Apple to allow iOS app installs from websites, but small devs don’t qualify
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gourdcaptain
Seniorius Lurkius
Apple will announce a new form of sideloading next week that will require developers to answer riddles three and to win an episode of The Running Man, I swear.
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You do the hokey pokey and you give me all your dough, that's what it's all about!
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Many corporations try not to piss off the EU too much. Apple is taking it to the next level.
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Be cool if we could get any of this in NA though... Clearly, Apple will only open up what they're legally forced to, and even then try to spite it and make it so limited and bad that it won't be a big thing, until the law catches on again and forces them further.
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It has the appearance of bad faith compliance with the European Commission's directives. There's no strong argument why only allowing popular apps to be installed from the web is better for consumers than allowing this for all iOS apps.
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Weird, over here on Android we can side load apps and there are third party app stores, yet Google still runs the Play Store and that's all most normal people use.
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Google would like to complain that Apple won't hold their beer because Google and Apple have differently shaped beer steins.
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Yes, and we learned from the Epic vs Google trial that Android isn't as open as Google has claimed. They were making quite a few backroom deals to keep third-party stores off the platform. You're also assuming the EU won't go after Google with the same fervor they've gone after Apple. Google also puts in several "scare screens" to try and strongly discourage any side loading.
After all of the schemes to avoid paying taxes, data mining, misinformation, and other missteps, I understand why the EU is going after big US tech companies.
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I don’t even know what this is supposed to achieve. At first glance I thought the logic was supposed to be that anything with that large an install base was unlikely to be malware. Then I remembered that there’s a ton of straight up malicious mobile apps out there that have been downloaded hundreds of thousands of times.
So I’m circling back round to “just being petty”.
So I’m circling back round to “just being petty”.
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J.C. Helios
Ars Scholae Palatinae
Well, that rules Epic out for sure! Gotta stay on Apple's good side.
Better wear your best ass-kissing lipstick, European developers!
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EU really making me want to buy an iPhone. Seriously, I never would have considered getting one until they made Apple implement all these changes.
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Or, and I know this sounds strange, they could follow the laws and still profit.
It’s been done before.
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AmanoJyaku
Ars Tribunus Angusticlavius
Because this penalizes developers whose users choose to download solely from the website?
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I would assume it's because Google doesn't drink beer. They prefer cider, as it's made by crushing apples.
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Google is quite "special." Getting in trouble due to avoidable mistakes is normal for their current leadership.
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From the start, I didn't exactly agree with the idea that Apple should be compelled to do this, but the more Apple keeps doing weird stuff like this, the more I'm turning against them. Just let people have the option to install any app they want from anywhere! You already do it on MacOS! It's not that big a deal!
If they're really worried about the integrity of their services or whatever, a reasonable option might be to have 2 iOS "modes": the default/current one, where you can install apps only from the App Store; and one where you can install apps from anywhere, but you're not allowed access to any Apple services (iCloud/iMessage/etc). Basically "it's your computer to do whatever you want with it, but also they're our services and we're not obligated to give you access".
If they're really worried about the integrity of their services or whatever, a reasonable option might be to have 2 iOS "modes": the default/current one, where you can install apps only from the App Store; and one where you can install apps from anywhere, but you're not allowed access to any Apple services (iCloud/iMessage/etc). Basically "it's your computer to do whatever you want with it, but also they're our services and we're not obligated to give you access".
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I'm not assuming anything, nor am I defending anything Google does. I'm calling out the ridiculousness of the claim that Apple allowing side loading means the death of the App Store.
It's so annoying that saying anything against Apple is somehow interpreted as simping for Google. Fuck 'em both. I should be allowed to put whatever fucking software I want on MY phone. I paid for it, it's mine.
