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This is not an abuse of power. This is looking out for their users' privacy. I would have thought most people at this time would know that Apple does not take

This is not an abuse of power. This is looking out for their users' privacy. I would have thought most people at this time would know that Apple does not take lightly a situation where an app is sending lots of privacy related user behavior to some kind of server somewhere. At a minimum, store this analytics on the phone only. But then again, you may use APIs for reasons other than their intended purpose.

writepub 8y ago
They also don't take competition lightly. Just look at how they banned Steam's game streaming app [1], and retroactively modified app-store policies to substantiate their abuse of power. [1]: https://www.cultofmac.com/552995/app-store-rules-steam-link/ https://www.cultofmac.com/552995/app-store-rules-steam-link/
mthoms 8y ago
In this case, the location data doesn't leave the phone. That's not the issue.
cromwellian 8y ago
Shouldn't I have the choice? If you paid $1000 for a phone, and were using and enjoying this app, and suddenly, it can no longer be updated, because Apple says they want to 'protect' me, why can't I be given the control to decide whether or not I want this protection? After all, there are permissions dialogs. If an app needs location data, and asks me for it, why can't I decide to grant permission of the app to use it for novel new use cases like screen time management? This not only inhibits innovation, it takes away my own agency and ownership of my, very expensive, device. This kind of nanny state, closed source, locked down stuff used to cause everyone to rebel on HN. We'd have people quoting Richard Stallman, etc. These days, it seems like HN has abandoned a lot of its original culture, and is totally willing to cede control of computing to a proprietary, locked down, centralized control mechanism that permits no exploration or hacking, and certainly no forking. Can't we protect users AND allow them to make informed decisions? What if I want to use a battery draining service? There's lots of games that will nuke your battery very fast. Hell, the Camera app on my iPhone 6 used to drain my battery fast. And hanging over this is the spectre that once again, this is Apple killing off third party apps that compete with iOS 12's own built in screen time management features.
- reaperducer 8y ago
  If you paid $1000 for a phone, and were using and enjoying this app, and suddenly, it can no longer be updated, because Apple says they want to 'protect' me, why can't I be given the control to decide whether or not I want this protection? What does the price of a phone have to do with anything? If someone buys a $300 iPhone, or a $25 flip phone, do they not deserve the same amount of privacy or choice?
- saagarjha 8y ago
  > Can't we protect users AND allow them to make informed decisions? Unfortunately, the answer to this question currently seems to be “no”. I have not found a system that both allows people to have “choice” and also prevents the average user from messing up their device.
  - cromwellian 8y ago
    The OpenWeb seems to work pretty well, at least from the standpoint of not getting viruses or malware from it. You could argue about tracking users, but it’s not like the native Facebook iOS doesn’t collect lots of data on you.
    - monocularvision 8y ago
      The app pulled is impossible on the web.
imgabe 8y ago
Why wasn't Apple looking out for users' privacy before they released a similar feature in iOS?

writepub 8y ago

They also don't take competition lightly. Just look at how they banned Steam's game streaming app [1], and retroactively modified app-store policies to substantiate their abuse of power. [1]: https://www.cultofmac.com/552995/app-store-rules-steam-link/ https://www.cultofmac.com/552995/app-store-rules-steam-link/

mthoms 8y ago

In this case, the location data doesn't leave the phone. That's not the issue.

cromwellian 8y ago

Shouldn't I have the choice? If you paid $1000 for a phone, and were using and enjoying this app, and suddenly, it can no longer be updated, because Apple says they want to 'protect' me, why can't I be given the control to decide whether or not I want this protection? After all, there are permissions dialogs. If an app needs location data, and asks me for it, why can't I decide to grant permission of the app to use it for novel new use cases like screen time management? This not only inhibits innovation, it takes away my own agency and ownership of my, very expensive, device. This kind of nanny state, closed source, locked down stuff used to cause everyone to rebel on HN. We'd have people quoting Richard Stallman, etc. These days, it seems like HN has abandoned a lot of its original culture, and is totally willing to cede control of computing to a proprietary, locked down, centralized control mechanism that permits no exploration or hacking, and certainly no forking. Can't we protect users AND allow them to make informed decisions? What if I want to use a battery draining service? There's lots of games that will nuke your battery very fast. Hell, the Camera app on my iPhone 6 used to drain my battery fast. And hanging over this is the spectre that once again, this is Apple killing off third party apps that compete with iOS 12's own built in screen time management features.

reaperducer 8y ago
If you paid $1000 for a phone, and were using and enjoying this app, and suddenly, it can no longer be updated, because Apple says they want to 'protect' me, why can't I be given the control to decide whether or not I want this protection? What does the price of a phone have to do with anything? If someone buys a $300 iPhone, or a $25 flip phone, do they not deserve the same amount of privacy or choice?
saagarjha 8y ago
> Can't we protect users AND allow them to make informed decisions? Unfortunately, the answer to this question currently seems to be “no”. I have not found a system that both allows people to have “choice” and also prevents the average user from messing up their device.
- cromwellian 8y ago
  The OpenWeb seems to work pretty well, at least from the standpoint of not getting viruses or malware from it. You could argue about tracking users, but it’s not like the native Facebook iOS doesn’t collect lots of data on you.
  - monocularvision 8y ago
    The app pulled is impossible on the web.

imgabe 8y ago

Why wasn't Apple looking out for users' privacy before they released a similar feature in iOS?