Recently Apple has been forced by the European Union to allow sideloading in their ecosystem. Apple has fought back
and still argues that sideloading:
> undermine[s] the privacy and security protections
Apple is not alone in this argument, many iOS users have complained of the same thing. Arguing that iOS will be
less safe for the less technically inclined users. These people are perfectly happy in Apple's walled garden
and believe that sideloading will lead to companies sidestepping the curation that they have come to expect from
the App Store to take advantage of users. Without getting into why I believe that this curation is lacking and has
been deteriorating in recent years there are still rebuttals to be made.
Sideloading is installing apps without going through the "official" channel. For example, installing a macOS program
without using the Mac App Store or an Android app without using the Play Store or in Apple's case installing an
iphone app without using the App Store. Despite how absurd not being able to install a macOS app without using the
Mac App Store sounds, that has always been the case for the iphone.
Android has allowed sideloading since ***forever*** and despite this very few people can name you an alternative to
the Google Play Store. I am a person that is interested in sideloading and haven't alternative ways to download apps
and I have only sideloaded one app: Signal and I have one alternative application store: [F-Droid](https://f-droid.org/)
which only allows open source apps[^1].
What's more, if you try download any app from a big company you will be hard-pressed to find a way to download it
without using the Play Store. Enabling sideloading on Android requires 3 simple steps and yet that is considered too
much friction for companies. Not only is it too much friction, they don't even give users that have already gone
through the process the option to sideload the app. I would much prefer to sideload an app than download it through
the Play Store which allows Google to know what apps I have installed, but for many apps it is not an option and the
company's website redirects you to the Play Store to download the apps.
Why do companies not take advantage of the fact that they can upload their apps to their website for users to download
and then fill up your phone with malware? It is just not worth it. 99% of their users only know about the Play Store and
the remaining 1% are usually the more security/privacy minded people which would not put up with accepting hundreds of
permissions for an app that streams TV shows.
Why do companies not sidestep the Google tax they have to pay when you purchase something on an app downloaded from the
Play Store? In Android this is not a problem, but Apple is more restrictive on what apps can do when it comes to payment
and paying Apple their cut. We could argue like the EU did that Apple is abusing its position. Many companies have
complained which means that potentially they would use alternative ways of downloading apps to avoid the Apple tax, but
things don't happen in a vacuum. When users have the option to sideload apps and companies have the opportunity to take
advantage of this Apple will have to react, Apple will have to lower their cut and to be more permissive in how companies
allow payments. This is the whole point of anti-competitive regulation: Apple is in a monopolistic position being able to
charge 30% cuts and now they will have to compete with other stores and offerings so the prices will be lower and the
offerings will be better. I expect that 99% of iOS users will never sideload or use anything but the App Store and will
only reap the benefits of cheaper subscription prices.
I have avoided talking about third party services, usually websites, that allow you to download any app. The way they work
is by extracting the app from a phone and then uploading that app to a website which allows other people to download it.
The point of these websites is to download older versions of an app, to download an app that is not available in their
country, or to avoid having to use the Play Store. These services have a bad reputation because they could maliciously
modify the apps to do something that the original app doesn't do. This is a real risk which I believe should be addressed
by companies, every company should allow users to download the app directly from their website so they can be sure they
are downloading the original app, but because that is not the world we live in and I have argued that sideloading is only
positive how can I dig myself out of this hole?
The truth is I said sideloading was only positive, I never said it was risk free. Just like we have access to nature and
have the freedom to run around the mountains and climb and no one would argue that their is a negative to being allowed
to do that, their are risks associated with it: you can trip and sprain your ankle, get attacked by a wild animal, or fall
off a cliff and die. Freedom comes with risks and third party services uploading malicious apps is that risk albeit, a small
one. The biggest risk these websites pose, currently, is a visual attack on users not using [UBlockOrigin](https://ublockorigin.com/)[^2]
to block adds. If this became a big issue I believe companies would work to fix it because it affects their brand and despite
the knee-jerk reaction might be to put up the Apple walls again I think the better option is for companies to host their
applications and allow users the option to download the apps from their website.
^1
and extendable by third parties. To see the advantages of open source read [Why Should I Use Open Source Software?]()
^2