https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202491#:~:text=View%20the%...
Google services have recently made it very hard to distribute APKs through means other than their store though. Gmail blocks APK attachments for example.
Modern version of Andriod are less and less Free.
With every new version they move features and service out of AOSP and into Google "Play" Services.
Most of what people think about when they think of an "Android" phone is not the base OS anymore, it is Play Services
I think they are doing this for 2 reasons, one I believe they are wanting to drop both their Java Dependency and their Linux Dependency at some point
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_Games_Corp._v._Nintendo_....
- That case was heard by the federal circuit, and if I recall the rules regarding that curious circuit correctly (no guarantees) anything unrelated to patents is not binding precedent on any court.
- That case just decided that it wasn't copyright misuse to do something vaguely like this, not that it didn't violate any of the various anti-trust acts. While the reason for the case is similar the law being argued looks to be entirely different.
- That case wasn't decided based on legal principles, but because Atari lied and cheated "Atari's copyright misuse defense was precluded by the doctrine of unclean hands, as Atari had lied to the Copyright Office to obtain an unauthorized copy of the 10NES."
(I only know what the wikipedia article says about the case)
I'd also appreciate if you laid off the personal attacks, thank you.
>>You are demanding Apple turn the iPhone into the same insecure crapware that is Android.
Uhm, no, Android is full of crapware because Google does not vet apps the same way Apple does, not because you can side load APKs.
You get to choose in a competitive market which device you want to buy.
This attempt to try to force Apple to change how they do business is eliminating a key differentiator and therefore removing the ability for a consumer to choose this approach.
I am of an opinion that every consumer should have such a box available on their devices, should they wish to use it. It shouldn't be possible to trade this ability away with a software licence. And not giving people that choice in the first place is what I meant by saying "customers are treated as children" - because children don't get to chose, adults do.
Obviously, if I could take my app licenses with me, there would be an argument that I had a choice. Being that I can't, there's just an illusion of choice.
The app store launched in July 2008, and the G1 came out in September that same year. Two months doesn't seem like a big opportunity to buy apps 'long before Android existed'.
Have you ever peeked inside one of those apps?
Maybe your parents need to be protected from their own poor decisionmaking, but is that true for everyone?