That's not exactly what I meant. Obviously any system can be breached. What I mean is that you're not going to get a virus on your iPhone by installing some random software you found a torrent for on a sketchy website. You can nitpick, but no one can make a serious argument that the average user is more likely to encounter malware on an iPhone than Android.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Tim Cook: Users Who Want to Sideload Apps Can Use Android, While the iPhone Experience Maximizes 'Security and Privacy'
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
And you can sign up for a developer account and load any apps you want on xbox (not sure about PS). Its super easy and no charge. It's how you get things like retro arch on there. eg, they do support "sideloading"
I don't have to babysit or worry about my Mac, so that doesn't really track.
There are plenty of other reasons people buy consoles over PCs. Maybe they're not technically inclined, maybe they already have a computer, or maybe they just want to play exclusives, etc. This analogy doesn't really match up with what we're talking about.
People who don't want to sideload could continue to use their phone exactly as they do today. It's an opt-in feature—you could literally ignore it just like how it works on a Mac.
I really hope you're not doing all the rest of your "real serious work" on a Mac or a Windows computer because the security implications of this would be unthinkable!
In all honesty, just don't side load if you don't want to side load. 99% of all Android users probably manage without and the security risks that do exist in the Play Store probably have more to do with Google's review process than with side loading.
I don't have any real push right now to get apps from anywhere but the App Store, but the amount of people who want to be nannied is staggering.
I think you would agree you're not the typical user, look over IOS Beta threads of people having problems and asking for help, that's the typical user. Android for the tinker, always has been by design.
There are two big problems with Apple not allowing sideloading.
First it does not make it possible to allow old versions of an app. Instagram is a good example. A while ago Instagram started spamming the news feeds not only with ads, but also with content from accounts the user does not follow. The Explore tab was basically mixed into the news feed to maximize "engagement". If you want to avoid that, the best solution is to install an old version of Instagram. On Android that works fine, but on iOS that is not possible and you can only use the annoying latest versions of Instagram.
Secondly Apple censors content too much. In Germany nudity is not such a problem, but in the US nudity seems to be worse than hate speech, which is much less censored than nudity. The largest European newspaper "Bild" had topless women on their front page for many years and of course those topless women also appeared in the iOS app. So Apple gave Bild a choice to either get rid of the nipples in the app or face removal from the app store. We are all adults and every straight man loves good looking nipples. Apple behaves like the Taliban when they prevent us from seeing nipples in an app just because the app is installed on one of their products that the customer paid a lot of money for.
And yes, Apple is not a monopoly, but together with Google Apple has a duopoly. iOS and Android are the only mobile oprating systems that have a wide range of apps available. So if one of them puts any restrictions in place, that reduces the freedom of the customers drastically. The customer only has the choice between Google, which sells his data to anyone who is willing to pay for that and Apple, which locks the user into a secure golden cage and nannys him like a kid. It is like the choice between tortured by waterboarding or by K-pop.
Imagine your TV manufacturer would restrict what TV channels you can watch your TV. If there are nipples on a TV channel, the TV will block it, because nipples are bad for you. Wouldn't you want a regulator to step in?
First it does not make it possible to allow old versions of an app. Instagram is a good example. A while ago Instagram started spamming the news feeds not only with ads, but also with content from accounts the user does not follow. The Explore tab was basically mixed into the news feed to maximize "engagement". If you want to avoid that, the best solution is to install an old version of Instagram. On Android that works fine, but on iOS that is not possible and you can only use the annoying latest versions of Instagram.
Secondly Apple censors content too much. In Germany nudity is not such a problem, but in the US nudity seems to be worse than hate speech, which is much less censored than nudity. The largest European newspaper "Bild" had topless women on their front page for many years and of course those topless women also appeared in the iOS app. So Apple gave Bild a choice to either get rid of the nipples in the app or face removal from the app store. We are all adults and every straight man loves good looking nipples. Apple behaves like the Taliban when they prevent us from seeing nipples in an app just because the app is installed on one of their products that the customer paid a lot of money for.
