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A comment on Apple’s fight against iPhone sideloading was pointless at best, harmful at worst. Parent comment

Re:Apple’s fight against iPhone sideloading was pointless at... by criddell on Friday April 21, 2023 @12:10PM (#35655921)
I wish Apple had attacked this from a different perspective. Instead of fighting side loading, remove the reasons that drive a lot of the demand for side loading. I should be able to buy a Kindle book in the Kindle app. If I download the Netflix app I should be able to sign up for Netflix in the app (or at least be redirected to their web site). Don’t charge fees to competitive services (ie music, books, movies, etc…).

I originally thought I would never load a different App Store but now I might. If an App Store came out that was highly curated (ie no casino games, no subscription scams, no advertising against competitors), that listed exactly what the in-app purchases are before buying, and removed developers who get a lot of complaints in the store, I would be interested. Apple hasn’t been a good steward of the App Store.

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Re:Apple’s fight against iPhone sideloading was pointless at... by jonny_eh on Friday April 21, 2023 @12:38PM (#35656339)
And allow: Legal emulators, and alternative browsers (with their own rendering/JS engines)
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Re:Apple’s fight against iPhone sideloading was pointless at... by criddell on Friday April 21, 2023 @12:53PM (#35656569)
I kind of hope they hold out against alternative browsers. Safari on iOS is the last thing stopping a total takeover by Blink.
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Re:Apple’s fight against iPhone sideloading was pointless at... by Gareth321 on Friday April 21, 2023 @01:41PM (#35657352)
They can't. The DMA requires permitting alternate browser engines. See Section 43: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A...

I'm fine with it. Apple has been intentionally hindering WebKit development for years to hobble web apps and maintain their App Store dominance. They'll finally be forced to compete again.

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Re:Apple’s fight against iPhone sideloading was pointless at... by lxgr on Friday April 21, 2023 @12:56PM (#35656644)
> I wish Apple had attacked this from a different perspective. Instead of fighting side loading, remove the reasons that drive a lot of the demand for side loading.

Couldn't have said it better. The only things I could see myself sideloading are indeed the Kindle app (I like being able to single-click buy books without having to switch to Safari), a full browser, and possibly some retro computer, calculator, and console emulators.

All of these are (or at least have been, before I switched) been possible on Android via official apps from the Play Store.

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Re:Apple’s fight against iPhone sideloading was pointless at... by Gareth321 on Friday April 21, 2023 @01:44PM (#35657397)
Years ago they had the chance to shape how installing software outside the App Store would work. They could have gone the Android route and it's possible this legislation never would have arrived. Their arrogance and greed created such a animus that we now have the DMA; one of the most comprehensive pieces of technology focused legislation in my lifetime.
[ Parent | on HN ]