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While it will be nice to ship hobbyist apps through a third party channel, it will only be a matter of time until app users are bullied into installing third pa

While it will be nice to ship hobbyist apps through a third party channel, it will only be a matter of time until app users are bullied into installing third party stores. For the normal user it's less of a "choice" than it is for the technical user. The average user wants to play games on their phone and will submit to any breaches of privacy in order to do so. These average users are the parents, siblings, and children of most technical users. The average app is spyware even on the App Store and I only see it getting worse with these loosened restrictions. That said the content on the App Store is already pretty bad privacy-wise, this is more of a money issue and whether Apple deserves to get paid for their role as an app channel.

kibwen 3y ago
> it will only be a matter of time until app users are bullied into installing third party stores This is a silly meme. On Android, which allows third-party stores, nobody is being bullied into installing any of them.
- turquoisevar 3y ago
  And yet enough people do it to the point that Android makes up more than 50% of all infected devices by virtue of Trojanized banking apps and the like being distributed via third party stores.
  - jjcon 3y ago
    Android has 72% marketshare so even your made up stat would suggest it is safer than iOS
- bfelbo 3y ago
  The only way to play Fortnite on Android is by installing the Epic Games app directly from their website. That’s many millions of users who’ve already had to install a third party store to play a popular game.
- alephaleph 3y ago
  fwiw Amazon tried doing that (and maybe they're still trying?)
- Andrew_nenakhov 3y ago
  Android users from sanctioned countries are very much bullied into installing third-party appstores to install bank apps and the like.
johnnyanmac 3y ago
Why is it "user choice" when someone rants against using a certain store or streaming service, but "bullying" when a developer chooses to host their apps somewhere other than [majority mindshare holder]? It goes both ways. Someone can choose to host an app I value outside of the App store, and I can choose to ignore it. The app may get along fine enough without me, or it will relent and come back. That's just business. And if it's hosted on an alternative store because Apple kicked it off the App Store, that's on Apple.
- bcye 3y ago
  It doesn't exactly go both ways, if Meta puts WhatsApp into their own app store, as a european user you might be very well bullied into allowing even more Meta spyware onto your device. If a developer has such a significant user base you don't have a choice. Same with banking apps: If there are no alternatives that allow you to not use a platform (in this case iOS/Android) you are bullied as you have no choice to not do business with them.
  - sensanaty 3y ago
    Most of my EU friends would absolutely never install a separate Meta store to install WhatsApp, they'd just switch to Signal or Telegram, which lots and lots of people have been doing of late. I mean, there's nothing stopping Zucc from doing this right now on android, yet they don't.
    - bcye 3y ago
      Im not so sure, with enough incentive (in terms of exclusive features) and a slow roll-out (i.e. WhatsApp continues to exist on existing stores) it might very well happen.

kibwen 3y ago

> it will only be a matter of time until app users are bullied into installing third party stores This is a silly meme. On Android, which allows third-party stores, nobody is being bullied into installing any of them.

turquoisevar 3y ago
And yet enough people do it to the point that Android makes up more than 50% of all infected devices by virtue of Trojanized banking apps and the like being distributed via third party stores.
- jjcon 3y ago
  Android has 72% marketshare so even your made up stat would suggest it is safer than iOS
bfelbo 3y ago
The only way to play Fortnite on Android is by installing the Epic Games app directly from their website. That’s many millions of users who’ve already had to install a third party store to play a popular game.
alephaleph 3y ago
fwiw Amazon tried doing that (and maybe they're still trying?)
Andrew_nenakhov 3y ago
Android users from sanctioned countries are very much bullied into installing third-party appstores to install bank apps and the like.

johnnyanmac 3y ago

Why is it "user choice" when someone rants against using a certain store or streaming service, but "bullying" when a developer chooses to host their apps somewhere other than [majority mindshare holder]? It goes both ways. Someone can choose to host an app I value outside of the App store, and I can choose to ignore it. The app may get along fine enough without me, or it will relent and come back. That's just business. And if it's hosted on an alternative store because Apple kicked it off the App Store, that's on Apple.

bcye 3y ago
It doesn't exactly go both ways, if Meta puts WhatsApp into their own app store, as a european user you might be very well bullied into allowing even more Meta spyware onto your device. If a developer has such a significant user base you don't have a choice. Same with banking apps: If there are no alternatives that allow you to not use a platform (in this case iOS/Android) you are bullied as you have no choice to not do business with them.
- sensanaty 3y ago
  Most of my EU friends would absolutely never install a separate Meta store to install WhatsApp, they'd just switch to Signal or Telegram, which lots and lots of people have been doing of late. I mean, there's nothing stopping Zucc from doing this right now on android, yet they don't.
  - bcye 3y ago
    Im not so sure, with enough incentive (in terms of exclusive features) and a slow roll-out (i.e. WhatsApp continues to exist on existing stores) it might very well happen.