> It would enable Apple to get rid of a shedload of insecure , spammy apps that provide minimal benefits to users in a crowded app market. But those apps would

> It would enable Apple to get rid of a shedload of insecure , spammy apps that provide minimal benefits to users in a crowded app market. But those apps would still be Apple's problem, because they run on Apple's operating system. If Apple lets other "stores" on the platform, you can bet one of them is going to be the cesspool of every bad app there ever was; and when those apps do damage, Apple will be blamed. Think of it this way: At the moment, there are two layers of protection for iOS users. The first layer is the app approval layer; the vast majority of malicious apps just don't get approved at all. Then, for those that slip past that defense, there are the normal OS defenses. And if an app is caught violating the rules, they can be kicked out. If they let other app stores onto their platform, suddenly that first layer is gone: every malicious app in existence will find its way onto a chunk of their users' phones, at which point the OS protection are a single point of failure.