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I should be able to install any app I want from a download link, that's what I expect. Apple has no business to make a decision about user choices.

kome 7y ago
no smartphone works like this tho, literally none. that's what activist à la Stallman always pointed out. and they were right , ofc.
- realusername 7y ago
  Oh yeah, Android is also completely broken by design, I'm not advocating for the way it works there either.
  - magduf 7y ago
    No, it's not. It's not perfect, nor is it trivially easy, but it is possible to side-load apps on an Android phone.
    - realusername 7y ago
      It should be something the common user can do, right now you need to go to enable some obscure and scary sounding settings to enable that, that's unreasonable.
      - magduf 7y ago
        It doesn't matter if it's "unreasonable". The key is that it's possible. It's not possible at all on Apple devices, so Android is superior in this regard.
- progman32 7y ago
  Every android phone I've owned can install apks just by opening them in the file manager. Not all Android phones allow this, but many do. On top of that many brands (asus, oneplus, even some Chinese brands) let you unlock the bootloader with official tools. Using this you can take full control. So it's far from 'none'. I recently bought a zenfone 6 because it satisfies this criterion. Asus is even sending devices to alternative os developers to help them out. So we can choose to not support walled gardens, and it's not even hard. It's a question of getting people to value software freedom higher.
ryanjshaw 7y ago
Apple is a publically listed business operating a service (the app store). Their board and directors have a legal responsibility to comply with requests like this.
- realusername 7y ago
  Then maybe they should not operate the app store at all if it's incompatible with user choices. Or at least, leave the user a choice to just download an app elsewhere if they want to. Clicking on a link and installing an app like you would do on windows seems the right thing to do.
  - widowlark 7y ago
    But then how will the squeeze users and developers for unearned capital?
- brianpgordon 7y ago
  How is that even relevant? The parent was specifically saying that you should be able to sideload apps so that even if an app was removed from the official store, you could still install it.
BLKNSLVR 7y ago
That's never been the case with iPhone apps. It's the app store or the highway. That's practically advertised by Apple as a feature of their ecosystem.
- garmaine 7y ago
  You missed the "I should be able to" part of the sentence.

kome 7y ago

no smartphone works like this tho, literally none. that's what activist à la Stallman always pointed out. and they were right , ofc.

realusername 7y ago
Oh yeah, Android is also completely broken by design, I'm not advocating for the way it works there either.
- magduf 7y ago
  No, it's not. It's not perfect, nor is it trivially easy, but it is possible to side-load apps on an Android phone.
  - realusername 7y ago
    It should be something the common user can do, right now you need to go to enable some obscure and scary sounding settings to enable that, that's unreasonable.
    - magduf 7y ago
      It doesn't matter if it's "unreasonable". The key is that it's possible. It's not possible at all on Apple devices, so Android is superior in this regard.
progman32 7y ago
Every android phone I've owned can install apks just by opening them in the file manager. Not all Android phones allow this, but many do. On top of that many brands (asus, oneplus, even some Chinese brands) let you unlock the bootloader with official tools. Using this you can take full control. So it's far from 'none'. I recently bought a zenfone 6 because it satisfies this criterion. Asus is even sending devices to alternative os developers to help them out. So we can choose to not support walled gardens, and it's not even hard. It's a question of getting people to value software freedom higher.

ryanjshaw 7y ago

Apple is a publically listed business operating a service (the app store). Their board and directors have a legal responsibility to comply with requests like this.

realusername 7y ago
Then maybe they should not operate the app store at all if it's incompatible with user choices. Or at least, leave the user a choice to just download an app elsewhere if they want to. Clicking on a link and installing an app like you would do on windows seems the right thing to do.
- widowlark 7y ago
  But then how will the squeeze users and developers for unearned capital?
brianpgordon 7y ago
How is that even relevant? The parent was specifically saying that you should be able to sideload apps so that even if an app was removed from the official store, you could still install it.

BLKNSLVR 7y ago

That's never been the case with iPhone apps. It's the app store or the highway. That's practically advertised by Apple as a feature of their ecosystem.

garmaine 7y ago
You missed the "I should be able to" part of the sentence.