Apple has released a scaremongering, self-serving warning aimed at the Australian government, claiming that Australians will be overrun by a parade of digital horribles if Australia follows the European Union’s lead and regulates Apple’s “walled garden.” The EU’s Digital Markets Act is a big,...
How has it been “proven” that all app stores are equally safe?
Heck, just comparing Google Play and Apple App Store - every article over the past year covering malicious apps (including the recent cross-platform SparkCat) mentions at some point or another that these occurrences are significantly rarer on iOS given Apple’s stricter policies and guidelines. Policies that could not otherwise be enforced on 3rd party app stores.
Realistically, no one who purchases an iPhone is doing so under the assumption that they aren’t going to be within the wider Apple ecosystem and ‘walled garden’. Those that do want that additional freedom, and associated risks, have Android and other FOSS options available to them already.
Think of it this way: There are plenty of Android-based devices that are faster, better or have unique features that iOS doesn’t; Apple’s USP is iOS. We were ‘free’ to choose this ecosystem, and by trying to impose your own definition of freedom onto us, you are instead depriving us of our own.
If you choose not to see the inherent risks associated with this, so be it - but I am wary enough to know that if/once the genie is out of the bottle, there is no ability to go back when the shit inevitably hits the fan.
Don’t think of me as a blind Apple fanboy, either: I think there are plenty of valid criticisms of Apple’s handling of the App Store that legislation would be much better suited to targeting - namely their egregious fees and arbitrary policies regarding directing users to their own websites for alternate payment methods.****
Wao, did you not read what I said? No app store is inherently safer or more dangerous than any other. They all require some level of trust, plus trust in the devs of the apps available on each store.
About freedom, nobody is taking anything away from you, other than Apple. Again, if you want to remain in their ecosystem exclusively, nobody is going to force you to use alternative app stores. However, your argument does go entirely against choice, the same choice you claim I am soiling with my comments.
We do agree on 1 thing, when someone buys an Apple product, there’s a very good chance that they want that walled garden. Then there’s those that did not buy from Apple, but had no option other than an iPhone, some of those I can guarantee that they hate being controlled by the company that manufactured what is supposed to be theirs.
If you can’t do everything you want with what you bought and paid for, is it really yours?
I suggest that you look at the current status of technology in the world right now. You do not own your iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Same with most Android devices and Windows computers. They force shit into the users, to the point that you will lose functionality if you were to disable most of what’s in the devices.
Sure, Android is a bit more flexible, but other than GrapheneOS, CalyxOS or LineageOS, it’s the same crap as iPhone, locking you to have apps forcibly, whether you like or use them or not. The only difference is that in Android you do have the ability to use other stores.
Enjoy your locked iPhone, and let those who want more choice just have the choice.