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The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee today approved the American Innovation and Choice Online Act, which means it will now move on to the Senate floor for a vote, reports The Wall Street Journal.

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The bill, which was first introduced over the summer, would require major changes to the App Store if passed in its current incarnation. It is designed to prevent "dominant platforms" from "abusing their gatekeeper power" by favoring their own products and services over those of competitors.

It would enable sideloading, a process by which iPhone and iPad users would be able to use alternate app stores or other means to install apps on their devices outside of the App Store. Earlier this week, Apple's Senior Director of Government Affairs Timothy Powderly said that implementing such a change would cause consumers to face "malware, ransomware, and scams."

Sideloading would "hurt competition and discourage innovation" by making it "much harder" to protect the privacy and security of personal devices in the United States, according to Apple.

Apple urged the Senate Judiciary Committee not to approve the act, but it will now advance. Several senators have suggested that they want to see changes implemented before voting in favor of the measure, so it could ultimately be toned down.

Senator Dianne Feinstein criticized the bill and said that it targets a "small number of specific companies," and Senator Alex Padilla said that it was difficult to "see the justification for a bill that regulates the behavior of only a handful of companies while allowing everyone else to continue engaging in that exact same behavior."

Other senators have complained that the bill in its current incarnation is not specific enough and could ultimately result in "collateral damage."

The bill is aimed specifically at Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon, but amendments will see it also including large foreign-owned tech platforms like TikTok. The Senate Judiciary Committee will also soon hear additional bills that also target tech companies.

Article Link: U.S. Senate Panel Approves Antitrust Bill That Would Allow Sideloading
 
Next on their list should be to allow iOS/iPadOS downgrades for devices that are barely usable due to latest update... Or just allow users to stay on the iOS/iPadOS version they prefer...

EDIT: Apple should re-enable restoring affected iPhone, iPad, iPod touch to iOS 5.1.1, iOS 6.1.3/iOS 6.1.4, iOS 8.4.1, iOS 9.3.5, iOS 10.3.3, iOS 12.4.1, and iOS 14.8/iOS 14.8.1 and release iOS 12.5.5 for devices upgrade-able to iOS 13.x and newer
 
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Time for Apple to block all but their barebones base level APIs from apps that don't go through the App Store.

If developers don't want to pay Apple anything, they shouldn't reap the rewards from the billions Apple has spent on development of iOS and hardware over the years.
 
So is this just targeting Apple or will this also apply to game consoles?

I finally got most of my family off of Android just to avoid troubleshooting all their problems. Now I will have to deal with my family members installing random crap on their iOS devices. They already do this enough on their PCs ?‍♂️
 
Say goodbye to security.
In the grand scheme of things, this wont affect me much. If a developer want to use 3rd party appstore, I simply wont buy. It's really simple as 1+1 = 2.

People gullible enough to get scammed will get scammed regardless. Policy makers cant see a problem when it's in front of them. Sometimes you just gotta touch that red burning stove to understand.
 
hope it happens. yeah if you are stupid to install something from a dodgy source it could cause trouble. just don't download from sketchy places.

android, mac os, windows, linux, etc all manage fine letting users download programs from wherever. don't see any reason why iOS would be any different.

apple just wants to keep control and pretend they are keeping users safe. most people can stay safe online. we don't need apple holding our hand. if you download something dangerous then the blame is on you.

side loading isn't a bad thing. it gives you more freedom over your device.

when apple are forced to do this all they need to do is disable it by default. tuck it away in settings and give a warning when enabling it. that way the people too stupid to know what they are doing won't accidentally enable it.
 
In the grand scheme of things, this wont affect me much. If a developer want to use 3rd party appstore, I simply wont buy. It's really simple as 1+1 = 2.

People gullible enough to get scammed will get scammed regardless. Policy makers cant see a problem when it's in front of them. Sometimes you just gotta touch that red burning stove to understand.
Exactly my thinking!
 
DAM. Can I just get this right though, you would only be at risk of you download a sideloaded app right? If you keep to AppStore apps wouldn’t it still technically be secure?
Yes. Security/privacy unaffected as long as you don’t download these non-approved apps. Nothing is 100% secure, but sideloaded apps breaks the checks and balances the App Store provides.
 
Really this is a good thing for the people though. If you want to install apps from a third party app store, go ahead. Apple can word the user agreement for iOS so that Apple is in no way obligated to offer support services to you if what you install causes problems and that they cannot be held liable for any security issues or problems related to loading apps from other sources than the App Store. You have the freedom to do what you want with your device, but you have to accept the responsibility of your actions.
 
Yes. Security/privacy unaffected as long as you don’t download these non-approved apps. Nothing is 100% secure, but sideloaded apps breaks the checks and balances the App Store provides.
This is not true. Some institutions, banks and sellers may require the customer to install the application from outside the apple store. It opens up unlimited possibilities for thieves. These will be tragedies for thousands of people. Like in android.
 
The beetle of your Avatar looks very insecure, you better revert to original, else you might break your neck one day. :p

Stop sideloading car parts!
Changing exterior car parts isn’t a perfect 1:1 analogy. It’s like putting a case on your phone. A better analogy (to side-loaded apps) would be putting in aftermarket engine parts that just occasionally blows up your motor. Or causes your brakes to suddenly fail in traffic.
 
This is not true. Some institutions, banks and sellers may require the customer to install the application from outside the apple store. It opens up unlimited possibilities for thieves. These will be tragedies for thousands of people. Like in android.
You literally said what I said. ?
 
The bill is aimed specifically at Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon, but amendments will see it also including large foreign-owned tech platforms like TikTok. The Senate Judiciary Committee will also soon hear additional bills that also target tech companies.
Not sure how its only aimed at the companies listed above... game consoles like Sony and Microsoft should be targeted as well. Microsoft just bought Activation for billions with the intentions of building a better selection of games specifically for Xbox users.

And you don't think Sony might be a bit concern with a huge company like Activation being bought with the sole purpose of bringing exclusive titles to the Xbox.
 
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