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I mean, the minimum install limit is retarded, given how useful it would be for an app like one Im developing for my clients/licensees. Its a small, "internal-use" app that is low-volume. We also have a public app available for general people to use to interact with our licensees. We would love to be able to make the internal-use app only downloadable by our licensees, which is easy enough on Android (hey, download the apk file from our site). There is no confusion from the general public with them accidentally downloading the wrong app because it has our name on it, and then trying to figure out why they can't do anything in it. Except Apple is all "testflight only lasts 90 days", and the B2B stuff seems to require that our licensees have a Business account with Apple (and some of our licensees are like 2-3 people). I mean, I wouldn't even complain if we could restrict downloading to certain Apple accounts from within the app store that we could whitelist...
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"Google would like to complain that Apple won't hold their beer because Google and Apple have differently shaped beer steins."
Apple maintains that Google is holding theirs wrong.
Apple maintains that Google is holding theirs wrong.
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I don’t know if my logic is correct, but I’ll find it a bit of a funny FU to Tim Sweeney if Fortnight isn’t eligible since it’s been off the App Store for over a year and therefore won’t meet the million download requirement.
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This doesn’t sound like anything is really changing.
Developers who have already been successful on iOS have one more option, but the option looks almost identical to their current options. Everyone else is still boxed in.
“Multiple marketplaces” doesn’t make much sense if the company running the marketplace is limited to offering their own apps.
If the system didn't work for the DMA before, I’m not sure how it could with these changes either.
Apple is meticulously going through the DMA and making sure they cover the rules as defined without actually having to give developers the freedom the DMA was designed to give them.
Developers who have already been successful on iOS have one more option, but the option looks almost identical to their current options. Everyone else is still boxed in.
“Multiple marketplaces” doesn’t make much sense if the company running the marketplace is limited to offering their own apps.
If the system didn't work for the DMA before, I’m not sure how it could with these changes either.
Apple is meticulously going through the DMA and making sure they cover the rules as defined without actually having to give developers the freedom the DMA was designed to give them.
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And I'm agreeing with you. I've come around and Apple should allow you to install whatever fucking software you want on your phone, with no restrictions on what developers can do. Google needs to make similar changes and stop tying their services to Android.
It's clear that vertically integrated companies are going to have a difficult time in this new political climate. Globalism is dying a death by a thousand cuts, the DMA is just the latest one. We have legislators here in the US who want to break up Apple entirely. Apple needs to start making severe changes now, while they still have a hand on the wheel, before more sweeping changes are made for them.
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I can sort of see an argument for a download threshold. Presumably having a rather significant number of downloads would indicate the publisher is viewed as more reputable and less likely to be running backdoors, malware, exploits, etc. I'll admit that popular and credible aren't necessarily linked, but I'm slightly less suspicious of an app with more than 100k+ downloads than I am of one with only a few. A part of it being that I assume a popular app has had a least a few specious users competent at security give it a looking at.
That's purely playing a bit of devil's advocate as I'm sure the supermajority of Apple's logic is profit driven.
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To be fair, the way I read the rules, it seems that a developer account has to have an app that has at least 1 million downloads, but then the developer can then offer all their apps as web downloads, even the ones that don't have 1 million downloads. Also, it says the app has to be in "the developer account" to be eligible for web distribution, but that may mean it's not necessarily on the App Store.
I don't know if that helps in your specific instance, but it does seem like it would allow for a "public" app on the App Store, and a more private backend app as a web download only.
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My main issue with the CTF is that it can be abused to bankrupt an indie developer and/or create major financial implications for larger studios, especially for free or freemium apps where there is no upfront purchase cost. Imagine a situation where someone (who is not technically a nonprofit) creates a free app to help LGBTQ+ people find support in their communities. All it takes is a site like Truth Social or Breitbart corralling a bigot mob to install the app - without the intention of actually using it - for the sole purpose of running up CTF fees for the developer. Another scenario could be where an indie game developer with a popular free or freemium game could be decimated financially by a goliath competitor coordinating a similar campaign through bot farms as a service. Apple needs to rethink this.
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I love the quote, but that's not from The Running Man, it's from Robocop.
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