why should you have a choice that negatively impacts on others when you already have a viable alternative in using a non iOS device. You do not like the control that Apple imposes on their phones here is a simply solution, do not buy one. Start taking some personal responsibility for your own life and choices. If you buy a device knowing full well it does not have the options you want, you have zero right to cry about it when there was a perfectly acceptable alternative that did every thing you want. All your crying about how you cant have your iPhone the way you want it make you look selfish and highly uneducated since you couldnt do a 5 minute google search to see if it had the options you wanted.Nope, not good enough.
We don't need another Apple app store, or any other app store at all. We should be able to install software to our iPhones from any source of OUR choosing. If you only want to get it from Apple's app store, nothing would change for you, you can keep doing that, just like on the Macintosh. But, just like on the Macintosh, we should be able to install software from other sources, whether that be compiling an open source project and installing it or just installing an app that Apple didn't want to approve because it's something they don't like. (Oh noes! It's got nudity! Ban it now!)
Apple isn't your mommy. Let them distribute what they want how they want it in their app store, but force them to let the rest of us install what we want on OUR iPhones.
Like the person up above who blamed a computer for their mother having gotten scammed out of thousands of dollars?Start taking some personal responsibility for your own life and choices.
And what prevents those developers from stopping support of using apple payment system once they have their own? Why should Apple provide all the backbone, the equipment, the software features that the programs use to enhance their function (Augmented reality etc.) just so some App developer that had none of the investment in that Apple does can get rich without paying their dues? Why should digital enterprises not have the same burden that physical stores do? If you create a physical product and you want to have it sold in target or walmart you have to pay whatever walmart wants to charge for that. How is that perfectly acceptable but Apple doing the same thing is not?I’m not a fan of alternative app stores yet because I haven’t seen a secure solution to the malware, spyware, and pirating problems. However, I do think that apps should be allowed to have alternative options for in app purchases. I think it’s fair for apple to require that an equivalent apple option exists, but I don’t think it’s fair for them to dictate how other people’s apps process payments
Uh… you have the GOP who is all for states rights, and the Dems who think tech is too big. How do you think a federal law would go?This is a really bad idea and I highly doubt it will pass. Apps are not exclusive to one state. You need a federal law in order for this to happen.
You clearly do not understand security and how it applies to software and devices. The more open a system is, the more security focused the user and tech savy the user has to be. Even tech savy people sometimes prefer not having to have that extra consideration of paying a ton of attention to their device because it does require that one pay more attention and care for it. That is not being someone without personal responsibility. That is being someone who has made a choice about what platform has the security they want after the prior system they had let them down. These people made a decision after the system they had lead to their probably novice user getting scammed. Even the most careful user on a windows or even mac os computer can easily run afoul of malware due to how prevalent it is and because there are simply way too many easy ways to get it onto a system these days. All it takes is one miss-click on an email these days on a windows system to get infected. You can be reading an email, and your phone rings and you look down and you click without seeing that the link was not to the place it should have been. And while that is your responsibility, if there is an option out there that does allow you to reduce that chance and you chose to take it should it be removed from you for a small vocal minority that feel all devices should be the same because that is how they like it?Like the person up above who blamed a computer for their mother having gotten scammed out of thousands of dollars?