Why is fragmentation a problem? There's already fragmentation of the smartphone software ecosystem. How is an app that ships on iOS but not the apple store any different to you than an app that doesn't ship on iOS at all? Either way if you choose to only buy apps through apple you can't get it.

Fragmentation means that many apps I want would no longer be available through a vendor that I trust. No, that trust isn't blind or absolute. Yes, I recognise that Apple's review process is patchy at best—but most developers also fear getting on the wrong side of them and THAT alone has been pretty damn effective at keeping most apps under control.

I'm not convinced this is as big a problem as you think it is. If I chose iOS over Android specifically for privacy reasons I'd be interested in knowing what companies avoid the app store to bypass their privacy restrictions. Do you really want to use a product from a company that would do that as soon as they have the chance or would you rather label them as untrustworthy and find an alternative?

If the dominant reason to bypass the Apple App Store was to avoid their privacy controls, I'd wholeheartedly agree with that argument.

Some apps that would choose to be in the App Store if they had to, would instead use an alternative store. Some apps that wouldn't otherwise exist on iOS, would exist on alternative stores. I'd rather sacrifice that second category to ensure that the first category has to be released on the App Store. If I change my mind, I'll get an Android device. I knew what I was getting into when I bought Apple.

Your choice to buy into a unified platform does not require it to be Apple's unified platform. You can probably find a windows phone and opt into that unified platform.

What you don't get regardless is an apple that "throws its weight around" to force competitors and the like to do what apple wants. That's abuse and bad for everyone. That you happen to like it doesn't make it legal