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Comment by Wowfunhappy | Hacker News Reader

> Anecdotally, I find that the people who are loudest about Apple's misdeeds (both real and assumed) are often people who've never even used an Apple product.

The other side of this is, when I complain about Apple not allowing sideloading on iOS, I get asked why I use an iPhone if I don't like the policy.

(fwiw, I have no issues with macOS as long as unsigned apps can still be run, and lots of issues with iOS where they cannot be.)

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But you can sideload an application, you just need to use as computer to do it.

there’s no way to publish apps to iOS except paid Apple Developer account. That’s different than all other platforms where we can get any binary to run.

Other companies only require account for using non-OS API such as Firebase / Google Services for example.

You very much can build and sideload an IPA on iOS if you have (access to) a computer running macOS.

Sure that's beyond the reach of most people, but how on earth do you people imagine that people develop and test new apps on iOS devices if you think an app _must_ be published to the App Store to run at all?

I feel like I have this discussion every week. It’s technically possible but—by design—practically unworkable for apps you actually want to use rather than just test. They expire after seven days, at which point you need to reconnect to a computer and reinstall them.

It only works for a short amount of time which makes this rather impractical.

You don't actually need the latter.

Have you heard/of looked at AltStore?

Yes. It’s interesting approach. Still your apps will be timebombed for 7 days. Imagine making a app for private use by my family and going on vacation longer than 7 days. I must have access to my computer...

And that's a legitimate complaint, and one I have as well (though my issue is less with not allowing sideloading and more with the pretty high barrier to entry to the only official distribution method. I'd be pretty much okay with being unable to sideload apps on iOS, but having a free and more lax tier of the App Store for hobbyists (somewhat akin to Youtube's unlisted videos or Qt's licensing).

I'm not sure that I follow. You can sideload apps on iOS. Is the issue that you have to use a computer to do it?

I kinda like that requirement because it means that I'm technically capable enough to make a potentially system-breaking change. It's not as nice and friendly about it as macOS but I think it's a fair compromise.

No, its the fact that you need to re-upload that app every 7 days..

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