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> I can load .apk files directly onto my device, without using Google Play Store, which is optional. For several years now, you’ve been able to sideload apps o

> I can load .apk files directly onto my device, without using Google Play Store, which is optional. For several years now, you’ve been able to sideload apps on an iPhone using a free developer account. Yes there are caveats, but those caveats have 3rd party MacOS apps to smooth them over. > is the only mobile browser I know which has a "View Source" command in the menu There’s iPhone apps which add an extension to MobileSafari so it becomes essentially a menu item. > I can even get a command prompt with a GNU/POSIX environment and bash. And I can sort-of kind-of access the file system with a whole array of different tools This exists too on iOS. The app is called iSH and is available on the AppStore. It’s not full filesystem access, but neither is your solution from the sound of it.

mod50ack 5y ago
iOS sideloading is awful. What if you don't have a Mac? What if you need to spend a week away from yours? What if you want to load something and forget it? There is nothing like F-Droid on iOS, and there never could be. Granted, this affects enthusiasts more than the average user, but it's still a key difference. At least you can use extensions on iOS Safari now. This is a major step forward from when I last used an iPhone (iPhone 6 before I switched to Android). On the other hand, you cannot switch rendering engines (as I have, to Gecko with Fennec), nor is there likely to ever be a way to install an extension such as "Bypass Paywalls Clean", which I have in Fennec --- an essential for me, among a number of other great FF extensions). As for iSH, I again must commend Apple for a step forward, as there was no way this would have been allowed a few years ago. It's true that it runs in emulation rather than natively as Termux does, but still, not a bad step. (Termux, btw, can be allowed to access any of the user files, but can't touch the root fs on Android without rooting.)
Talanes 5y ago
>For several years now, you’ve been able to sideload apps on an iPhone using a free developer account. Android doesn't require a specific machine to be able to side-load. Plenty of people only own an iPhone and no other part of the Apple ecosystem, so they effectively cannot sideload.

mod50ack 5y ago

iOS sideloading is awful. What if you don't have a Mac? What if you need to spend a week away from yours? What if you want to load something and forget it? There is nothing like F-Droid on iOS, and there never could be. Granted, this affects enthusiasts more than the average user, but it's still a key difference. At least you can use extensions on iOS Safari now. This is a major step forward from when I last used an iPhone (iPhone 6 before I switched to Android). On the other hand, you cannot switch rendering engines (as I have, to Gecko with Fennec), nor is there likely to ever be a way to install an extension such as "Bypass Paywalls Clean", which I have in Fennec --- an essential for me, among a number of other great FF extensions). As for iSH, I again must commend Apple for a step forward, as there was no way this would have been allowed a few years ago. It's true that it runs in emulation rather than natively as Termux does, but still, not a bad step. (Termux, btw, can be allowed to access any of the user files, but can't touch the root fs on Android without rooting.)

Talanes 5y ago

>For several years now, you’ve been able to sideload apps on an iPhone using a free developer account. Android doesn't require a specific machine to be able to side-load. Plenty of people only own an iPhone and no other part of the Apple ecosystem, so they effectively cannot sideload.