A VR headset from Apple just seems like a solution in search of a problem - I think Meta is proving that while VR is fun, it doesn't seem to be the 'next big thing'.
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iOS 17 Coming Later This Year: Here's What to Expect
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What market? The market for iOS apps? This was the key question in the recent trial with Epic and I believe it was interpreted incorrectly.
The market for iOS apps is 100% controlled by Apple. Where are they going to go, Android? There is not truly an option. And if it were then we just have the same situation with Google as the arbiter.
I'm not arguing in favor of sideloading / third party app stores. I think we've gotten into a situation where there just is no good solution. I'm not happy with some of the arbitrary decisions Apple makes about what apps can and can't do, but unless I want to go to Android (I don't) then I just have to deal with it. And Apple has been especially bad about "hearing from customers" lately.
On the flipside, third party app stores introduce a whole new set of problems without really addressing anything besides how our money as consumers gets divided up.
It's not just privacy. It is not bloating your computer with unknown libraries and processes, knowing that you can easily remove stuff you downloaded, easily cancel subscriptions, don't hand over credit card info to everyone, examining the declared app integrity, etc.
I'm glad you feel fine without that. And I am still trying to resist spyware, crapware, trojans, trackers, etc, and will opt for another system with a walled garden. Consumer choice. You can have your system, and I can have mine. But now my system will gradually go away, and consumer choice is removed.
Market for app development. If the fees were too high, people won't develop. Apple has been bringing the fees down inline to keep the market in demand for iOS app development.
IIRC, one of the trials ruled that "success is not illegal". You have the option of ditching the App Store and go web only or go Android only.
As it should. Xbox apps are 100% controlled by Microsoft. Playstation apps are 100% controlled by Sony, Switch apps are 100% controlled by Nintendo. Tesla apps are 100% controlled by Tesla. My Samsung TV apps are 100% controlled by Samsung.
Disagreed. Android is literally an option. You can distribute your app directly to customers and not even requiring a store. Android lets you start your own store on their platform too.
I think the whole MacBook Pro redesign says otherwise. Magsafe is back, no more butterfly switch, HDMI/SD slots.
Mostly excellent points. I disagree about the market though. Developers aren’t the market. Developers develop because there are users on the platform, the platform is the market.
Success is not illegal. However I did make a comparison earlier to AT&T. They invented it, built it, and developed it out. Should AT&T be in sole control of the telephone system? Why or why not? I think we all agree not because at a certain point there is a public good to requiring some degree of openness and interoperability. Is Apple at that point? Debatable.
The companies you make comparisons to are in one market, games. That’s not a platform. They make platforms specifically for games but the games themselves are the market. The other two are not relevant comparisons. And even then, the markets for cars and televisions are both regulated by interoperability standards.
Apple made a general purpose computing platform. With the duopoly between them and Google, there is precedent for regulation. I don’t advocate for or against that, all I’m saying is that Apple has clearly been a poor steward of the App Store, and hypocritical on top of it. They have used it as a weapon. Their policies go above and beyond what is reasonable to actual run a safe app store.
I don’t know what the best solution is here, I’m just saying there is clearly a problem I wish Apple would address on their own.
Yes, the MacBook Pro was a grand slam. But it took how many years of low sales and bitter complaints by extremely high profile people like Taika Waititi in an awards acceptance speech? And they still never actually acknowledged doing anything wrong. The App Store doesn’t get nearly the attention, and neither do a lot of the other nerdy issues that go under the mainstream radar that Apple needs to address.
To be clear, I complain because I care. I’m on this platform because it is the best option. I just want Apple to take its fingers out of its ears about a few issues before they get dragged through every court on Earth and decisions get made whether Apple likes it or not that may or may not be the best solutions.
IOS has been a dumpster fire so them taking time to fix the bugs (because clearly, they can't work on more than one project at a time) is ok.
There's a developer market.
Apple solved the chicken and egg problem. Users are on the platform because largely in part of apps. Developers are developing apps because of healthy customer base and it's financially sound to do so.
AT&T should be in control of their service yes. They controlled what came on the cell phone. Then Apple went to Cingular and made a deal that the phone carrier was not allowed to dictate that anymore. The market did its job.
