Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Because people would do something stupid, get themselves in a mess and then be all over social media blaming Apple, which would potentially damage their image (which they are fiercely protective of)
You could make the same argument for Macs. Oh wait, you couldn't because it's a load of @#$&!.
 
  • Like
  • Disagree
Reactions: IG88 and subi257
I'm not giving reasons to the Pros and Cons, I'm stating that IMO, it's the core reason. Simple as that :)
And it is a good reason, they are a for profit corporation and are committed to provide best ROI for shareholders."side loader geeks" are most likely no where near any kind of majority. I would say that the vast majority of iPhone/iOS users like the device/ecosysem just like it is. Just use, it just works.
 
Just listened to the interview - I feel around 15 minutes in Cook became a little more relaxed, and a little more honest with his answers. Props to Kara for pushing and pushing on certain topics! - Really enjoyed it!
 
No shop carries everything in real life either. There are plenty of decisions made on what goes on the shelves and what doesn’t.
I don’t see why this should be handled differently for digital.
If one doesn't like what Target is selling go to Walmart. If one doesn't like the products in Target, vote with your dollars at Walmart. If one doesn't like the apps in the ios store, go to android.

How is it different?
 
Had to install my preferred VPN program on wife's iPhone. Even with a unique App name it was frightening to have to sieve thru all the lookalike programs hoping to fool me to make in install. There are so, so, so many sketchy developers in the App store. It is frightening. If one makes a mistake, gets fooled by an dark pattern it can mean $500 lost to a fraudulent subscription program. Apple STILL HAS NOT done anything to protect users from this.

Exactly.

And if Apple themselves can't stop scam apps or lookalike apps... do we expect these "alternative" app stores to?

Are we really gonna trust "Jim's App Store" to protect us? Are we excited to give our credit card number to some unknown store?

Look... I don't know what will happen to Apple in the future. They seem to be getting sued on all sides because of their app store policies.

But I, personally, won't be buying apps from some alternative store.

Reminds me of that saying "the devil you know..."

:p
 
I don't think that Apple is going to do anything to make it easier to allow apps not originating from the App Store to be installed on iOS/iPadOS devices. There is already a slow push away from app stores and toward web apps (NOT websites) as they slowly grow in availability. Larger developers will be looking for ways to cut Apple out of the subscription fee percentage.

Apple knows this. If Apple does nothing, they'll eventually lose their grip on installed apps and the revenue stream that results from it. They'll take a carrot-n-stick approach to their "problem"...

The carrot - lower the percentage cut that Apple gets from the sale of apps and subscriptions. This will make it more palatable for developers to stay with the app store rather than go it alone with a web app.

The stick - lock down the web browser engine (under the guise of privacy and security) to hamper the functionality of web apps so that native apps would be preferable.

Apple has weathered the storm of app restrictions this far, with only a few minor tweaks, they can continue to keep things locked down and not lose customers or revenue.
And...if they were to lose all of the customers that want to sideload,I bet that would be less than .5% of their customers...maybe
 
  • Like
Reactions: Captain Trips
It’s a little late for sideloading. People have been sideloading for years.
Not legally.
One possible interesting outcome of this would be to allow alternative OSes on iPhones(Apple support for a boot loader). Apple would basically relegate “third party app stores” to a super-fringe minority who would install a second OS. The only reason I see this as slightly possible is because the AppleSilicon Macs are extremely similar to iPhones and supporting Linux on the M1 would be a good idea for everybody. Other OSes likely would not have accelerated graphics and be mainly used by geeks.
The problem is, that would give alt developers access to the baseband. I don't know if that is legal. I know it is a serious terrorist threat. One application written by bad actors with access to the baseband would be able to trash the entire cell network during or just before a terrorist attack. If nothing else, every single phone with that app could be forced to dial 911 30 times a second, then hang up.
I mean Tim Cook is 60. How many 70 year old (successful) CEO's do you know? I'm not saying they can't exist, but it's uncommon.
I have one in the family.
The issue with side loading apps is that they can use hidden api’s without Apple policing what calls those apps make.

