Apple was forced to allow third party payment systems. And they did.
But they were still allowed to keep their commission and in fact no regulator or court anywhere has said otherwise.
[1] https://developer.apple.com/support/storekit-external-entitl...
Okay cool you can have alternative app stores, you still need a business relationship with Apple, have to submit your apps for review to get your app signed, and turn over I guess 27% of all digital goods sold. But you can have your own storefront and downloader. Congrats.
The iPhone is a coin-operated software runtime. You pay for it at the register and buy the right to own the phone, but your ownership of the software is constantly jeopardized. Everything you use for free you take for granted, and everything you pay for is rent-extracted by the world's largest company.
It's a harmful business. You can argue there are benefits, but the surcharge for simply using the Apple runtime is asinine. It should be loathed and shunned from the highest court, rendered unconscionable for any company of any size. Apple and Google can charge a 90% tax on their app stores for all I care. Those stores simply need competition to compel non-harmful practice. Otherwise, they're completely unaccountable. They've already proven this with their non-cooperation in the browser industry.
All I know is iOS/iPadOS have made it possible for my parents and all the non native English literate, mostly uneducated elders in my family able to use modern computing devices without me ever having to worry about malware.
And there is no alternative.
Turn dev mode on so they can install the “malware remover” or “fix the Facebook app” or whatever to be able to execute the scam.
It's only a hard problem to solve if you are looking for excuses not to solve it.
MacOS can also have malware because uneducated non English literate people have no idea what they are clicking.
iPadOS and iOS’s saving grace is that it does not matter what someone clicks, everything is easily uninstallable and walled off.
If people want to use only Apple-sanctioned apps, that should be an option. It should not be the impetus for keeping features off the iPhone though.