Tim Cook defends Apple's position against app sideloading once more

[Daniel Sims]

Why it matters: Apple has repeatedly stated its case against sideloading in response to lawsuits and legislation over the last few years. CEO Tim Cook used his keynote at the 2022 International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) summit this week to do so again, framing the subject around the summit's theme of user privacy.

During his Tuesday IAPP keynote speech (watch above) in Washington DC, Tim Cook said sideloading on iOS devices would allow advertisers and malicious actors circumvent Apple's app store regulations in order to grab and sell users' data. The Cupertino company built part of its products' reputation on the measures it takes to protect that data.

Apple likes to defend its walled software garden stance for iOS and iPadOS devices by raising the fear of malicious apps hosted on websites, and Cook's speech mentioned this. He also theorized that companies might abandon Apple's App Store to sidestep its restrictions and more easily exploit user data.

Data harvesting was the subject of last weekend's episode of Last Week Tonight. Host John Oliver demonstrated its ease by revealing the show's staff had collected data on thousands of people around the US capitol who fit the demographic of politicians.

Tim Cook's speech mentioned attempts by the US and other governments to force Apple to allow sideloading to broaden competition. Late in March, the European Union cleared a major hurdle in legislation that would do just that to big platform holders like Apple.

Apple's longtime legal opponent, Epic Games, has been a fierce champion of sideloading, accusing Apple of monopolistic practices. Some countries like the Netherlands and South Korea have already passed laws chipping away at Apple's app store regulations.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/94171-tim-cook-defends-apple-position-against-app-sideloading.html

 

[Dimitriid]

The worrying part is the arrogance in his sincere belief that he should be above the law of the people of an entire continent: Forget side loading his entire company should be seized and distributed among all it's workers equally.

 

[m4a4]

And the sheep will agree with him without a second thought.

This is still only about the money. And if users are concerned about outside of the Appstore, they are free to stay exclusive to the Appstore (which, with more competition will get better!).
It's not Apple's job to nanny all of their consumers. But it is their PR person's job to convince people otherwise lol

 

[psycros]

The worrying part is the arrogance in his sincere belief that he should be above the law of the people of an entire continent: Forget side loading his entire company should be seized and distributed among all it's workers equally.

LOL, easy, comrade.

 

[Hexic]

Bless his rich little C-level heart.

Wanting to block side loading to wall your clients in and keep all the money is one thing - just admit your greed at that point.

Making up lies and spinning use cases only makes you look desperate, Timmy.

 

[envirovore]

Hah, watching that Last Week Tonight episode right now as I pulled the site up.

 

[torchyear]

The worrying part is the arrogance in his sincere belief that he should be above the law of the people of an entire continent: Forget side loading his entire company should be seized and distributed among all it's workers equally.

One of the first things I learnt in a postgrad writing class regarding strengthening a statement was to "avoid emotive language."

And with this in mind: this post is gold, and deserves to be framed on a wall

 

[Aaron Fox]

One of the first things I learnt in a postgrad writing class regarding strengthening a statement was to "avoid emotive language."

Context is key when it comes to what writing strategies are optimal.

A peer-reviewed journal article tends to read stronger when the writing expects readers to decide on the emotional response, using the data as the basis. Not everything is one of those.

And, even if that context, outrage is sometimes apropos. One example is an article about the 'inert' ingredient loophole scam, in which it was pointed out (among other things) that a particular adjuvant in a fungicide formulation was 27,000 times more toxic to a species of bee than the ostensible 'active' ingredient. The outrage wasn't flamboyantly presented but was difficult to miss.

 

[torchyear]

Context is key when it comes to what writing strategies are optimal.

Yes. The rhetoric in the highlighted comment is so amazing though. It was like Rick from the Young Ones was shouting it out as I read it. No sarcasm needed!

 

[Sausagemeat]

No intelligent person believes any judge should force side loading. It would literally only increase the profits of corporations and put users at more risk. You have to be a special kind of stupid to actually believe anything good could come of it.

