Meta already does all sorts of stuff that violates Apple's TOS, they just do it server-side.
> I don't have the freedom to choose the version of the app I want.
Sure you do. You can either use it or you don't. Regulating data privacy isn't Apple's job, if you want that fixed then you should take it up with the government or someone who can actually hold them accountable.
> if you want that fixed then you should take it up with the government
Yeah, I'd strongly prefer the government do what it obviously should and reign in abusive, dangerous stalking-at-scale across the entire economy, but absent that, it sure is nice to have a choice to still get some of that regulation in one area of my life, by going with Apple.
Take away that option and I'm sure as shit not going to feel more free.
> Sure you do. You can either use it or you don't.
That's two choices, where now we have three. Buy Android and every app you download is malware; don't use apps; buy Apple and every app's trying to be malware, but at least they can't be nearly as good at it as on Android. Losing choice three doesn't increase my liberty.
Okay. It's meaningless in a legal context, completely unaccountable and contradictory to their own regulation.
You're welcome to insist otherwise but I don't think any just court would hear you further than that.
> Take away that option and I'm sure as shit not going to feel more free.
Nobody is taking away anything. These apps have always had the option to leave Apple's ecosystem, adding additional stores doesn't miraculously add that possibility. It's like saying that the Taco Bell opening up down the road is threatening your upscale Cantina burrito that you're eating as-we-speak.
> That's two choices
Okay, I'll amend it then. You can either use it, or you don't, or go buy an Android phone. Or degoogle your Android phone, that's 4 options.
Quit whining about liberty and put your stubbornness where your mouth is. Stay on the App Store if you insist, nobody will stop you. If you did it on a Mac, you'd probably look like a bit of a fool though. Plenty of longtime, respectful Apple devouts (see: Panic) acknowledge that the App Store is a raw deal and distribute their apps themselves. There are people other than bad actors advocating for this, as shocking as it may sound. It is possible to see the forest through the trees.
> Buy Android and every app you download is malware
This is really not true. Android has a thriving open source ecosystem of great free apps without any tracking. F-droid even has reproducible builds.
Apple doesn't have this precisely because the lack of sideloading. Not many open source devs want to pay the 100 bucks to offer something for free and to deal with the hit and miss app store review process.
> Take away that option and I'm sure as shit not going to feel more free.
No options will disappear. You don't have to use sideloading. The same way most users on Android don't do it. Even alternative stores like Huawei's are a fringe phenomenon.
> Regulating data privacy isn't Apple's job, if you want that fixed then you should take it up with the government or someone who can actually hold them accountable.
I live in the United States of America, where the government is bought and paid for by companies who dislike privacy for their users.
In the meantime, it may not be Apple's "job," but it's part of their value proposition, and the grumbling from software vendors indicates it's reasonably effective.
You live in the United States of America, which has had Google, Microsoft and Apple under it's thumb since Snowden's leaks. If you want to insinuate that Apple protects you against state-level actors, you should disprove that or at least refute their own transparency page[0].
> the grumbling from software vendors indicates it's reasonably effective.
If not the software vendors, who are you trusting to keep your best interests at-heart here?
> I don't have the freedom to choose the version of the app I want.
Sure you do. You can either use it or you don't. Regulating data privacy isn't Apple's job, if you want that fixed then you should take it up with the government or someone who can actually hold them accountable.