Side loading = malware + viruses
No good will come from this move
No good will come from this move
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.
Upcoming EU Sideloading Bill Would 'Cripple the Privacy and Security Protections' iPhone Users Expect, Says Apple
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I’m not asking to be reasoned with and am not even saying that people shouldn’t be concerned about their privacy. I’m simply asking about what the consequences are that people envision.
Don’t download that app. I don’t have my car insurance company’s app. How would they know if you’re even driving? Maybe you’re just riding as a passenger in someone else’s car.
I believe such things are illegal actually, aside from tobacco users.
Bad assumption.
Last edited:
Same on macOS then? Oh wait.
And this is the impasse often reached with you and some others on this topic.
Those in favor keep saying "nothing bad is going to happen" while the rest of us are worried about what can go wrong. I usually err on the side of things will go wrong and hope to be proven wrong. Almost all apps spy on us, none would tell us they were doing it unless they were forced to, thanks to Apple for trying to get these scumbags to admit what they are doing.
Which is why iOS and macOS manage access to these technologies at the system level, allowing the user to determine whether or not to allow an app to access their location in the first place, or when and to what extent it can be accessed. This has exactly nothing to do with the App Store — macOS apps distributed outside the App Store are subject to these same restrictions.
As of iOS 14, users can elect to provide apps only with their approximate location, where the app only sees a radius of a few miles including the user’s location. (Note that the circle shifts randomly and periodically, so an app would have difficulty triangulating a user's real location over time.) In fact, apps can even optionally request to only ask the user for that approximate location, rather than requiring the user to opt out of providing their exact location like the default Location Services authorization prompt does.
Tangentially, having worked extensively with data tabulated by ZIP Code for a past project, ZIP Codes are awful for geolocation outside major population centers. They are often larger than you think, extremely irregularly shaped, and sometimes even split into multiple discrete areas.
Last edited:
Mass market consumer oriented Corporations aren’t here to serve the economy. They exist to provide a service.
Mass market consumer oriented corporations don’t exist to serve the government.
Not when you are talking about $.99 IAP whose value will be diluted by multiple competing app stores and sideloading.
Morally, apple doesn’t owe one more penny than legally required.
This is not specifically an apple thing.
To add to this though, sandbox escape vulnerabilities have been found in iOS.
So whilst theoretically it’s not possible, the reality is that an iOS device is very unlikely to be a viable platform for malware to thrive.
Of course, things such as Pegasus have existed. The infection vector would be system apps or installed apps.
Never said that, see post #98, I think everything there is a reasonable assumption and all serious.
No one can foresee what will occur as a result of alt-stores and alt-payments so we debate the what ifs, some of us in good faith, some of us just telling others "shutup, nothing bad will happen and nothing will change" because they could care less about the reasons some of us don't want the ecosystem to change. Fact is you have no idea if anything will change or if it will negatively impact the experience of more than those it enhances.
Last edited:
I just wish they would bring back the ability to download apps onto your computer again in iTunes or MacOS and have the option to load apps that are no longer in the store, you can’t do that anymore, Some of my abs can’t be loaded with configurator because it’s not in the store.
Yet, Apple hasn’t done anything like this for Big Sur or Monterey. I wonder why, especially considering the M1 Mac doesn’t even support boot camp anymore.LOL, because every app is available in the Mac store as well as via other stores.
Devs will pull their apps to either:
1) Go it alone and have all traffic point to their store or their store of choice forcing users to have accounts on those stores and provide payment information to "unknown" processors.
2) Get paid by alt stores, like Epic wants, because they have been paid an exclusive fee.
I wish that the Mac platform operated like the iOS platform does! Single source goodness for apps, updates, payments and customer service!
To do that, you need to address the App Store rules first.LOL, because every app is available in the Mac store as well as via other stores.
Devs will pull their apps to either:
1) Go it alone and have all traffic point to their store or their store of choice forcing users to have accounts on those stores and provide payment information to "unknown" processors.