Technically I’m sure that by using low level api’s they shouldn’t you could breach the security and start accessing the memory space of other applications.

people will be saying that they should have the right to break their machine because they paid for it. But Apple sees the health of their machines and ease of fixing any issues as a huge marketing point against android etc

Maldonado, annecdotaly i have actually jail broken an iPad (the first one) and busted it with a sideloaded app so it wouldn’t come on again. And apple replaced it for me (so kind of them!). So it’s very possible to destroy a machine with sideloading etc, especially as Apple don’t design the OS to work like that.

All open OS’s like windows and macOS give the user the opportunity to destroy their machine via software, sometimes permanently. At least to the point where they’d need to restore. I think the difference with say iPhones is that they are primarily communication devices and kind of need to work like appliances not general PC’s. Simply for emergency reason (a phone needs to make calls).

there are so many reasons beyond just purely business for Apple to control how apps are deployed on devices.
When you connect with low level access to the cell networks, you gain the ability to take out a significant portion of the worlds communications infrastructure. This is not a good thing. Even if Apple is forced to open their platform to some level or another, low level calls must remain blocked.
 
It’s the purpose for which the data is collected that is the problem, not the collection itself.

So as long as I collect your personal information and not be malicious about it, then your secrets are private and safe. I will also tell my friend your details and mention to them also not be malicious as well. So then your data should be private with them too.

I'm being pedantic about it because the details matter a lot in this situation and why I am hesitant to believe the their marketing spin regarding privacy here.
 
  • Disagree
Reactions: peanuts_of_pathos
Sideloading of apps also compromises security on a mac. Yet I can do it. So let me do it on my iPhone, too. I'm a grown up, let me decide how I use my own device.

The ability to sideload apps compromises security on a mac even if you don’t sideload. So if apple lets you do it on your iphone, it compromises security of my iphone. I don’t want to be affected by what you “decide.” Maybe being “a grown-up” means that if one really wants the ability to sideload apps one buys an Android phone, and leaves iphone and its superior security model to those who don’t?
 
So as long as I collect your personal information and not be malicious about it, then your secrets are private and safe. I will also tell my friend your details and mention to them also not be malicious as well. So then your data should be private with them too.

I'm being pedantic about it because the details matter a lot in this situation and why I am hesitant to believe the their marketing spin regarding privacy here.
I’m happy for some data to be collected as long as it is SOLELY for the benefit of making the product better for me (I.e., making the features I use now or in the future, better). I am absolutely DEAD AGAINST my data being collected to build advertising profiles or to sell targeted advertising.
 
Let me be really clear. Who cares what Facebook thinks. They, and other data collectors, built entire businesses by turning US into their products without our knowledge more or less, their AI prays on us, manipulates us, damaging democracies and doing other damage to our society. I hope their businesses collapse

Launch .5 already
 
If Apple opened up iOS to things such as side loading, the result is too predictable. People would be trashing their phones left, right and centre without any accountability. Who would get the blame? Apple and iOS.

No, people aren't idiots.

Whether a person is tech-savvy or not, she deserves to know what's going on, and have some choice in her apps are coming from. It isn't just a developer problem; it's a user education problem.

Even if I don't know/care initially where a certain app came from, I'd rather know than not know, and once I know, I think the experience can be much better than the App Store. I'm not just talking about payment systems (needing to go through my Apple ID, paying extra for apps because developers are bundling in the Apple tax) or sideloading otherwise-censored apps. You also have local vendors that are much better at search-indexing in their native languages, game stores that are better at marketing/showcasing their content because they're curated by game developers, a medical app store that's more trustworthy -- and doesn't need a one-size-fits-all Apple guidance or "don't take our medical advice, call 911" type of disclaimer -- because it's curated by a trusted medical company, etc. etc. and a whole slew of other choices that can give the user a better experience.

TLDR: People are knowledgeable and they deserve to be able to exercise that. This argument that users wouldn't know any better and would get their phones into a hot mess of sideloaded apps is dumbing people down way too much. Treat people like they are intelligent beings and they will respond as such. If they don't, then use the UI (and other malware/silent detection built into the OS) to guide them.

