> I mean installing an app

I meant exactly that and didn’t mean Jailbreaking. Apple officially supports allowing you to sign apps for your own device with a free developer account, it’s just the signing expires after 7 days (unlike the paid developer accounts which expire after a year). It’s a hassle to need to reinstall weekly (hence my point about it likely not being to one’s liking), but there are apps[0] available to automate the process. So my point stands, nothing is stopping you from using iOS and installing apps from outside the App Store but yourself.

[0] https://altstore.io/

It's an interesting solution which I wasn't aware of (thanks for sharing), but requiring a weekly reinstall and a free developer account (and a computer to automate the process) doesn't seem to be something most people would use. It's also not comparable to what all other mainstream OS allow you to do.

When I install an apk on Android, it works until something breaks. Same on Windows, macOS or Linux. I also don't have to ask Google, Microsoft or Canonical for a free key so I can sign an app created by someone else.

I'm sure this is enough and acceptable for some users, just not for me.

> My problem is not having a way to bypass the App Store

As I’ve shown, there is a way, just not to your liking.

> I'm sure this is enough and acceptable for some users, just not for me.

I agree, I wouldn’t endure it either, but I also have a regular developer and an enterprise developer account so I’m not limited by the short duration.