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Comment by mmooss | Hacker News Reader

There is a negative network effect: The opt-out is so complex and time-consuming that it will deter almost all users (even if some on HN say they will do it).

With so few users, many fewer developers will release apps that don't comply with Google's requirements. Then the value of opting out will decline significantly, which will reduce the number of people doing it, which will reduce the number of apps released ...

How do corporate users distribute custom apps on iPhones? Must they distribute them via Apple's store or is there some corporate mode, maybe involving X.509 certs and device management, that enables large-scale professional users to sideload?

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ZERO. ZERO developers who don’t comply will make a living selling applications and services to the general public.

This is correct. The people who will refuse to pay $25 and sign their stuff are people with a political objective, not businesses.

It's not about paying Google. People can buy gift cards with cash and do that; that's not the problem, especially not for commercial use. It's everything else that they're imposing or could impose on a whim and whose device it is they're putting restrictions on.

Google will not accept prepaid cards for verification.

Google's identity requirements serve basic security needs and are fine.

> Google will not accept prepaid cards for verification.

Precisely?

Maybe to spell it out once more, that it's about the other restrictions and not the 25$. Identity requirements is one of those others.

> identity requirements serve basic security needs

Last I heard, Google doesn't employ law enforcement. I can auth to the people we vote for and any laws they make such as bank KYC against specific criminal activity. Nobody gets scammed via an apk when it's infinitely easier to put up a webpage or socialmedia profile

I agree; I expect that's already true?

In the GP I'm talking about people releasing FOSS and similar projects.

I'm actually working on a project that targets dual screen android handhelds. It will be kickstarted with a free demo. Android side-loading is the ONLY way to deliver that application to backers. I'll need to go thru Google's developer surveillance process (but u right, I already was going to because the demo and the full release will also be in the Play store.)

Oh and to answer your question about B2B iPhone apps, YES. Not my department at my last job but i know the application needed to go thru apple approval process and app store distribution. And it was difficult to keep in sync with a back-end on its own release schedule. That's why I'm pretty sure everything ended up getting turned into some sort of web view.

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