As others have pointed out, macOS users are doing just fine. Humans didn't just become dumber because they started using the iPhone.
 
  • Like
Reactions: IG88 and Robospungo
So as long as I collect your personal information and not be malicious about it, then your secrets are private and safe. I will also tell my friend your details and mention to them also not be malicious as well. So then your data should be private with them too.

I'm being pedantic about it because the details matter a lot in this situation and why I am hesitant to believe the their marketing spin regarding privacy here.

I guess it depends of what kind of privacy you're talking about.

At minimum... Apple knows your AppleID (email address) and your phone number if you use an iPhone. Is that acceptable?

Your cell phone carrier knows every phone call you make. And their towers can triangulate your location in every area you visit.

Your ISP knows every website you visit.

There are traffic cameras that can scan every license plate.

The list goes on and on...

At least Apple tries to keep your personal data from falling into the wrong hands. But there is no such thing as privacy if you use technology in the developed world.

:p
 
  • Like
Reactions: RalfTheDog
No, people aren't idiots.

Whether a person is tech-savvy or not, she deserves to know what's going on, and have some choice in her apps are coming from. It isn't just a developer problem; it's a user education problem.

Even if I don't know/care initially where a certain app came from, I'd rather know than not know, and once I know, I think the experience can be much better than the App Store. I'm not just talking about payment systems (needing to go through my Apple ID, paying extra for apps because developers are bundling in the Apple tax) or sideloading otherwise-censored apps. You also have local vendors that are much better at search-indexing in their native languages, game stores that are better at marketing/showcasing their content because they're curated by game developers, a medical app store that's more trustworthy -- and doesn't need a one-size-fits-all Apple guidance or "don't take our medical advice, call 911" type of disclaimer -- because it's curated by a trusted medical company, etc. etc. and a whole slew of other choices that can give the user a better experience.

TLDR: People are knowledgeable and they deserve to be able to exercise that. This argument that users wouldn't know any better and would get their phones into a hot mess of sideloaded apps is dumbing people down way too much. Treat people like they are intelligent beings and they will respond as such. If they don't, then use the UI (and other malware/silent detection built into the OS) to guide them.

As others have pointed out, macOS users are doing just fine. Humans didn't just become dumber because they started using the iPhone.
They didn’t become dumber but iOS was the perfect opportunity to get rid of the downsides of the macOS and windows model and replace it with something better.
 
  • Like
Reactions: subi257
I guess it depends of what kind of privacy you're talking about.

At minimum... Apple knows your AppleID (email address) and your phone number if you use an iPhone. Is that acceptable?

Your cell phone carrier knows every phone call you make. And their towers can triangulate your location in every area you visit.

Your ISP knows every website you visit.

There are traffic cameras that can scan every license plate.

The list goes on and on...

At least Apple tries to keep your personal data from falling into the wrong hands. But there is no such thing as privacy if you use technology in the developed world.

:p
For some we might as well just submit to being surveilled all the time and just live with it, regardless of the downsides.
 
If one doesn't like what Target is selling go to Walmart. If one doesn't like the products in Target, vote with your dollars at Walmart. If one doesn't like the apps in the ios store, go to android.

How is it different?

It isn’t in my opinion.
 
Keyword there is "THEIR ECOSYSTEM" They created it, own it, control it.
No shop carries everything in real life either. There are plenty of decisions made on what goes on the shelves and what doesn’t.
I don’t see why this should be handled differently for digital.
So Microsoft should get to decide what software you’re allowed to install? The only 2 ISPs in your town get to block all web traffic that’s critical of the Republican Party? That’s an... interesting take.

I used to wonder how ideologies like fascism and communism swept over nations and destroyed them so quickly. Turns out the answer is pretty simple: large swaths of the population really like authoritarianism.
 
Humans didn't just become dumber because they started using the iPhone.

Correct, there has always been an element of dumbness, since technology entered the home. I wonder if Windows would have had such a bad rep for viruses and malware, had the internet and a vessel to install software through a secure store had been available back in the day.
 
  • Like
Reactions: RalfTheDog
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.