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In this case it is telegram which the government ought to need to compel. Or they could make Apple remove the telegram app. But that hasn’t happened
by dan-robertson 6y ago
In this case it is telegram which the government ought to need to compel. Or they could make Apple remove the telegram app. But that hasn’t happened
- Wowfunhappy 6y ago> Or they could make Apple remove the telegram app. Which is effective primarily because there’s no (practical) way to sideload on iOS! This is why I’ve always seen the locked-down nature of the iPhone as a threat to free expression first and foremost. Apple is responsible for setting the system up this way.
- kace91 6y agoI don't fully buy this idea, because I've never seen an app become successfully widespread through side loading. The technical friction is just too high for non technical users. I agree that we need a solution to monopolistic app stores though.
- banachtarski 6y agoThis is somewhat circular reasoning though. Apple and Google have deliberately made it impossible or difficult to sideload to maximize profits.
- shadowgovt 6y agoThere's nothing particularly difficult about side loading on Google. It's off by default because it's an excellent vector for malicious actors to compromise a user's phone. Users, in the average case, haven't gotten smarter since the days of trojans and malware running rampant under the Windows architecture.
- paulgb 6y ago> I've never seen an app become successfully widespread through side loading Isn't Fortnite on Android an example of this? It was in the Play store for a pariod, but IIRC it was not when it was first released and isn't there again after their spat with Google.
- tripzilch 6y ago> I don't fully buy this idea Apple is currently literally being a threat to free expression in a situation where it really matters. You don't need to buy the idea, but they're doing it.
- kace91 6y agoI don't fully buy the idea _that sideloading solves this potential abuse_, not that the abuse exists, I thought that was clear. I'd hate it if the big players got to take decisions against human rights under the excuse that an alternative technically exists.
- supportlocal4h 6y agoWhy does a single app have to be widespread to matter? This is exactly the case where a small group would want a particular app because their life and freedom depend on it. They're not looking to put Facebook out of business or be the next big world fad.
- toyg 6y agoI agree in principle. In practice, this can be achieved today for a handful of apps with AltStore.io.
- Wowfunhappy 6y agoAltStore is great, but it requires you to run a server on a computer on the same wifi network as your phone, at least once week. I don't consider this a particularly practical way to side-load, even if it is better than the alternatives. Protestors in Belarus shouldn't need to also be IT administrators. Sideloading does have risks, and so it doesn't need to be too easy. As a point of comparison, I really like how disabling SIP works on the Mac—the user needs to reboot the computer into recovery mode and run a short Terminal command. This process feels dangerous, but it's really quite easy, and it only needs to be done once per machine. I could guide even a very technology-illiterate person through the process, if I absolutely needed to.
- dan-robertson 6y agoCan’t telegram be accessed through a website?
- Wowfunhappy 6y agoNo push notifications, among other limitations.