The problem is not just the app store, it's the lack of sideloading, the fact that as a developer, you HAVE to go through the app store to have an iOS app at al

The problem is not just the app store, it's the lack of sideloading, the fact that as a developer, you HAVE to go through the app store to have an iOS app at all. The fact that Apple forcibly inserts itself between you and your users and acts as if they had a role in you earning this relationship. While in real life, app stores themselves hardly earn apps any users. Most of the time, people install an app thanks to the app developer's own marketing efforts. If you want a real-world example of an app store on a platform where there are alternative methods of app distribution, just look at macOS. Same idea, same rules, but there is sideloading as an alternative. It turns out neither users nor developers are having any of it.