3 ms·

If I were a hostile of any sort—a criminal, a someone with a shady business model preying on PII and fingerprinting, a totalitarian dictatorship, etc.—I would b

If I were a hostile of any sort—a criminal, a someone with a shady business model preying on PII and fingerprinting, a totalitarian dictatorship, etc.—I would be out there on the frontlines, day and night, urging Apple to open up of iOS to alternative browsers and app stores. Attack surface increasing so dramatically, in an ecosystem blindly trusted by millions, is a godsend.

pprotas 3y ago
If I were a friendly of any sort - a user that doesn't want to use Safari, etc. - I would be doing the same
- anileated 3y ago
  Orion and Firefox have been installed on my iPhone for what seems like years, and I didn’t even need to jailbreak it.
  - zilti 3y ago
    No, they have not been installed on your device - all you got is simple branded GUIs on top of the Safari engine.
    - anileated 3y ago
      That is a meaningless distinction to someone who claims to be “a friendly of any sort”. It could be of interest to 1) a very small group of friendlies with orthodox higher goals that are not aligned with the daily interests of 99% other friendlies, 2) a hostile, or 3) an even smaller group of friendlies who intend to use increased attack surface against hostiles. I really suspect that group 2 is the most common out there, but that’d be impossible to ascertain. If I were in it, I would sure as hell not self-identify. (Edited to add group 3.)
madeofpalk 3y ago
It's worth noting, for better or wose, that not just anyone can ship browser engines on iOS. You must apply for an entitlement from Apple, and they must approve you. A part of that approval process seems to require that you stick to similar privacy protections as safari (e.g. third party cookies disabled by default).
- anileated 3y ago
  > You must apply for an entitlement from Apple, and they must approve you. A part of that approval process seems to require that you stick to similar privacy protections as safari (e.g. third party cookies disabled by default). Does it apply to third-party app stores (which was part of my more general point)? Also, I suspect if you just brought a written order signed by a higher-up in the Party, it’d probably help get your browser through to the main app store. Refuse, and get banned in the country.
  - madeofpalk 3y ago
    Yes. Entitlements is a technical security measure of iOS independent of App Store. Your app must have a signed 'bit' from Apple to say it can use the specified APIs.

pprotas 3y ago

If I were a friendly of any sort - a user that doesn't want to use Safari, etc. - I would be doing the same

anileated 3y ago
Orion and Firefox have been installed on my iPhone for what seems like years, and I didn’t even need to jailbreak it.
- zilti 3y ago
  No, they have not been installed on your device - all you got is simple branded GUIs on top of the Safari engine.
  - anileated 3y ago
    That is a meaningless distinction to someone who claims to be “a friendly of any sort”. It could be of interest to 1) a very small group of friendlies with orthodox higher goals that are not aligned with the daily interests of 99% other friendlies, 2) a hostile, or 3) an even smaller group of friendlies who intend to use increased attack surface against hostiles. I really suspect that group 2 is the most common out there, but that’d be impossible to ascertain. If I were in it, I would sure as hell not self-identify. (Edited to add group 3.)

madeofpalk 3y ago

It's worth noting, for better or wose, that not just anyone can ship browser engines on iOS. You must apply for an entitlement from Apple, and they must approve you. A part of that approval process seems to require that you stick to similar privacy protections as safari (e.g. third party cookies disabled by default).

anileated 3y ago
> You must apply for an entitlement from Apple, and they must approve you. A part of that approval process seems to require that you stick to similar privacy protections as safari (e.g. third party cookies disabled by default). Does it apply to third-party app stores (which was part of my more general point)? Also, I suspect if you just brought a written order signed by a higher-up in the Party, it’d probably help get your browser through to the main app store. Refuse, and get banned in the country.
- madeofpalk 3y ago
  Yes. Entitlements is a technical security measure of iOS independent of App Store. Your app must have a signed 'bit' from Apple to say it can use the specified APIs.