This discussion seems to be headed in an ideological direction rather than a technical one, and I'm not very interested in that.
This discussion seems to be headed in an ideological direction rather than a technical one, and I'm not very interested in that.
However, iOS makes the security trade off in the other direction.
All an app's executable code must go through the app vetting process, and additional executable code cannot be added to the app without the app going through the app vetting process all over again.
In contrast, Google has been unable to quash malware like Joker from inside the Play store because the malware gets downloaded and installed after the app makes it through the app vetting process and lands on a user's device.
> Known as Joker, this family of malicious apps has been attacking Android users since late 2016 and more recently has become one of the most common Android threats...
One of the keys to Joker’s success is its roundabout attack. The apps are knockoffs of legitimate apps and, when downloaded from Play or a different market, contain no malicious code other than a “dropper.” After a delay of hours or even days, the dropper, which is heavily obfuscated and contains just a few lines of code, downloads a malicious component and drops it into the app.
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2020/09/joker...
iOS not having constant issues with malware like Joker inside their app store has nothing to do with "security through obscurity" and everything to do with making a different set of trade offs when setting up the security model.
apple might pretend they are secure because they usually manage to catch such things during review. this doesn't actually mean they are secure.
end of the day, it's up to the user to choose what software they install, and what permissions they grant.
if your security model includes taking all user choice away, forbidding them from running software that they wish to run, and essentially treating them like unsophisticated toddlers that need your guidance because you know best, then sure, you might view this as a problem. but at that point, you are the problem.
The easiest way to see that Apple's security model is more robust is that tech websites don't have to warn users that they should fear the apps from inside the app store.
Regarding dynamic native code execution, please see saagarjha's comment and my reply.
> Apple's security model
It would be more accurate to say "the iOS security model", because as beeboobaa3 mentioned, macOS fully allows apps from outside the App Store, dynamic native code execution, and most other "insecure" things that are blocked on iOS.