I have never owned an iPhone and even I find this a very bad idea. A lot of people buy iPhones because they prefer the choices made by Apple. If there were secondary AppStores, you would have a Metastore and a Googlestore very quickly, since Whatsapp and Google Maps have become indispensable for large parts of the world. You don't even have to take them off Apple store, but make newest features custom store only. The amount of money to be made by precisely targeted advertising by ignoring Apple's rules is immense.
Sure Apple is not as open as Google, and neither is as open as Arch Linux, but that doesn't have to be the best solution for every product. Phones are too personal and loaded with tons of personal data. Opening everything to it's rivals is just another phrase that consumer data is now in a free for all, a 21st century gold rush, just offer few bucks/conveniences that are hard to ignore and by the time you blink your entire social group is on 5 custom stores.
Nobody is forcing anyone to use third-party app stores. The EU is just forcing Apple not to engage in anti-competitive practices.
If you want the security of an all-Apple ecosystem, you will still be free to do so. If I want the freedom to install whatever I want to my iPhone, I will be free to do so.
Nobody is trying to take away your right to use your phone as you want, they are trying to grant you the right to use your phone as you want.
Yes, nobody wanted virues/malware on Windows, and nobody was forced to install them. We all know how it went.
If people didn't want malware, they were free to read carefully and not click on untrusted files/links.
What if you want the freedom to install whatever you want on your gaming console? What about your Printer? Your watch? Your car infotainment system? The list is endless.
Consumer choice is off course being taken away here, for good or bad I am not sure. But to pretend as if it's not is wrong. Apps like Whatsapp are such must haves that their mere extra features on a diff store will propel that store to stardom.
You could always install anything beyond the App Store on macOS (and Mac OS), and that issue wasn't there. Sure, you can claim it was a security through obscurity thing (far fewer Mac users), but that truly ignores the vast differences in terms of UX and under the hood security (and simply stability) between Mac and Windows. Yet, Macs are not known for having tons of viruses and malware.
(The "no one wants to hack Macs because there are far fewer users" argument also seems strange to me when, as with iOS devices opposed to Android, there is a degree of higher-paying users with Macs, which might present a lucrative target for scammers and hackers.)
Point is, openness is relative. iOS might permit alternative app stores, but those app stores can still be reined in by security precautions at the OS level, Apple can still provide protection over non-App Store apps much like notarizing, they can have an iOS version of their desktop malware scanner XProtect, heck they can even warn users installing unverified apps like they do with Gatekeeper on macOS.
> What if you want the freedom to install whatever you want on your gaming console? What about your Printer? Your watch? Your car infotainment system? The list is endless.
Don't threaten us with a good time!
> Apps like Whatsapp are such must haves that their mere extra features on a diff store will propel that store to stardom.
One could argue that once Facebook moves all its software to its own iOS store, all users would follow, installing any insecure software Facebook decides to shove down their throats. But people should have the choice.
Sure Apple is not as open as Google, and neither is as open as Arch Linux, but that doesn't have to be the best solution for every product. Phones are too personal and loaded with tons of personal data. Opening everything to it's rivals is just another phrase that consumer data is now in a free for all, a 21st century gold rush, just offer few bucks/conveniences that are hard to ignore and by the time you blink your entire social group is on 5 custom stores.