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Comment by Barrin92 | Hacker News Reader

For me forcing them to open up APIs doesn't mean they lose anything. It'd simply separate the frontend from the backend. They could still provide their own clients and people who love the Apple brand and trust them can use them, I wouldn't even object to them shipping as the default experience on their phones. (something windows got punished for heavily when they bundled browsers, but think about how much less serious that was compared to the restrictions on phones)

All it'd do is offer up an alternative of stores or apps to interface with Apple for people who want it. For example have a chat app that seemingly bridges Android services and iMessage.

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This is a big part of Apple's appeal for a lot of folks. They do not allow carriers to put ANY software AT ALL onto their phones. There is NO "open API" for carriers to load malware or replacement app stores through or root level apps or anything.

If you want that fair enough - plenty of android phones allow you to root them and do whatever (and of course the carriers use these open API's to do the same). I know some lifeline phones came with Android/Trojan.HiddenAds. and Android/Trojan.Dropper.Agent.UMX and plenty of other phones use these open api's for "enhancements" many of which are not removable.

Apple does not have any open API, and so distributors, carriers etc cannot "enhance" the phone. That turns out to be something that people are paying EXTRA for. The margins on apple's phones are nuts as a result - they charge FAR more for the same spec as another provider - because you can trust that phone through the supply chain FAR more than you can trust any other phone provider currently. Similarly, you can be an older phone, you can give them to your kids, etc and the quality is there. Resold iphones hold value much MORE, not less, then the more open phones from others (which often have a trash battery installed just before sale which dies in a few weeks).

In your open API world would facebook have to follow app store policies on data collection, user permissions, single point of cancelation?

On Apple's own store, sure. In fact in an open-API world Apple could make their store as secure, as walled, and as privacy respecting as they wanted and we would never need to even debate if Apple abuses their market position. I'd also be perfectly fine with letting Apple demand that phones ship in a factory default state or alternatively outlaw pre-installed apps because you're right that most of it is trash.

However once the phone has reached the user I do not see at all how open protocols reduce Apple's appeal to people who want to exclusively use Apple software. You can simply do just that.

Would Microsoft be more valuable if we all could only install software through the windows store and the OS was locked down? Nobody would claim that. Third party apps are what adds marginal value to the phone. This is precisely why Apple let's third party developers put apps on their phone, something that Jobs for example initially opposed. He wanted to build everything in-house.

I think Apple is valuable for a lot of reasons. They have a great sense of aesthetic, user friendliness, UX, great hardware, but I do not believe at all that a lack of software raises the value of the phone. If you had a universal chat app that interfaces with all other proprietary protocols on your phone right now, your phone would be worth more.

I think you vastly overestimate power individual users have to force change on people like facebook.

What you propose means that if facebook doesn't like the anti-tracking rules, they can go around them. If your cable company doesn't like the anti-location awareness features to target ads to you if you stream their show, they can go around that. If a biller doesn't like that users can ask for a 30 day heads up on subscription renewals, they can do their own app store.

It is only because Apple (as a whole) as enough market power that - my subscription show notifications prior to renewal. That all of a sudden I can sign in to a bunch of apps with an apple sign in THAT DOES NOT RELEASE MY EMAIL. That all of a sudden privacy labels are appearing next to apps. And the list goes on. NONE of this would happen if these other folks were in charge, there is much more money in exploiting users.

So yes, apple is using its market power to push back on behavior they don't believe makes sense for their average user base. You are a power user, able to navigate all options - jump on andorid, root it, and do what you want.

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