[HN Gopher] New EU law could force Apple to allow other app stor...
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       New EU law could force Apple to allow other app stores,
       sideloading, and more
        
       Author : kasperni
       Score  : 63 points
       Date   : 2022-11-01 15:19 UTC (7 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.macrumors.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.macrumors.com)
        
       | cercatrova wrote:
       | This is the only way I'd ever get an iPhone. You can rip YouTube
       | (Re)Vanced from my cold, head hands.
        
         | Scaevolus wrote:
         | Does it provide significant features beyond being ad free?
         | 
         | I pay for Premium, largely because it's too annoying running
         | adblockers on mobile and TVs.
        
           | Mikeb85 wrote:
           | Not to mention, if you get YouTube premium you also get
           | YouTube Music ad-free. Ads in music players are far more
           | annoying IMO.
        
             | cercatrova wrote:
             | Vanced and Revanced work for YouTube Music too.
        
           | cercatrova wrote:
           | SponsorBlock removes in-video sponsors but also a lot of
           | filler content like intros and endings, and even filler in
           | between like joke content, if you configure it that way.
        
           | solarkraft wrote:
           | Lots of quality of life stuff. Sponsorblock (it doesn't only
           | skip sponsor messages but also subscribe-whining, which I
           | find way worse), background playback (can you believe they
           | took this away?) and the ability to set playback speeds
           | beyond 2x are the features that immediately come to my mind.
           | 
           | > I pay for Premium, largely because it's too annoying
           | running adblockers on mobile and TVs.
           | 
           | I don't use iOS because ad blocking is too cumbersome there
           | and only watch YouTube videos on my TV by mirroring my
           | laptop's screen.
           | 
           | Every once in a while I consider subscribing to YouTube
           | premium but then I remember that I'd still have to mod to get
           | a (somewhat) tolerable experience.
        
       | solarkraft wrote:
       | I'm extremely interested in the DMA. Does anyone have a detailed
       | explanation of the effects it will have?
       | 
       | Everyone talks about the App Store, but what options does Apple
       | have to make the experience miserable?
       | 
       | Will Apple be forced to open up all the special treatments they
       | currently give themselves (special APIs for OS integration and
       | policies) to other developers?
        
         | ThatPlayer wrote:
         | Yes.
         | https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2022-0270...
         | is the full text. The relevant portion of that is 56/57:
         | 
         | >The aim of the obligations is to allow competing third parties
         | to interconnect through interfaces or similar solutions to the
         | respective features as effectively as the gatekeeper's own
         | services or hardware.
        
       | badRNG wrote:
       | Will this law also apply to Nintendo, Xbox, and Play Station
       | systems?
        
         | Someone wrote:
         | I would think Nintendo and Sony wouldn't pass the bar for being
         | a gatekeeper because they don't provide "a core platform
         | service to more than 45 million monthly active end users
         | established or located in the EU _AND_(emphasis_added)_ to more
         | than 10,000 yearly active business users established in the
         | EU;" (https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/api/files/doc
         | ume...)
         | 
         | Xbox will be an interesting case. Microsoft easily passes that
         | bar, but I would think that product doesn't.
         | 
         | I guess splitting iOS in a consumer version and a business
         | version would be a way to get around the letter of that law,
         | but I expect the EU wouldn't be happy with that, and very
         | rapidly "designate the company as a gatekeeper on the basis of
         | a qualitative assessment, even if it does not meet the
         | quantitative thresholds" (https://ec.europa.eu/commission/press
         | corner/detail/en/QANDA_...)
        
           | rahkiin wrote:
           | Game developers are business users though, aren't they?
        
         | lost_tourist wrote:
         | They're just going for the elephant in the room first. Cell
         | phones are ubiquitous and touch most facets of modern life,
         | game stations do not.
        
         | [deleted]
        
       | vivaldidev wrote:
       | Bring it on, time to bring down the walled gardens once and for
       | all.
       | 
       | 30% is highway robbery and Apple is making off like a bandit.
       | Epic, Spotify, and others all see this. Time to see the fruit
       | company humbled.
        
         | SkylockeScarred wrote:
         | Apple run their ecosystem like the British Empire ran it's
         | trade, it rarely goes outside of it.
        
         | webmobdev wrote:
         | And hopefully we shall see more open source projects
         | flourishing on iDevices - Apple app store has crippled open
         | source development on ios / iPadOS because it lets Apple
         | exploits for-profit developers, while non-profit developers who
         | can't or won't give in to the extortion are denied a platform
         | for their software. It also has been in Apple's interest to not
         | allow open source software to flourish here, as most of them
         | are popular, free and avoid adware (which goes against Apple's
         | tried and tested business model of extorting money from non-
         | free software or pushing "free" apps to bundle ads through
         | their ad platform).
        
       | barbazoo wrote:
       | Will this have any impact on non EU markets? Similar to the USB-C
       | port ruling, other than practical reasons, it doesn't mean it'll
       | get applied everywhere else.
       | 
       | > Apple is also facing similar legislation in the United States,
       | with U.S. House lawmakers in June introducing antitrust bills
       | that would result in major changes to the tech industry if
       | passed.
       | 
       | Nice for them to introduce a bill but how much hope is there this
       | will actually become law. And even then, what about other
       | countries?
        
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       (page generated 2022-11-01 23:03 UTC)