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The Halcyon Days of iPhone. Still have Cydia and Boss Prefs installed on my working OG.
 
My favourite apple rip off, was introduced to iOS 5.1.1- 8.1.1 to the jailbreak community, got canceled by apple only to be finally featured on iOS 9.3 update to the public (by apple).
 

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You ignore that with macOs we have a stable open system for millions of users for decades.

The argument Apple brings for iOS with “security” sounds good. but on the other side the argument “money” by running a monopoly App Store is the better option.
No, Apple just hadn't thought about many things when they developed early macOS. Did you know? Steve Jobs didn't even want to put expansion slots on the original macintosh. And look at today. Apple increasingly put additional safeguards and restrictions on macOS as well. There are plenty of interviews with Craig and the team about how they think macOS could've been more secure. Apple, way from Jobs, wanted control. iOS is the culmination of everything they have learned so far

And this all have nothing to do with what you want. From Apple's perspective, anything bad will not be good in their brand as the logo in that phone is Apple's logo. Apple will ensure control whenever and wherever they see fit.

Apple is control freak, as Steve Jobs was as well. If you refuse to acknowledge that and you still use Apple products, you're simply in denial and will continue to be annoyed at what Apple is/will be doing.
 
Keep suing and keep pushing. AppStore is one but many huge cash cow monopolies Apple has running... justified by "protection" of its users.
 
I feel for Mr Freeman as a former jail breaker from my first I phone. In 2007 loved it but unfortunately I think he will lose this battle Apple has way too much cash to fight this.
 
If alternative app stores are required for non-competitive behavior, can anyone tell me how to load an alternative App Store on my Samsung tv?
 
I feel for Mr Freeman as a former jail breaker from my first I phone. In 2007 loved it but unfortunately I think he will lose this battle Apple has way too much cash to fight this.
But is that really the issue? No one has ever cited a statute that requires an alternative App Store. In fact Cyrus would be free to list apps from the App Store in the Cydia store and use “vbucks” for payment. Same thing essentially as Spotify and Netflix. This whole issue is overblown. You can always by an android and enjoy the security flaws
 
The eternal argument of libertarian vs authoritarian
Actually, a libertarian would support Apple’s position since it involves a contract between two individuals in a free market and government should stay out of contractual relationships other perhaps than to enforce them. The government forcing Apple to open up would be coercive and against libertarian principles.

I too remember the days of jail breaking - when developers had to find ways to prevent piracy to try to be able to get people to pay for their apps. Jail breaking is not piracy but it enabled a lot of piracy. Sideloading may not be the panacea some developers and people on here think.
 
Does Apple have both a Duty & a Responsibility to recommend & present the Best Apps to App Store consumers ?

If Yes, then they are in violation of that Duty & Responsibility !

Here's one example:

Ever since acquiring SnappyCam in late-2013, Apple hasn't recommended ANY similar third-party apps.

Because Apple is able to fully control the Narrative in their App Store, & because they have NO "App Discovery" competition of iOS apps, they have been able to have their way (i.e., suppress third-party App Innovation).

Apple says they don't have a Monopoly & likes to use Android as their example.

But that's NOT the point.

INSIDE the iOS Ecosystem, Apple is judge, jury, & executioner.

Here's another example:

The day BEFORE Apple's BIG iPhone announce in Sept 2019, they pulled Timmy, the ONLY per-Qtr, per-Device "iPhone Unit Sales Estimator" App on the planet, from their "curated" iOS App Store !

Timmy had been available in the iOS App Store since May 2018, & was partly the reason Apple decided to Stop Reporting iPhone Unit Sales.

Both the Judge, & most in the General Public, know very-little about the App Store !

So obviously, some Education is needed :)
 
Apples argument (which I tend to agree with) is that in the end, it won’t be the users choice anymore if they open the flood gates. Once the option to side load exists, developers can and will pull out of the App Store and force their users to side load. If big apps that mainstream users rely on like Facebook/Instagram/WhatsApp, Zoom, Netflix, etc pull out of the App Store, the user no longer has the choice. They HAVE to enable side loading. If employers or schools force you to use an app that isn’t available in the App Store, you don’t have the choice.

Right now, users do have the choice. You can use Android, Windows, or macOS to run third party app stores. iOS and iPadOS are the ONLY options on the market for a closed/curated experience. Why do we need yet another fully open computing platform with no restrictions? We already have them. Can’t we have at least ONE platform like iOS?
Those apps were never pulled from the Google Play Store even though Android users have been able to side load from the beginning. The benefits of the App Store are easy updates and ease of use and it’s better for new users. I had Android for several years and only side loaded maybe two apps.
 
I don't normally comment on my own stories, but this one felt special to write given that I dabbed with the jailbreaking community back in the iOS 1.1.1 through iOS 6 days and fondly remember Jay Freeman (saurik) as the creator of Cydia. I couldn't resist mentioning that Installer.app was the true first "App Store outside of the App Store" contrary to the lawsuit, unless they want to argue that Installer wasn't "comprehensive."

To be 13 years old in 2007 again… fun times.
Absolutely, Cydia was great. What I mostly used it for was tweaks to the OS that Apple wouldn't make, some to this day, like long press on volume keys to skip tracks, press both up/down for play/pause.
 
