The nanosecond bad actors (e.g., mega corps) can have apps exclusively in these alt stores, that’s when those corps will move, reinsert their anti-consumer code that Apple makes them take out, and have that be the only choice. And these mega corps will tell consumers about what’s in there as much as they used to before Apple added the mandatory disclosures which is — not disclose at all.
Also, it’s much easier to make peace with Apple choosing what can be snapped into a modular PDA (personal digital assistant) if you stop distinguishing between hardware and software as if that distinction matters for an appliance, and consider it all firmware and all part of a singular trusted digital experience: “Don’t make me think.”
Today, consumers can choose trusted curation and full integration (iDevices), or non-curated and unbundled (countless brand + Android OS options).
If alt app stores happen, consumers will lose this choice, because nobody will be left counter balancing the exploiting corporations’ power. The race to monetizing exploitation happening before Apple stepped in will continue apace.