They absolutely can and absolutely did back in the day. Now it’s even easier because you can load apps on to your own device for free via Xcode.
Anyone who claims Apple prevented side loading clearly never bothered to research that claim.
Good, imo.
Okay, I used to be an iOS user, I'm not rich, and blowing $99 per year to sign apps is a lot of money for something that should be free. What if I'm just a normal techie who wants to use software that Apple doesn't like? Sure, bury sideloading in the settings or make it only able to be activated from a computer, but charging that much money for the privilege of loading software is ridiculous.
> ...for something that should be free
What reason should it be for?
The reason that my devices belong to me.
The devices do, the software doesn’t.
And that's why I'm no longer an iOS user.
You can sign and run apps on your own device for free now. You no longer have to pay $99.
You can, but you have to reinstall them once a week, AFAIK.