Nope. Platform is just an environment in which a piece of software is executed. Those devices are literally platforms.
I don't know what you mean by Tesla being regulated by interoperability standards. Data in the Tesla cannot be brought over to a Ford.
General purpose computing platform does not mean it must be an open system. There's nothing to suggest that.
No problem. It's up to the developers/customers to vote with their time and wallets. Market is still able to do its job.
You were making the assertion "And Apple has been especially bad about "hearing from customers" lately.". I'm proving that false. You're moving goal posts now.
Many years of low sales proves that the market can force Apple's hand.
If the App Store was such a pain, developers should leave, users should stop buying apps and that will force Apple's hand. So far, Apple's rates and rules are still good enough to keep developers/users around. And as long as Android is still a viable option/competitor, there's very little reason for regulating the app store.
I really, really wish they would make this the iOS where they make awesome fixes to Siri, and bring back the functions that Siri had that they have taken away. With Siri being the common denominator amongst all their devices, especially the ones that depend heavily on Siri, like HomePod, Watch (because the screen is so small) and any possible upcoming reality devices, apple ought to direct their energy towards fixing it and bumping up its capabilities AND SAY SO. We shouldn’t have to look at YouTube videos to find what new capabilities Siri has. How about a monthly Siri newsletter? I have wanted this for every year that Siri has been out and been disappointed each year, so I don’t expect that they will do it. We will all have to turn to chatGPT.
Took Apple to iOS 15.7.1 to make it relatively stable only to discontinue it for newer devices and forcing people to get the newer iOS, which is still in the works at 16.2 with more updates to come.
Concentrate on quality control and make iOS 17 stable in the first few releases so it doesn't go near 17.9.9.x before its relatively stable and doesn't eat up battery life.
Concentrate on quality control and make iOS 17 stable in the first few releases so it doesn't go near 17.9.9.x before its relatively stable and doesn't eat up battery life.
Both are definitely getting iOS 17. Probably iOS 18 and 19 as well. I wouldn’t be surprised if the iPhone 8 and X got iOS 17 if it’s mainly a bug-fix update with minor new features added.
Will we be able to get some silent mode indicator 🔕 in the statusbar/lockscreen? Tired of missing calls occasionally.😔
Have you considered using a Focus Mode for that? Those display on on the Lock Screen and Status Bar.
Fewer features are good, Apple has been scraping the bottom of the barrel for a while - you know it's bad when things like Shareplay and memojis are major
My wishlist:
- integrate recovery into Apple health. Which days to train hard, which days to do recovery workouts etc. That could also integrate into Apple health challenges. Currently, they just add more to what you already did no matter what.
- improve Apple Music. Compared to Spotify, the UI and music discovery are horrible.
- ipados - just add that calculator already
- watchos - add the ability to broadcast heart rate from the workout app, rather than having to use separate workout apps for that.
My wishlist:
- integrate recovery into Apple health. Which days to train hard, which days to do recovery workouts etc. That could also integrate into Apple health challenges. Currently, they just add more to what you already did no matter what.
- improve Apple Music. Compared to Spotify, the UI and music discovery are horrible.
- ipados - just add that calculator already
- watchos - add the ability to broadcast heart rate from the workout app, rather than having to use separate workout apps for that.
I would soooo love the ability to do aftermarket third-party CarPlay mods to my 2012 Ford Fusion xD
lmao
The sad (for your argument, that is) reality is that the App Store user base is too big of a target for corporations to pull out of it. If, as you said, the "sideloading 1%" is really a minority, then really, corporations would lose by pulling out of the App Store.
Back on topic, I'm looking forward to third party app stores, even if that's all there is to iOS 17.
Oh wow, I beg you to show me how you use your Samsung TV to make calls and your Tesla to check your email.
I never think about any of this stuff. Like I said, I've been online for nearly 40 years. I've had my credit card number stolen numerous times, but that's always happened in the real world or from a data breach, never from an app I downloaded. I see so much needless fear and paranoia around online privacy these days, because it's a very effective marketing tool. It's a classic formula. Make people afraid and they will follow you, buy what you're selling, etc.
