I get that they want a sanitary app store but if I go to myapp.com I should be able to side load.
It would also be nice to side-load from phone to phone in situations like this so that apps can't be blocked by governments like China.
If the apps just verified keys that would be enough so that you know you're installing the app from the right developer.
I don't think having a managed system for installing software is a bad thing at all, though I'm disappointed the big ones don't support third-party repositories. I do think there should always be an option to do it manually.
And walled gardens aren't weird. It has always been the default. I can only install console games approved by Sony, Nintendo etc for example. Printer cartridges were even signed against the printer themselves. Companies have always tried to lock you down in some way.
The term is still in use on the Developer options of Settings where you can decide if UWP apps can be installed outside of the Microsoft Store, though I believe they've backed off drastically, so the default is to 'allow sideloading'.
Depends whether you think the handheld thing is an appliance instead of a processing unit.
We only started complaining about limits on installing apps on phones relatively recently in the life of phones and even smartphones.
We still mostly don’t complain about watches, but within a decade we will.
2. iPhone, Palm, others in late 2000s, attempted to kickstart an open app ecosystem where you could save HTML5 apps to your home screen that worked offline and with no marketplace.
All kinds of apps proliferated briefly, I even had a PacMan clone. Those apps still work, and much more is now exposed through APIs than used to be.
Free distribution remains a viable option for most types of apps. Especially for those developers that are just fine with things like Electron as a platform.
Had developers embraced this and pushed the limits, the ecosystem might have tilted very differently. It might still be possible given enough adoption to warrant platform investment.
I'd much rather stick with a walled garden.
Some level of curation is beneficial. Opting out of the curation should be essential.
Buy Android. (or some obscure non-duopoly platform)
I have no sympathy for the ruthlessness of Apple and its dictatorship about no app can have its own App Store like functionality, but it's also disingenuous to put all the blame on them for where we are today.
What do you mean? After android 7 or 8, the "install unknown apps" permission was per-app rather than being a global setting[1]. That means you can allow f-droid to install apps but not your weather app. The only difference is that third party apps can't install apps "silently" (you have to manually confirm each install/update through a system dialog).
[1] random image result: https://media.kasperskydaily.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/92...
Just two clicks. One for share button. One to add to home screen.
So what. Should my computing experience be crippled because people are ignorant to security practices? Should we hold the market back because uncle Marty keeps visiting gross sites with Internet Explorer?...
I will quote Benjamin Franklin
" Those Who Sacrifice Liberty For Security Deserve Neither."
https://coderwall.com/p/cea3fw/resign-ipa-with-new-distribut...
Products are available on the market to suit both preferences.
Mandating sideloading would remove consumer choice.
It would also be compelled speech, since code is considered speech.
How exactly are you affected by an optional thing that is off by default and hidden away. Apple could force you to watch some videos that explain why this is dangerous and make you read all the warnings.
Some smart developers and designers could design this so grandma is not tricked to install malware, you could even require you take a quiz online.
You also have the Mac OS example, it is not locked down and the viruses and malware are not rampant.
Honest question , can you take 1 minute and consider thins, is there a large monetary incentive for Apple to lock down iOS?
No developer license needed, though it is slightly technical (but not outrageously so).
2016 article: http://osxdaily.com/2016/01/12/howto-sideload-apps-iphone-ip...
Edit: It looks like you need a Mac computer to do this.
Great. Maybe get yourself a developer license and do as you please. I applaud the fact that whatever I install comes with some sort of safety constraint.
All the headlines were saying that the app was "banned"/removed from the store, leading to massive outrage.
When you see an apparently sudden influx of mostly negative OR mostly positive news about something, suspect that it's paid for.
See cases like https://www.google.com/search?q=samsung+paid+students+for+re...
Citation? There are an estimated 2M+ apps on the App Store now. How many are sitting in a not approved purgatory? I've written a few iOS apps over the years and either been approved or told I was missing a proper sized screenshot and once fixed then immediately approved.
Approval is the default state, which is why it's news when an app is not approved.
Apparently we magically started mis-using the Apple Pay log and were promoting Google/Android for having the Google Pay logo. I responded back asking if we needed to remove the PayPal, Visa and Mastercard logs since they were competing platforms to Apple Pay as well. The random reviewer that looked at it next said it was fine and approved it.
For macOS, iPadOS, iOS for my watch, and iOS for my iPhone, I like the protected walled garden. I also like to sometimes use my Chromebook for the same reason: these closed platforms feel more secure to me.
I am happy that Apple OKed the HKMap.live app.
No one wants to take away the option to only use Apple's store.
"Beginning in macOS 10.15, notarization is required by default for all software." [1]
How many users would even figure out (if it's possible and) how to bypass this? Looks like developers will have to do a lot more.
[1]: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/security/notarizin...
But then I wonder how there are multiple crowd sourced speed camera apps.
If almost all speed cameras are in the app, then you can just slow down near the cameras and speed everywhere else.
If there's no app, you don't know where the cameras are, so you need to be careful everywhere.
Protestors being infiltrated by those who wish to subdue them, has been a thing since forever.
We’ve been rejected until we came up with our own graphics for emoji. Who knows, maybe this was why they were rejected. Also, the UI is quite buggy. Could be another reason.
But anyway, if you're in China - be careful, seems like Chinese icloud (or something like it) under government control, too many issues/speculations about it.
