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Comment by martimarkov | Hacker News Reader

With the same validity I can ask why are you against security and ease of use?

Ppl buy Apple products and KNOW AND ACCEPT the limitations when making that purchase.

There are alternatives- get an android phone, there are plenty of brands there.

I buy Apple products ESPECIALLY for the locked down OS.

Why are you against my consumer choice? If any alternative store, payment, in app purchase is introduced - I’m deprived of my choice. And now there isn’t a closed OS I can use.

There are actual reasons I want that OS. My parents had android devices and they got scammed at least once a month to share their details and their cards got stolen as they would download apps and those app would “guide” them how install apps from untrusted sources while promising “enabling free bank transactions access”. After moving to iOS none of that happened. I get the odd subscription I need to cancel but I do that from the phone - not another system.

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Why couldn't this be solved by Apple simply adding a feature that allows you to lock the installation sources behind a PIN? We've had these type of restrictions for other subsystems, so I don't see why it wouldn't be possible here? (Modulo security vulnerabilities, but those exist for the current iOS ecosystem as well).

Example. I could set my parents' device up so they can only install from curated stores (Let's say App Store & Epic Games store, if they were inclined to play games). Now I don't have to worry about them being scammed into sideloading shady apps, they don't have the PIN; and I get all my freedom to install whatever I want.

I'd be honestly happy to hear an argument for why this wouldn't work, cause I haven't been able to work it out.

edit: In a world where apple is mandated to provide sideloading access, it's even in their interest to provide such a feature. It allows them to hold up their "we're security focused" claim, while at the same time potentially increasing revenue (in my example, my parents are still vendor-locked, just by me, their "digital guardian").

That is true. I’m okay with that approach but if it works for everything.

Like for example in-app purchases as well. I don’t want to use the subscription service of every app out there. I want to use the Apple subscription model where I keep everything on the App Store.

If apps are mandated to use the Apple APIs for payments but they can have other means of payment and I can block those from showing using the above PIN functionality- I’m okay.

And it’s again a win-win scenario. Well maybe not developers who most likely will see that ppl trust the Apple system and not their 3rd party payment methods even if they are cheaper.

Basically what I argue for is that I should have a choice to have my phone locked up like it currently is and App Store publishers should not be the ppl who tell me how to use my device. That is all I want and have against side loading and alternatives.

I think your idea could work. :)

Since buying my mum an iPhone I haven’t had to help her with it once. It just works.

If you subscribe on an app for a monthly subscription. If you delete the app it asks if you want to keep the subscription or cancel it. Without the apple ecosystem in place this would silently keep charging her monthly.

She can buy stuff without entering cc details or using random payment apps and not get scammed.

Everyone seems to want the sex appeal of apple products but with the freedom of android. Why not just skin android and use an android phone and leave iOS as is.

> Since buying my mum an iPhone I haven’t had to help her with it once. It just works.

I can tell you that I had a wildly different experience in that respect. A lot of stuff is nonintuitive and works in quirky ways, with occasional buggy behavior. (Not Apple Pay specifically, she doesn’t use that.)

Late but one thing to add is that my parents can now just call apple or chat with them and not call me for - I think my email is not working as I haven't received anything in the last hour.

When I got my first iPhone, such “limitations” weren’t really an issue. As a 30’s something dev, I understand them much more deeply than I did when I made the initial purchase. I now have a number of apps that I use on a daily basis, some of which I’ve paid 100’s of dollars to acquire over the years.

Thus simply “getting Android,” is quite an expensive prospect and we haven’t even talked about the social implications.

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