Those "unknown libraries and processes" are part of the app. Where's the evidence that third party apps obtained directly from developers are full of evil things? Let's be real. Why would a reputable developer destroy his or her reputation by secretly installing a bunch of crap on your computer? It makes no sense.
Removing stuff on the Mac these days is pretty straightforward. Drag to trash. Might some support files be left over in the Library folder? Sure. But how do you know that isn't happening on your iPhone? At least on the Mac I can use the Finder to look at the file system.
No one at Apple is examining apps for integrity either. The App Store is full of apps that harvest data and sell it. This has been proven time and again. "Scam" apps make it through all the time. Apple doesn't have time to examine every app's code. It would take ages to approve an app if that were true. That's why so we see a steady drip of apps getting pulled for some violation that comes to light after they've been approved, not before.
I beg to differ. No one who claims that third party app stores will ruin the integrity of the iOS "walled garden" has been able to explain how this will happen. There's a lot of hand-ringing and hyperbole on these forums every time the topic comes up, but never a convincing argument.
If you only use the Apple App Store, nothing changes for you. You stay in a walled garden. So, how is your system gradually going away? Simply allowing third party app stores and side-loading does not compromise your system one bit. Some people say things like "well, I'll be forced to download Facebook's app from their app store", and I say, so what? That's the free market. Don't use the app if you don't want to download it from Facebook. That argument is incredibly entitled and fails to demonstrate how third party app stores will weaken iOS security.
Stupid take really. Microsoft stands to earn billions more by forcing people to download an essential store (people need Office) and delivering their game franchises through that.
Majority of people don't *WANT* to sideload, but corporations can *FORCE* them to sideload.
Look at Epic, they were ready to pull out and risked Fortnite.
And how would this store be different from Apple's, aside from the increased difficulty of installation (presumably, if Apple decides to follow the Android model)?
The majority of people doesn't even know what sideloading is, let alone how to do it. You overestimate the average person's ability to do something they aren't used to (technologically speaking).
Epic wanted a bigger cut than Apple was willing to give, the app store argument was totally just an excuse to mobilize public opinion. Since they couldn't get what they wanted, this argument stuck. They wouldn't get more users through a hidden app store than they would through Apple's.
You're equating the closed environment of your cellphone to those of your gaming consoles, smart car and television, but it's clear from their purpose that they aren't. So I don't think there was a point.
Microsoft takes 100% of the cut.
If people rely on Microsoft/Adobe/Google productivity apps to function, they will be forced to do it.
If a popular game decides to ditch the App Store, kids will google up how to do it.
No. The argument was Epic was ready to risk Fortnite in hopes of allowing a way for Epic to earn 100% of revenue of not only Fortnite, but their own Epic game store they own. Epic games will offer plenty of exclusive popular games which would drive users to install their store.
They're were playing an uphill battle against Steam and so far Epic Games have a substantial user base.
CarAnology said a platform owner controls 100% of the apps. I gave examples of other platform owners controlling 100% of the apps. There was never an assertion that only cellphones should be open but other platforms should be closed. You're trying to make the argument about that when it was never stated to be that.
And why shouldn't they be allowed to do that? The stupid take is the App Store apologist argument. I'm kind of surprised Apple doesn't demand a cut of movie and TV revenue for everything edited in Final Cut. Or a cut of album sales for everything produced with Logic. I'm sure you'd be okay with that too, right?
Lol. And you know this how? Most people don't know what side-loading is. And, no, corporations can't force you to do anything. You can choose whether or not to use the app. Corporations can choose where/how to sell it and customers can choose whether or not they buy it.
The only one doing the forcing these days is Apple. Forcing their laughably hypocritical morality on developers and customers alike (no porn apps, but sex hookup apps are fine!). Forcing every developer into a "take it or leave it" agreement in order to sell their apps. Forcing users to sign up for being nannied by a big corporation in order to use the platform. Forcing developers to limit what kind of apps they develop because the big nanny says so.
When side-loading is allowed, you can stay in your App Store safe space and nothing changes for you.
Yup. It's always nice when people stick to their principles. Apple thinking it has the right to a cut of everything that happens on iOS is so morally bankrupt.