And yes, Apple is not a monopoly, but together with Google Apple has a duopoly. iOS and Android are the only mobile oprating systems that have a wide range of apps available. So if one of them puts any restrictions in place, that reduces the freedom of the customers drastically. The customer only has the choice between Google, which sells his data to anyone who is willing to pay for that and Apple, which locks the user into a secure golden cage and nannys him like a kid. It is like the choice between tortured by waterboarding or by K-pop.
Imagine your TV manufacturer would restrict what TV channels you can watch your TV. If there are nipples on a TV channel, the TV will block it, because nipples are bad for you. Wouldn't you want a regulator to step in?
As a developer I’ve been sideloading things since forever
I don’t understand the need to make this about security when it’s very obviously just a side effect
If that’s how they feel how come macOS is still open? They obviously don’t think the iPhone and iPad should be a computing platform but more like a general purpose console
And personally I find that very disappointing.
I don’t understand the need to make this about security when it’s very obviously just a side effect
If that’s how they feel how come macOS is still open? They obviously don’t think the iPhone and iPad should be a computing platform but more like a general purpose console
And personally I find that very disappointing.
If having an official method puts the vast majority at risk who could care less about any of this, why would Apple do it?
For me it boils down to this: Here's the iPhone - If you don't want one - don't buy one.
I like my iPhone being more secure.
I don't want to side load apps that haven't been checked for dangerous code.
I want to keep my personal details as private as possible... given the world we live in.
I want to choose what information I share and who I share it with.
I don't want companies to use and sell my data without my permission.
If you want something different for your phone then that's your choice too but I don't think Apple should be made to fundamentally change their product.
If Apple is forced to allow side loading of apps onto iPhones, I would want a setting to disable that option. I seem to remember an old Android phone I had, gave me that option in a setting somewhere?
What happens if my friends decide to side load apps onto their iPhones and then share a file with me that ends up stealing my bank card details for example?
The App Store isn't perfect and bad apps seem to slip through but side loading makes it so much more dangerous.
As I said: Here's the iPhone - If you don't want one - don't buy one.
I
I like my iPhone being more secure.
I don't want to side load apps that haven't been checked for dangerous code.
I want to keep my personal details as private as possible... given the world we live in.
I want to choose what information I share and who I share it with.
I don't want companies to use and sell my data without my permission.
If you want something different for your phone then that's your choice too but I don't think Apple should be made to fundamentally change their product.
If Apple is forced to allow side loading of apps onto iPhones, I would want a setting to disable that option. I seem to remember an old Android phone I had, gave me that option in a setting somewhere?
What happens if my friends decide to side load apps onto their iPhones and then share a file with me that ends up stealing my bank card details for example?
The App Store isn't perfect and bad apps seem to slip through but side loading makes it so much more dangerous.
As I said: Here's the iPhone - If you don't want one - don't buy one.
I
You can get a developer account and “sideload“ on your iPhone today then too. As a dev I do it all the time for apps I’m working on. I don’t think that is what people mean, you can’t buy a Xbox game from some random website and download officially onto your console. That is what I’m thinking of.
You were doing ok until the insult in the last sentence, and says more about you.
It doesn't though. It's not on by default. They aren't forcing you to use it. what risk?? You can ignore it and the vast majority will.
As you mentioned, people like us, on this forum are not typical users. We don’t have to babysit our devices. My parents? Not so much.
We’ll just have to agree to disagree on the PC analogy… I think it’s pretty spot on. Androids are much more like PCs, iPhones work like a console.
You think that’s really true? How many Mac apps aren’t in the Mac App Store?
Why do all of you think its some sort of flood gate. On android its a toggle with lots of scary warnings. You have to OPT IN. It would be pretty much exactly as things are now. If you aren't already going around and installing the current sidload methods then nothing changes for you. You'd still have to go actually download and install a sidloaded app, they wont just appear on your device because apple now allows it. Why is this hard?
So don't. The discussion is about alowing sideloading, not forcing you to sideload.
I do like my iPhone, but I still think it could be better.