2) Get paid by alt stores, like Epic wants, because they have been paid an exclusive fee.
I wish that the Mac platform operated like the iOS platform does! Single source goodness for apps, updates, payments and customer service!
Let’s be honest, the range of apps available in the MAS is not great. A lot of apps i use just can’t be put on the store for logistical and financial reasons.
And what is this “unknown” processor? Are vendors no longer allow to white label their processing?
I simply mean that not every dev uses a well known payment processor like Apple Pay or PayPal etc, some use processors I have never heard of and that is not encouraging. Take an app like Carbon Copy Cloner, they offer "secure ordering by FastSpring" well who the hell is FastSpring? If they were in the MAS I would be able to pay via Apple's service which I trust far more than a company I never heard of.
If Apple is indeed the technology and innovation company it always claims to be, it will find a way to enable sideloading without sacrificing security or privacy. A way that is not only driven by economic considerations. An innovative and groundbreaking way that truly makes the world a better place.
My recommendation for Apple is to embrace this legislation and make something truly great out of it. Something that could solidify Apple's position for the next decade and well beyond Tim Cook's reign.
My recommendation for Apple is to embrace this legislation and make something truly great out of it. Something that could solidify Apple's position for the next decade and well beyond Tim Cook's reign.
False equivalence. One of the major problems with side loading on iOS is concern over apps misbehaving with regards to privacy in the realm of location tracking data, geo tracking, wi-fi tracking, microphone and camera eavesdropping, text messaging and email theft. While it is certainly true that macOS faces some of these concerns, it pales in comparison to the exposure a (compromised) cell phone provides.
But But Android... yes, you can side load Android. And it comes with all of those privacy risks every time you do it.
Stop comparing iOS to macOS when it comes to side loading. The exposures simply are not the same.
As they say, download another app then.
We need a polling that shows apple user's real opinion. Who knows, perhaps the majority actually wants to side load.
that sounds like a good thing. apple will addapt and do what they think is good. i think that is a bad move and will harm them more, but thats upp to them and developers will just sideload insteadApple competes just fine and voters pull out their wallets to support the iOS platform. Apple processes like 60% of every mobile dollar spent that's tracked. Apple provides a lucrative service for developers... developers just don't want to pay Apple their share.
App Revenue Data (2025)
App Revenue Key StatisticsMobile Ad SpendApp and Game RevenuesiOS App and Game RevenueGoogle Play App and Game RevenueGaming App RevenuesiOS Gaming App RevenueGoogle Play Gaming App RevenueApp RevenuesiOS App RevenueGoogle Play App RevenueApp Revenue by RegionSubscription App RevenueiOS...www.businessofapps.com
Expect Apple to seriously change their model. No more free XCode, no more free signing keys, all that stuff will be super expensive per instance/patch/hosting/device support/etc the same as console makers like Nintendo.
How about we just have a poll of iPhone users. if the majority of customers wants to sideload, then that's a strong argument ,
apple's reputation or security being threatened isn't an argument against the freedom of users to choose, they are adults.
So my Mac isn’t private nor secures
why would you do that? Simply download apps from well known developers, the same as all of you do with your macs. What’s so hard about it? Apple’s marketing blinds some people to ridiculous extremes.
Sounds like a great idea!
Lets ask every iPhone user which they prefer:
1) You can search for, research, purchase, upgrade and get payment support for all apps in one single store with Apple as the payment processor. Every app on this store is required to tell you what data they collect about you. You can upgrade all of your apps easily in this single store.
Or
2) You can download app store apps for Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, Steam, Epic, Google and countless Indie developers web sites in order to find, research, purchase and upgrade your apps. You will need to give each and every one of these entities your personal information including your credit card and at any given time your favorite app can change stores requiring you to then abandon the app or join yet another store. Apps offered this way will NOT be forced to provide privacy information on what data they collect on you to harvest and sell. You must visit each apps store or web site individually in order to receive updates.
Last edited: