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Comment by scarface74 | Hacker News Reader

So you want Apple to allow spyware on their phones? Should Smsrt TV makers be forced to allow any third party app? What about console makers? Should Nintendo be forced to allow adult oriented games on their platform?

What exactly is Apple’s business motivation for not allowing third party spyware but allowing third party music streaming, video streaming, office apps, book stores, etc? When they make money off of their own services in the other areas?

Next question. What if this app with the same capabilities - to record the apps and activity used on another phone - was marketed to husbands who suspected their wives were cheating. Would you be okay with that too? Should Apple allow it?

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>Should Smsrt TV makers be forced to allow any third party app? What about console makers? Should Nintendo be forced to allow adult oriented games on their platform?

I think the argument is Apple has a little more market dominance (both smart phone hardware and OS) than a single smart tv maker or even Nintendo in the console market.

Keeping the market dominance point in mind, Apple isn’t just deciding what is and isn’t allowed...you had a number of developers with successful apps not just have to contend with a copy cat app created by Apple but because of their control over the marketplace Apple killed their developers apps and took the entire market (rightly or wrongly).

So yeah if you change your facts and the smart tv or Nintendo allowed apps/adult games, saw developers create a market and then the hardware maker launched their own software competitors and disallowed the initial apps/games...there would be blowback.

You also had a number of developers who successfully were marketing fake “virus protection” including Kasperky that were kicked off the store. Should Apple have kept those on the store? Facebook bought a “successful” VPN product that it used to spy on users and figure out that WhatsApp was popular before it bought it. Should Apple have kept that?

Would you be okay if apps with the same capabilities were marketed as a way to catch cheating spouses?

If Apple decides they wanted to ban loot boxes in games, would you be opposed to that?

>Would you be okay if apps with the same capabilities were marketed as a way to catch cheating spouses?

Aren't apps with these same capabilities (and more) being marketed as a way to track and spy on a spouse? (regardless of their fidelity)

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/13/world/middleeast/saudi-ar...

Of course I don’t agree with the app. But from what I can tell, at least on iOS, the app is just a front end for a website and a set of services. The app itself doesn’t intercept communications on the phone or use any special phone permissions. From another site, I saw the Absher service will notify the husband via SMS.

With NYT’s (usual) shallow technical reporting, I can’t tell what the app does. Just like the article for this post. The only reason we on HN suspect that the apps for this article must be using some combination of MDM API’s and a VPN is because we know how iOS works.

But I can always throw the question back at you. How can you on one hand say that it would be okay if this app did do something similar (which I can’t tell) and Apple banned it for privacy reasons but not okay to ban other software that is spyware?

>So you want Apple to allow spyware on their phones?

Yes.

>Should Smsrt TV makers be forced to allow any third party app?

Yes.

>What about console makers? Should Nintendo be forced to allow adult oriented games on their platform?

Yes. They do not have to endorse or even promote such games, but they shouldn't be allowed to prohibit such games either.

>Next question. What if this app with the same capabilities - to record the apps and activity used on another phone - was marketed to husbands who suspected their wives were cheating. Would you be okay with that too? Should Apple allow it?

Yes, Apple should allow the app's functionality. The law shouldn't allow such ads or spying on people without their knowledge.

In short, it shouldn't be Apple/Samsung/Nintendo's business what gets run on a device.

Well, in that case you as a consumer are free to buy an Android for a phone or a gaming PC instead of a console.

You can then install all of the spyware and ransomware that your heart desires.

> So you want Apple to allow spyware on their phones?

Therein is the crux of the matter - it ceased to be Apple's phone the moment they sold it.

In that case, should Nintendo be forced to allow Grand Theft Auto on their console?

Were you okay with them banning Facebook’s VPN app that spied on users?

And yet I said nothing about my agreement or disagreement with decisions like that, merely that a large part of the debate is when Apple's control ends. There is a non negligible portion of people who believe, act as if the device is Apple's, even after sale.

Well. Since Apple’s retention rate is in the high 90s and that there are much cheaper Android alternatives available, maybe iOS users are okay with that....

No. It’s not the crux. It’s still Apple’s app store, GP should have asked “So you want Apple to sell spyware in their store?”

> So you want Apple to allow spyware on their phones?

No, I want them to allow it on MY PHONE.

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