Sideloading won't affect the security of your phone, so no concerns there.
So don't do that.
Again, not an issue.
Again, not an issue. We're starting to see a pattern here.
Completely unrelated to sideloading.
This is the first thing you've said that I can agree with. People should be allowed to voice their opinions about the products they own. Totally agree with you.
It would likely work exactly as it does right now on Macs. You have to opt in to even try install from other sources, and approve each app to allow it to proceed.
Then the iPhone has far more drastic security issues. Sandboxing should 100% prevent this if Apple has done their job correctly.
Nope. Sideloading does nothing to affect the security of the App Store.
And to reiterate, I do like my iPhone but I still think it could be better.
Again not correct.
How 18 Malware Apps Snuck Into Apple's App Store
Sing it loud: The App Store's not perfect. Especially when it's up against click fraud code this clever.
Emails reveal 128 million iOS users were affected by 'XcodeGhost' malware - 9to5Mac
You may not remember, but a modified copy of Xcode that surfaced on the web in 2015 was responsible for...
9to5mac.com
Again, the vetting process on Apple has failed in the same way that it has on Google Play store.
I will agree (somewhat) that as a framework the iOS environment is more secure, however just owning an iPhone does not guarantee a "get out of malware / security issues" pass. Human nature (wanting easy ways to achieve goals with least effort), will result in people downloading free applications from whatever developer they can find, that will achieve the given goal. People have capitalized and victimized those people on both platforms.
General rule of thumb for both platforms (I live in both, have a 13 Pro and Pixel 6 sitting on my desk in front of me), only install applications you need, and when you select those applications, go with well known developers, or, do some research before installing a 3rd party app on your device.
I assume the required framework to allow the option would be the risk, the same argument Apple used about government back doors.
Apple is so close to Facebook on that topic. I know few people who got banned on FB for posting Led Zep or Pixies album covers. It was appropriate decades ago but not today.
I'm going by think first, then act.
But where is that huge attack vector on macOS, Windows, Linux, Android or Android-based systems?
I'm not talking about 1990s Windows, but modern OS'. Most security related problems today are PEBKAC problems. Or is that the problem Apple is trying to solve when not allowing sideloading? Protecting the "idiots" in a similar way we need warnings that coffee is hot or not to put a hamster in a microwave?
Maybe, yes. If that's the case, let's call it that. ?
This already exists. Google "apple enterprise distribution". Apple sanctioned sideloading but only if you're a big corp.
EDIT: I'll save you the hassle https://developer.apple.com/programs/enterprise/ is so a company can distribute apps outside the app store to their employees devices. aka sideloading. but only if you're big corp and not us plebs.
This is nonsense. No attack vectors open up if they just turn off the seven-day cert renewal. Moreover, Apple could make MORE money by allowing more functionality on the iPhone. Why can't I emulate another computer/OS on the M1? Why can't I buy an app that lets me write an ISO to a flash drive?
I'm willing to pay for these functions.
Maybe, yes. The one thing I'm expecting people to do is think. Maybe not so much in a heated discussion or when confronted with a difficult question without expecting it, but just thinking before pushing buttons. I'm well aware we have a lot of people walking onto streets looking at their phones and then run over by cars. But what can I say... play stupid games...
In a similar way, loading fishy apps from anonymous sources onto a phone/tablet/computer... play stupid games...
Think first.
Anecdotal, but here we go:
My father in law had an android. He’s just a regular user. Not technically minded at all. 70-ish. He asked me to fix it because whenever someone was calling him a big add would pop up and block the screen, so he couldn’t answer the call.
Making an OS/platform that allows that to happen is just breaking the most fundamental use case for a phone.
I have never owned an android and I have no idea what kind of c*** he had installed on it and how he ended there. I removed a lot of weird apps he didn’t even remember installing. Adds everywhere and luring him to installing more apps from unknown sources. I managed to get it somewhat operational again, but advised him to switch to iOS for his next phone, which luckily he did.
Point being:
If you know what you’re doing android is fine.
iPhone, on the other hand, will basically protect you from your own lack of knowledge.