 

[Watzupken]

To me, there are merits to sideloading apps and also risks. It is good to have the option, but user should be aware what they are doing, and to always find a reputable source for the APKs. I’ve used Android phones often, and I generally don’t use this feature, nor want to use this feature. Not that the Google Playstore is 100% safe, but we never know if the APKs have been tampered with in the first place. I don’t feel it is worth getting phone hacked just for the sake of installing an app which is a want, not a need. So what Apple said about sideloading is not completely wrong in my opinion. I would instead like to see Apple open up their store to third party payments or lower the App Store tax so that we don’t have to pay a steep price for contents/ apps on the store.

 

[mikaelad]

I’m kind of a certain that apps, no matter if sideloaded or coming from Store, are run in the same SECURE sandbox… Store isn’t related to what apps can or can not do.

 

[Usukosej]

I don't want app sideloading on my iphone that is for sure. If I wanted that, I would simply jailbreak my phone.

Sideloading - or simply the ability to install any apk/ipa - is a huge secury risk. This is how most android users gets infected, outside of Play Store

 

[Nobina]

The biggest flaw iOS has is that one. I thought about getting an iPhone but I couldn't live without some apps that can be only installed by sideloading. That freedom that Android gives makes it objectively better than iOS. You're not going to get evil viruses from sideloading unless you are a complete ***** since you have to manually find, download and install the app, speaking from experience.

Tech should not be focused around the dumbest group of people in society.

 

[zaku49]

It's all about money at the end of the day, your average Joe wouldn't even know how to install applications outside of the store, it's really only meant for the more advanced users. Android even warns you before allowing you to do it. Apple wouldn't like this as it would allow users to bypass their store monopoly which is a MAJOR issue for them, for anyone thinking this was done due to safety, the jokes on you.

 

[zaku49]

I don't want app sideloading on my iphone that is for sure. If I wanted that, I would simply jailbreak my phone.

Sideloading - or simply the ability to install any apk/ipa - is a huge secury risk. This is how most android users gets infected, outside of Play Store

It's crazy that to use the sideloading feature you have to actually turn it on, the system warns you it isn't safe, it's like you have an option or something on Android, it's crazy right? You don't have to actually ever use it or jailbreak your device.

 

[Usukosej]

It's crazy that to use the sideloading feature you have to actually turn it on, the system warns you it isn't safe, it's like you have an option or something on Android, it's crazy right? You don't have to actually ever use it or jailbreak your device.

SMS phishing targets Android for a reason

Android users are hit with tons of malware compared to iOS for a reason

It's not even up for debate, simply google it. Hell even Google spreads malware in their Play Store, recently they removed TONS of malware-ridden apps

 

[zaku49]

SMS phishing targets Android for a reason

Android users are hit with tons of malware compared to iOS for a reason

It's not even up for debate, simply google it. Hell even Google spreads malware in their Play Store, recently they removed TONS of malware-ridden apps

Or maybe it's due to iOS making up only 27% of the whole marketplace where Android makes up 71% of it. Why waste your time making malware for a system that only has a market share of 27%? It really isn't more "Secure" it just isn't worth your time.

 

[wiyosaya]

Me thinks this is a case of the pot calling the kettle black.

 

[wiyosaya]

SMS phishing targets Android for a reason

At least there's the "report spam" option.

 

[mgilbert]

I don't need Tim Cook, Apple, Microsoft, or any other company telling me how to use my PC or phone. I've been working with computers since the 1970s. I know what I'm doing, and I know the risks. That's why my phone runs Android, and why I build my own PCs from scratch. Screw Apple...

 

[p51d007]

Apple CEO thinks data harvesters would abuse sideloading

And crAPPLE doesn't?

 

[ZedRM]

Tim Cook is visionless. He is ill-equipped to be at the head of Apple.

 

[Hexic]

Tim Cook is visionless. He is ill-equipped to be at the head of Apple.

He's a really good placeholder to wait for someone else similar to Steve Jobs to take over, who will actually innovate.

 

[ZedRM]

He's a really good placeholder to wait for someone else similar to Steve Jobs to take over, who will actually innovate.

Really Good? No. Terrible? No, but certainly not good. Apple and Microsoft have one thing in common: They both are in desperate need of replacement CEO's.