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Looks like the numerous lawsuits aimed at Apple are starting to unravel one by one. First Epic, now this.
They’re all broadly based on the idea of Apple having a monopoly on Apple’s App Store that’s for Apple’s App Store on Apple’s iPhone running Apple’s iOS. While the outcome is “I can’t buy apps outside the App Store!”, that doesn’t change the fact that large swaths of law depend on a company having control over the devices they create. As long as Apple’s not buying up all the companies making Android phones and shutting them down one by one (OR forcing them to run iOS), then Apple’s position is solid.

Apple’s success isn’t based on stymieing competition (there are more Android vendors today than there were when the iPhone was launched), it’s based on making things that people, for whatever reason, want to pay money for. Not ALL people, no, but enough people.
 
In the same vein, not every lawsuit brought against Apple necessarily means that Apple is in the wrong either, but this forum sure likes to act like it.
What are you talking about!!??, this forum loves Apple, Apple is god in their eyes and thus can never do any wrong.
 
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Honestly, I think this is the right time to say Thank you to Jay/saurik, for the fun youth in the 3GS era, and being the rebel which helped make iOS what it is today.
Did he get paid? I mean, that’s what it’s all about, him getting paid, right? He sees an opportunity to make money here and is trying for it? It’s a LOT easier than, say, going through the effort to create your own phone and OS, that’s for sure.
 
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I agree with the first part that the option to sideload may lead to apps pulling out of the app store. But what is the problem? Not sideloading itself is the security risk but sideloading apps from shady sources. Look at macos for a platform that is versatile but also very secure. Implement other security measures like app signing. It can be done outside of the App store. If you’re afraid of what the data leeches might do: having an open system makes data leeching easier but at the same time makes it also more visible for experts, journalists etc.
The family that has their entire life savings decimated and their financial future ruined due to someone in the family installing an app from a shady source cares little about it being more visible for experts and journalists.

“Sure, mom was talked through reducing the security of her iPhone and installing a malicious app by a guy that says he was with ‘Best Buy’… and now all of our identities have been stolen, our credit ruined and we’ll be evicted by the end of the month, BUT don’t you feel good that the system was more visible for experts and journalists?”
 
But then again, despite Apple claiming how good their app review is, tons of scam apps still end up in the App Store, as they are consistently able to be fooled by decades old tricks like changing app behavior server side after the app is approved, or showing something different if someone opens the app from an Apple IP.
Question, tons of scam apps still end up in the App Store. With allowance for installations from OUTSIDE the App Store, would the amount of scam apps:
1. Increase dramatically
2. Decrease dramatically
3. Stay the same?

Now, consider if you have, as one of your goals, the intent to keep the number of scam apps as low as possible. Not ZERO, that will never happen, but you want, over anything else, for the number of scam apps to be as low as they can.
 
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Does Apple have both a Duty & a Responsibility to recommend & present the Best Apps to App Store consumers ?
No? I mean, every developer feels their app is the BEST app. Should Apple recommend EVERY developer’s app on that basis?

I will say though, that App developers have a duty and a responsibility (especially if they want to make money) to make apps so good that people use them, are delighted by them and recommend them to their friends and family. And, they shouldn’t expect that “preferential placement on the App Store” should be the be all and end all of their marketing strategy. Send copies to reviewers and YouTubers, try to create viral content on social media making folks want to try the app.

A developer is dependent on App Store Discovery ONLY if they want to be.
 
That's not even the issue. Not at all. Jailbreaking depended on an exploit. A way to literally exploit a security flaw on the iPhone. You want Apple to intentionally leave ways to gain root access to iPhones just to suppose the vanishingly tiny jailbreaking community freedom to install other apps on their phones? NO.
I was talking about the broader argument to allow other options to download apps.
 
Of all the things I miss from the golden age of untethered jailbreaks I think I miss Barrel, Transparent Dock, and Five Icon Dock the most.
 
Apple's got the best lawyers on the planet. The legal team itself is way too strong. It's simple as that. It's not worth it.
One might point to this as an example of how the US legal system is broken. Imagine if each side got to select the lawyer for the other side? Or if both sides had to submit their available funds to representation and then they were evenly divided.
 
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The headline is wrong. The lawsuit was not dismissed. The complaint was. The lawsuit is ongoing, and the plaintiff has two weeks to file a new complaint.
 
The eternal argument of libertarian vs authoritarian

I'm not even so sure that's the right analogy? I'm pretty libertarian myself, but I think that also includes protecting the right of a company to build a product that's intended only for use within the parameters they create for it?

I've always felt that as a customer, you have the right to tinker with the hardware however you wish. But doing so may well void any warranty or support you were otherwise entitled to with its purchase.

It seems like the Cydia lawsuit here was doomed to failure from the get-go, because it uses false accusations of Apple as a monopoly as its basis. Just because a company does really well and sells a lot of its product doesn't mean it meets any legal definition of a monopoly. Clearly, you can choose other options for phones or even tablets than the ones Apple makes.

But sure, Apple can say, "We don't want anyone offering alternatives to our App Store." and that's valid and legal. Jailbreaking the phone in order to circumvent that should ALSO be valid and legal. But you can't "have the cake and eat it too" of doing that and still using the device the way Apple intended you to use it.
 
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