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I have android phone. I develop a cross platform application (FOSS). Every time I push an update to the app store version it's easily 4x the work of the play store equivalent.

I also have to pay apple £80 for the privilege of having my app available for free on their platform.

I would just like to be able to provide users a file and say "here you go, install this" so I don't have to pay apple to bless my software.

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Oh no you have to pay £80 to gain access to a few billion users, and automatically push updates to them. Maybe don’t pay the fee if you think it’s not worth it.

The issue is not that you have to pay to put your software on the App Store, it’s that the only way to run your software on the hardware you and your users own is to put it in the App Store.

Yes, sideloading is the key.

Meanwhile, from just today: https://arstechnica.com/security/2023/07/android-malware-use...

Yep, if you let users install apps, they may install malware.

They may also install porn, gambling, lgbtq apps or whatever else you don't approve of.

Apple lets the CCP access Chinese iCloud data. They takedown dissodent apps in foreign countries. They block perfectly legal non-malware apps.

Yeah that's general purpose computing for you.

Though I do note that one of these apps was on the curated store anyway!

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