Apple warns Australia against joining EU in mandating iPhone app sideloading | Hacker News Reader

Apple warns Australia against joining EU in mandating iPhone app sideloading

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> Apple warns Australia

Who the heck does Apple think they are?

Also, why doesnt Apple "warn" China for the well documented privacy/security implications in that country?

Because China makes their stuff and they've invested billions in skilling up Chinese labor.

Actually just "billions" is an understatement...

https://youtu.be/NAj9zB4vaZc

They are “warning” in the sense of describing what they claim will be negative outcomes from this. It’s not a threat. As for China, what would they say? “Your policy of surveillance and censorship puts users’ privacy and freedom at risk”? They know, that’s the whole point.

They could say "We're going to stop subsidizing the entire Chinese tech industry"

I'm confused. Are we in favor or against Apple trying to dictate laws in sovereign countries?

It depends on how much money we can make through exploitation of those laws, I think?

While this isn't exactly warning Australia as a threat as many comments have suggested. It wasn't long ago Apple actually warn that they might pull iPhone out those countries.

Their PR system aren't as good as it was and plenty of traces left on the internet.

They aren't warning Australia as a threat, they are making a very valid argument:

> Apple claims that allowing sideloading and alternative app stores effectively opens the door for malware, fraud, scams, and other harmful content.

You don't want random apps on your phone. The App Store vets apps thoroughly to ensure there's no malware. It would be virtually impossible to do the same for arbitrary apps getting side loaded.

A walled app store is neither necessary nor sufficient to prevent malware and scams. This is just Apple trotting out their usual arguments to try and stem the tide of countries that are mandating side-loading.

If that's a concern, then download apps from the App Store. Just don't make it practically impossible to do anything else.

The worry (not sure it is merited) is that major app developers like Meta, Google, etc will start their own app stores, leading everyone to need to start downloading apps from outside Apple’s App Store.

Which hasn't happened on Android, Meta is big enough to have their own app store yet all their apps are on Google Play.

Yeah, I think it not happening on Android is probably evidence it won’t happen. Unless Meta et al have been waiting until they can do it on both major platforms.

Oh no, people will be able to choose who to trust on their devices, and then they might not choose apple! The horror!

Well, we’ve kinda already decided. I don’t trust Meta, and am happy with them having very strict limits on what they can access.

Lmao

> You don't want random apps on your phone

No. Just the ones that I want are fine, thank you.

I want random apps on my phone. The computer has all these same risks yet the sky doesn’t fall.

This is the part I wish Apple apologists get. Your precious Macbook Pro allows arbitrary apps to be installed over internet, and that seems to be doing just OK.

They think that every part of apple is fine.

But to be honest, I am in android and I have some deep criticisms of android too. Wish things were more linux like (ie. literally running pure linux in mobile phones), there is pinephone os but I kinda wish that it becomes mainstream enough

Not really. A random app I download from Github Releases can easily ship my ~/.ssh/id_rsa off to some server and I'd never be wiser. That's very hard to do on a phone.

They're not the same thing and treating them as if they are is somewhat naive.

I think the point is that even that threat hasn't rendered MacBooks to be widely deemed insecure or untrustworthy. So, if the threat of similar insecurities were to show up on phones (which is debatable since AFAIK both iOS and Android have substantially different security models compared to traditional desktop OS apps), why would phones suffer a different fate than laptops or desktops?

Android offers that (for the moment).

> The App Store vets apps thoroughly to ensure there's no malware.

nice joke

at best, that sentence needs to say "less malware"

I do want random apps on my phone. Even if I didn't, it's my phone, I call the shots.

It works for the mac. Apple isnt varning us that macs are unsafe and dangerous.

The entire EU is in flames ever since they allowed "sideloading". Every device is compromised, people are eating their children to survive.

This is what Apple and macrumors users actually believe.

Company CEOs have to learn that companies obey the laws of the countries they operate on, not the other way around.

There was roughly 10 years of Apple thinking they are the law. Very unfortunate Apple didn't learn from its mistakes.

It also doesn't help that Apple has more free money than great many of the world countries

And as many know, in theory all companies have core values trainings, in practice corruption never goes away.

Still, countries have the last word in what happens inside their borders, and when things don't work as they should, someone is getting wealthier.

However companies should not misunderstand such short term wins, with having a say on the country's ruling.

Ever heard of the term "Banana republic" ? That's what happens than company have a lot more money than a country. Overthrowing governments, coups, astronomical bribes - anything goes.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_republic

Better yet, repeal DMCA 1201 and ALL associated other country equivalent 'anti-circumvention' laws.

AND ALSO force monopolies, like Apple, to open like the EU did.

Apple would prefer that users are limited to only their scams.

Clearly they have never met an Australian.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jun/06/australia...

I’m concerned because I was close to suggesting that anything Apple is against must be good. But I like their stance on privacy. Them going so hard on making a point about being anti-consumer may harm future privacy efforts.

Until I can run the code I wrote onto the hardware I bought without restrictions or timeouts, it’s not sideloading. _That_ is what regulators should have forced Apple to do.

I think the word "warn" is a bit of editorializing (by the Guardian, originally). They're just making the same argument in Australia that they did before the EU.

The guardian loves hyperbole , I pay for it but they love publishing rot more often than I’d like to admit.

Or else what?

Tim apple will be very upset or something

Are you another CBB listener in the wild by chance?

I don't know what CBB is sorry.

from a quick google i think it's probably https://www.earwolf.com/show/comedy-bang-bang/

ref: https://www.reddit.com/r/comedybangbang/comments/ueshca/how_... https://www.avclub.com/and-now-scott-aukerman-and-ben-schwar...

AI says "CBB listener" likely refers to someone who listens to the audio broadcast of Celebrity Big Brother.

Or else the policy will “bring increased privacy and security risks to users, opening the door for malware, fraud and scams; illicit and harmful content; and other threats.”

Yeah sure, most users do not sideload. It's mostly used to add extra stores too by power users, especially on Android, rather than loading random apps.

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