[HN Gopher] Apple admits third-party app stores in Europe are in...
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Apple admits third-party app stores in Europe are inevitable
Author : elorant
Score : 46 points
Date : 2023-11-11 19:55 UTC (3 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (appleinsider.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (appleinsider.com)
| placatedmayhem wrote:
| Is allowing direct install from internet (like how most desktop
| applications work) also required by the DMA? Or are all
| developers of independent apps going to be required to publish
| their app to some app store?
| Varloom wrote:
| No, there will be 3rd party App stores (approved by EU) where
| developers can release their Apps.
| codetrotter wrote:
| I for one look forward the most to seeing the equivalent of the
| F-Droid store coming to iOS. Either from the people behind the
| original F-Droid, or from some group of people with similar
| ideals like them.
|
| However, I wonder if that will enable apps that corporations
| don't want to exist, to exist on iOS. I.e. BitTorrent clients,
| alternate YouTube frontends that use yt-dlp to play YouTube
| videos without ads, etc.
|
| The apps still need to be signed with a developer account right?
| And so Apple will still be able to deny signing certain apps /
| blacklist those apps when they receive complaints, right?
| Varloom wrote:
| I'm pretty sure one of the first app stores we'll see is Meta
| App Store.
|
| The deliberate delay in releasing the Threads app in the EU,
| without any clear reason, makes me believe that they intend to
| make it an exclusive offering of the Meta store.
| Moldoteck wrote:
| It doesn't make any sense... Why threads ia related to meta
| store?
| bsjaux628 wrote:
| Or, instead of conspiracy theories, why don't we go for most
| plausible cause? That the app is a privacy nightmare that in
| now way could pass the GDPR filter? As if Facebook had
| anything more to offer in his "store" other than Facebook,
| whatsapp and Instagram.
| ericmay wrote:
| I agree that Threads may be a "privacy nightmare" and so
| that may limit its deployment to Europe, but is it really a
| _conspiracy theory_ to suggest that Meta will release their
| latest products (and maybe move current ones) to their own
| Meta App Store once Apple is forced to allow 3rd-party app
| stores? That seems less of a conspiracy to me and more of a
| natural consequence, and Meta won't be alone here either.
|
| Many have said "that's not what happened on Android" and
| that's true, however I think that's true only because
| everyone is waiting for the iPhone to be forced to change
| and then you release your own store across both platforms.
| It seems likely to me it's not worth it to do it on Android
| alone - kind of like releasing an Android-only app. You'd
| want both an Android and iOS version of your app. The costs
| and duplication of infrastructure probably doesn't make
| sense for one operating system but does for two.
| manuelmoreale wrote:
| Threads is not available in the EU because it would likely
| surpass the 45M users and hence be subjected to all the
| various rules under the new DSA and it's my understanding
| that the threads team is currently small and meta probably
| doesn't want to allocate a ton of resources to it yet.
| tobyjsullivan wrote:
| If memory serves correctly, signing certificates are issued to
| developers and signing is done locally on the build machine.
|
| Apple cannot deny signing on a per-app basis. They could revoke
| a developer's certificate perhaps, but that's something else.
|
| They may co-sign a binary in the App Store but that seems
| irrelevant for other distribution channels.
| clumsysmurf wrote:
| I hope this happens in the US as well, Google has become a
| terrible partner for Android developers.
|
| This past week Google announced (1) that in order to release an
| app on Play:
|
| "developers with newly created personal Play Console accounts
| will soon be required to test their apps with at least 20 people
| for a minimum of two weeks before applying for access to
| production."
|
| This will be gamed (test farms), and the policy will not achieve
| any goal but making life difficult for small / indie developers.
|
| (1) https://android-
| developers.googleblog.com/2023/11/ensuring-h...
| flykespice wrote:
| Google is really trying so hard to surpass Apple Store on being
| a worse experience for developers.
|
| It's almost as if Google forgot what makes Android so appealing
| as open platform to mobile developers compared to IOs locked
| platform.
| clumsysmurf wrote:
| I honestly wonder what Andy Rubin thinks of what Android has
| become in the hands of Google ...
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(page generated 2023-11-11 23:01 UTC)