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Comment by baby | Hacker News Reader

Related question: what does the user want? I doubt a majority of users are against side loading.

I don’t think users really want to have to use 5 different app stores. I’ll probably opt to not buy an app if I first have to download another App Store app.

That's not the case for billions of people on Android or macOS and their respective app stores.

How many people actually bother to set up another App Store though?

A subset of Kindle users who want “real” google apps?

I very much doubt it’s billions.

That's my point, Android can have more than one app store running yet people choose to use one primary app store. The nightmare scenario of having to run multiple app stores that the OP seems to be scared of is a non-issue on platforms with multiple app stores.

In Android you don’t even need an App Store to install an app. All you need is to find an apk and download it. And providing an apk is exactly what many vendors do.

Sure, but it also pours cold water on the idea of having alternative app stores in the first place.

I wouldn't say so. Let power users have their iPhone equivalent of F-Droid or Aurora Store if they care while most users will just use the default App Store. I personally download apps off the Play Store as a last resort if they don't work on the former two.

I can’t imagine a single scenario where your comment would be anything else than FUD. Nice try Tim Apple.

It's the state of desktop gaming already, why would it not happen on phones once the only barrier has been removed? Epic has been itching to use their own app store for years.

On the one hand it is annoying but on the other it actually promotes competition and Epic tries their damn best to get users on their platform with deals and free games. I also feel like in response the Steam sales have stepped it up a notch recently compared to the absolute snoozefest they were 2-3 years ago.

You mean it’s the state of desktop, which allows you to install any apps you want. Again these kind of misdirecting comparisons sound malicious.

“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” attributed to Henry Ford.

While listening to feedback is not a bad thing, design by focus group rarely works out well. You risk ending up with things like this https://i.imgur.com/IoPkza2.png! While this is obviously a joke, it does contain grains of truth.

The other problem with this argument is how the question is framed? Are the majority of users armed with all the facts and details? While I'd agree many are overstating the issues, there are equally as many dismissing any issues out of hand. IMHO, it behooves any one suggesting what "the majority" want to at least do a thought experiment around the pro's and con's and be honest about what they are. We cannot have this here, sadly. This should extend to any government that are enforcing something like this to transparently lay out the pros and cons and maybe accept some of the liability. That though, is asking too much of politicians...

I feel like the Ford quote is about new products, whereas the current situation is about preventing the user from having more power.

The pros and cons are already quantifiable on Android.

I'm not sure what I want. I'm not against sideloading, but I very much like how Apple forces the developers to comply to their rules*.

I don't want to download Instagram from Meta store where anything goes. (And yes, perhaps someone is going to tell me to simply not use Instagram. But I _want_ to use Instagram, I just want to do it on terms that Apple negotiates for me.)

*ofc I don't agree with 100% of their rules (especially the way they split revenue), but I'm mostly happy with them.

I doubt a majority of users want side loading. It’s available on Android and very few (relatively speaking) take advantage of that feature.

I disagree. It depends on how you ask the question. “Do you want want to be able to install apps that will have more features/allow you to purchase directly (kindle app), or provide cheaper prices (twitter blue), or cover more usecases (crypto wallets), or offer different browsing experiences (real chrome/firefox), etc.”

Do you disagree that relatively few Android users sideload?

I’m not going to guess but I personally did it when I had an Android

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