This is not a good argument. Yes things aren't perfect in many areas of technology, but that doesn't mean we should give up.
The better version of this argument acknowledges that there are tradeoffs: allowing side loading may introduce risk but the risk is low relative to the other risks users face and the benefits outweigh the costs.
The solution to the grandmother scenarios is to have a trusted relative that works closely with them, who they trust to copilot or handle completely all business dealings. If that's not possible, then they're at risk whether they have an iphone or android.
Put tight controls in place. You can make it extremely difficult to bypass. You could have a recovery mode like Android and bury the setting in there. I think that makes it sufficiently hard that you don't have to worry about a grandma being tricked into rebooting her phone while holding down a specific button combination and then navigating through a bunch of arcane menus without touch controls to enable side loading. But its enough that someone that is technically inclined and who wants that control over their device can have it.
iOS is not close to a monopoly. People are perfectly free to have Android devices and side load apps on to them. It is curious that the campaigning focuses so strongly on destroying the high trust part that exists and not on promoting a trusted setup on Android.
It's perfectly reasonable for the default setting of a phone to forbid sideloading apps. And anyone who doesn't want to can leave it that way. That's the 'option of safety'.
https://www.fortnite.com/mobile/android/new-device?lang=en-U...
Why? Because historically, iOS has been the more profitable platform for mobile developers by a large margin. The payoff for building and maintaining an alternative app store for Android only is questionable, but improves significantly if the store can exist on iOS too.
Sheesh...
And people who do not like "unsafe" technology are perfectly free to not use it at all.
If you make something idiot-proof, they will simply provide a better idiot.
Not if legislators make it illegal to sell an alternative…
Hell, when she is scammed, Apple apologists will tell her it's not really that bad, and to get off Apple's case about it...
Gruber:
> Instead, the scam LassPass app tries to steer you to creating a “pro” account subscription for $2/month, $10/year, or a $50 lifetime purchase. Those are actually low prices for a scam app — a lot of scammy apps try to charge like $10/week.
(emphasis mine)
Lucky people, I guess? They could have been scammed for more?
He also claims, without any way to know, that "it doesn't look like this was made to steal LastPass credentials".
The whole article is very much a "yeah it sucks and shouldn't happen, but this is no big deal, really, why are you getting all up in Apple's face about it?" vibe.
Huh? No one's forcing them to install F-Droid for crying out loud. If you want what Apple does, then use Apple's store.