4 ms·

Why can't we have it so that users can run code of their choosing without permanently disabling security features?

by shawnz 6y ago

robocat 6y ago
You can run as much of your own JavaScript as you want, within a secure sandbox that won’t compromise other apps.
- shawnz 6y ago
  In some cases that can't give sufficient performance or functionality. Sideloading of native apps within a secure sandbox as on Android would be an improvement.
coldtea 6y ago
Because some security features depend on not run arbitrary code?
usrusr 6y ago
Just yesterday I have been wondering what it would take to run inside iOS userspace the API (and vm) environment AOSP is providing to apps. Isn't Microsoft working on something similar for Windows as a host? Clearly it would be the biggest violation of the "no language interpreters in iOS!" rule ever, but given the incredible decline of non-phablet Android the i12 mini is just so very attractive... and I'd rather bet on a userspace API container on top of the vendor OS than replicate the customary experienced of Android custom ROMs on devices with even less hardware support/documentation than usual.
- saagarjha 6y ago
  People have done it with Linux; exposing the rest of Android is not out of the question. (The main issue here will be performance, since there isn’t much support for anything but interpretation.)
  - usrusr 6y ago
    Oh, right, a JIT (or a client-side AOT) would require permissions for writing to self in an executable way that aren't available to native (but third-party) iOS apps, right? Not even if you compile the runtime with your own xcode for your own device. Easy to forget about that when you are used to a garden with marginally lower walls (I'm not pretending that stock android is the complete opposite, just marginally less locked)
    - saagarjha 6y ago
      There are strange exceptions but they are not anywhere near general-purpose, yes.

Why can't we have it so that users can run code of their choosing without permanently disabling security features?

by shawnz 6y ago

Why can't we have it so that users can run code of their choosing without permanently disabling security features?

robocat 6y ago

You can run as much of your own JavaScript as you want, within a secure sandbox that won’t compromise other apps.

shawnz 6y ago
In some cases that can't give sufficient performance or functionality. Sideloading of native apps within a secure sandbox as on Android would be an improvement.

coldtea 6y ago

Because some security features depend on not run arbitrary code?

usrusr 6y ago

Just yesterday I have been wondering what it would take to run inside iOS userspace the API (and vm) environment AOSP is providing to apps. Isn't Microsoft working on something similar for Windows as a host? Clearly it would be the biggest violation of the "no language interpreters in iOS!" rule ever, but given the incredible decline of non-phablet Android the i12 mini is just so very attractive... and I'd rather bet on a userspace API container on top of the vendor OS than replicate the customary experienced of Android custom ROMs on devices with even less hardware support/documentation than usual.

saagarjha 6y ago
People have done it with Linux; exposing the rest of Android is not out of the question. (The main issue here will be performance, since there isn’t much support for anything but interpretation.)
- usrusr 6y ago
  Oh, right, a JIT (or a client-side AOT) would require permissions for writing to self in an executable way that aren't available to native (but third-party) iOS apps, right? Not even if you compile the runtime with your own xcode for your own device. Easy to forget about that when you are used to a garden with marginally lower walls (I'm not pretending that stock android is the complete opposite, just marginally less locked)
  - saagarjha 6y ago
    There are strange exceptions but they are not anywhere near general-purpose, yes.