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If they have a parental control feature, recognize that it's not usually turned on, so set app store policy assuming parental control isn't on, but that style o
by roc 14y ago
If they have a parental control feature, recognize that it's not usually turned on, so set app store policy assuming parental control isn't on, but that style of protection is desirable ... why don't they just default parental control to "on"? Or at least make it a device-setup-time prompt?
Of the "iOS' walled garden is anticonsumer" concerns - the one that's in regular demonstration is Apple's refusal to allow adults to indicate that they really are grown up enough to be exposed to content regarding politics, religion, war and, yeah, even sex.
- delinka 14y ago"...parental controls don't work unless the parents set them up (many don't)." This is still the problem. You don't know whether the kid or the parent opened the box and set the phone up the first time.
- danielweber 14y agoIf my kid someone ordered a cellphone without my knowledge and got it shipped to my house and opened it and set it up, I have a lot bigger problems than him finding sex or "wrong" political opinions on that phone. While I know some people at HN would still be mad if the App Store defaulted to "kid safe," it's a fix with much smaller side-effects than outright bans. Assuming "to protect the kids" is really the motive.
- delinka 14y agoNow suppose that clueless suburban soccer mom got her kid an iPhone and doesn't [want to] know anything about configuring this device. Box arrives, she hands it to the kid. Yes, this parent has problems. And it's this situation that Apple thinks they're watching out for.
- jlgreco 14y agoThen the kid stumbles across adult material on his new fancy phone, and is apparently scarred for life. Oh wait, this already "happens". The phones come with webbrowsers.
- CamperBob2 14y agoSo set it to "child-safe" mode by default, and require a credit card or other age-verification mechanism to unlock it. I really don't understand what problem Apple is trying to solve.
- fpgeek 14y agoCynically, I'd say Apple is (successfully, judging by the commentary here) solving the problem of finding reasonable-sounding justifications of their app store approval process (and the inevitable arbitrary decisions that come with it).
- roc 14y agoThey're trying to avoid the situation where they have to stand up to a morality-in-the-media-type group and defend someone else's freedom of expression. Allowing the web is PR-defensible: "it's the web". But when it comes to things you explicitly review and choose to allow in your store, you're forced to either stand up for adults' right to that content, or you preemptively censor yourself and your suppliers. (a la Walmart)