This FUD remains as if they don't know situation on Android.

If you're so scared of Facebook, don't use it. Trotting it out as a scare tactic is just whataboutism, considering the scenario you're paranoid about hasn't happened on Android, macOS, etc.

The real question is : is it Apple’s role to protect people against Facebook or Google ? I mean, if you want to be protected against Facebook, just delete the app.

It’s the role of regulators to stop data hoarding.

Also this narrative is complete bullshit from Apple since those protections never came from App Store’s policies enforcement but from iOS sandboxing mechanisms which are not going to disappear for sideloaded apps.

I’m pretty amazed that on HN, of all the places, people still believe the narrative that the Apple reviewing process can enforce app behavior while all they’ve got to review is a binary. The App Store reviewing is just there to check if you are loyal into Apple.

> It’s the role of regulators to stop data hoarding.

Okay well they can stop Apple's enforcement of their tracking policies after they make regulations against data hoarding. Not beforehand leaving us with the only choices of be tracked or give up on the app entirely when we currently have a third option to use apps without accurate tracking.

> I’m pretty amazed that on HN, of all the places, people still believe the narrative that the Apple reviewing process can enforce app behavior while all they’ve got to review is a binary.

You don't need to believe Apple. You can believe all the ad companies revenue dropping by 30% for mobile users the quarter after Apple rolled out the tracking changes. There's a reason all these apps began you to click yes before showing the iOS system popup for tracking permissions.

It’s not just sandboxing. The number of users who can be tricked into approving access to services (essentially phishing) is quite large.

The App Store review process actually does do a surprisingly good job at keeping malware apps off it.

Just how it happened on Android! Oh, wait…

Sideloading is already a thing on Android, and I am not forced to use these apps to use the Android ecosystem. Mind you there are certain phone manufacturers who pack their phone full of crap, but I have a large selection of Android phones to choose from to avoid that. Even Google doesn't force me to use their app store.

You could use the same point to argue that you have a large selection of phones to avoid walled gardens like iOS.

Honestly, as an iPhone user I don't mind these changes as long as apps and services don't force me to use alternative app stores.

How much does Apple's privacy restrictions affect a company the size of Meta ?

Sure, there was the direct commercial impact the moment the changes were implemented. But Meta is still doing the same business, it still keeps track of a tremendous amount of user data, and it's revenue is back to where it was before Apple's changes.

Same for Google or Reddit, they are in a position where Apple limiting their tracking range seem to have little to no impact on their whole business.

I still think some limitation is better than none, but it also doesn't look like a huge deal for any of them. At least not enough to force all users to go through sideloading just to get that extra bit of data.

The great thing about allowing sideloading is that it enables the community to build 3rd party apps for accessing services like Facebook, even though doing so violates the service's ToS. You can't put a lightweight and tracking-resistant FB client in the App Store.

I don't that's a problem of distribution but rather getting the data in the first place. Why wouldn't Facebook prevent those services from accessing the data? Ask the developer of Apollo, the Reddit client, how well relying on a third-party works.

Wasn't Apollo killed exactly by the fact that it would no longer be allowed on app stores?

Don't use said data hoarding apps, then? Or use the web versions?