Re:Apple to allow outside app stores in overhaul spurred by ...
by yunwal on Wednesday December 14, 2022 @11:15AM
(#33985639)
> Those apps will be able to steal more of my data, and some of them might (will) be malicious (“poison”).
This seems a bit hyperbolic. I personally have not had this problem on my laptop (a Mac) despite being able to sideload apps, and it likely being a much juicier target.
Re:Apple to allow outside app stores in overhaul spurred by ...
by _aavaa_ on Wednesday December 14, 2022 @12:44AM
(#33980384)
The elephant in the room in this discussion is OS level permissions to access files and information on the phone from outside the app.
The app can do whatever it wants, but if I disable it’s access to the internet at a system level it’s not getting access to the internet.
Even desktop OSes work like this. Just because I install a piece of software on my laptop does not mean that it gets root access.
If I can use alternate stores then some popular apps - Fortnite is an obvious one - will go them exclusively, forcing people to set up and use a store which will probably do less auditing. Those apps will be able to steal more of my data, and some of them might (will) be malicious (“poison”).
Once a malicious app destroys my phone, “the system is down”; I can’t use any apps regardless of where I bought them.
Ransomware is a multi billion dollar business, and alternate stores will be motivated to cut corners. What could go wrong?