Comment by r0m4n0 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by r0m4n0 | Hacker News Reader

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I'm not sure what is being argued by the semantics here but the app store is an important aspect of the device but does that make it not an internet service? An app store by definition is almost a direct equivalent to a web browser. It's just a tool to allow you to move data/code onto your device to do more things. Without it, your device still has a functioning OS. Apple has coupled the functionality of app installation and a curated remote repository of apps on the internet and bundled it as "the app store." I'd say most people aren't referring to the app installation aspect when they refer to the app store.

If an app store is a glorified web browser and apple is maintaining content that is loaded into it, it's almost the definition of an internet service no?

Let me repost what I wrote elsewhere in this thread:

The point is not that the App Store isn't an online service (although I would argue that it more "relies on" an online service), but that its role as part of the OS supersedes that.

I can't go back and edit my comment now, but to make it more clear I probably should have written something like:

> I strongly disagree that the iOS App Store should be treated as ___only___ an "internet service" rather than...

Ok yea agreed. I think it’s more than one thing, including an internet service

It's certainly multiple things, but some things take precedent. If Apple allowed people to install third-party App Stores, then the freedom would take precedent and nobody would be throwing rocks at them.

You can use enterprise provisioning, which uses the same mechanics, to install apps on devices you manage.

There are lots of places that run iOS on private networks with no internet access or Apple ID.

It's not just a web browser, though. It's the sole method to install software, most similar to a package manager on a desktop operating system. On your point, many package managers do have the ability to browse the remote index of the software they can install (e.g. `brew search [X]`, dnf search [X]`). However, the primary purpose of a package manager, including the App Store, is to install and manage software. This is a critical operating system function, made more critical on iOS by the fact that the App Store is the only way to get software.

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