Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Says Revised U.S. Sideloading Bill Would 'Undermine the Privacy and Security Protections' iPhone Users Rely On
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
They are OSes, including Mobile and desktop PCs. I have given the desktop Linux percentage also. They all allow sideloading. The same scammers should be putting those apps on their websites now for people using these OSes (except iOS as it does not allow sideloading). Why are we not hearing horror stories (that you say are going happen) right now when 83% of the users are using OSes that allow sideloading and why would it happen only when iOS will start allowing sideloading. Or are you telling us that all the scammers are ignoring Android, Windows, Linux, and MacOS users that use an OS that allows sideloading and are only waiting for iOS to allow sideloading so that they can host their apps on websites?Ugh.
When you mentioned Linux in the same sentence alongside Windows and MacOS... I assumed you were talking about Linux on desktop PCs.
Sorry I didn't realize you were also including mobile Linux (Android) too.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Thank you for posting that same Ars Technica link twice in less than three hours. We get it.
But since we're repeating things... let me say this again:
If scammy developers want to put scammy apps in the app store... where they actually run the risk of being rejected by Apple... but some still sneak through...
What makes you think there won't be scammy developers putting scammy apps on their own website where nobody is checking them?
I don't think the solution to "there are scam apps in the App Store" should be "we will allow downloads from anywhere..."
It's weird.
You're so quick to point out that there are scam apps on the App Store even with app review. I've seen your links.
But you don't believe there will be scam apps when they can be downloaded from the web with no app review.
By golly... I hope you're right.
As for horror stories... have you ever heard of spyware, malware, or ransomware?
It's quite a nuisance. Luckily it doesn't have much of a foothold in the iOS market. I wonder why that is?
I am saying there are more scam apps in the Appstore (because Apple is promoting them) than outside it. When 83% percent of the OSes allow sideloading, there will be some horror stories. They are not dominating the regular apps. There will be scam apps even for iOS, but they will be in the same proportion and probably less than what is available on the Appstore that is reviewed. I do not believe Appstore actually reviews their apps for scams (otherwise they wouldn't be actively promoting the scam apps). The target of Appstore review is different.It's weird.
You're so quick to point out that there are scam apps on the App Store even with app review. I've seen your links.
But you don't believe there will be scam apps when they can be downloaded from the web with no app review.
By golly... I hope you're right.
As for horror stories... have you ever heard of spyware, malware, or ransomware?
It's quite a nuisance. Luckily it doesn't have much of a foothold in the iOS market. I wonder why that is?
?
Luckily... there are more good apps than there are scam apps.
What was it... 200 billion app downloads every year?
Even if you added up all the apps in the "scam app lists" they would be dwarfed by regular well-behaved apps.
So that's a plus.
Because apps that want to scam people look for the best possible exposure and the easiest possible path in phones, which is the App Store.
So it wouldn't make sense to invest a lot of time and effort to promote apps outside on the App Store because no matter how much they invest, it will never reach the same number of people. Also apps from outside the official store can be blocked. Google's Play Protect service works with APKs as well.
Also as an example from Android. Users that side-load are a small minority but also on average they are more knowledgeable regarding security and harder to trick than the average smartphone user. This is why most of the effort is directed to get the scam apps on Play Store.
It's not weird at all, the Apps Store will continue to reaming the main target for scam app, even with sideloading being possible without restrictions. Do you think that 100 apps that most people won't discovered anyway are more efficient at scamming than the 1 app they can easily find and download in the Apps Store(it's often even recommended to them the the store's algorithms or even promoted on the Apps Store)?
You, certainly can think the way you want of what apple does or do not. I’m not a throw the baby out with the bath water thinker as so many here seem to be.In fact dedicated stores to malware could be experts in tricking users out of their assets.
I don't need to, you made the claim.
Anyway, I already took a look at the CVE reports. Android has more vulnerabilities in terms of numbers because it's the most popular mobile OS and Open Source so everybody pokes around with it all the time from all possible directions but iOS has had more code execution vulnerabilities which are the most severe. You also do have above the link with the 0 Day Exploits.
No you made the first claim about iOS. Can you prove that? I looked at cve also and one can spin the numbers any which way which is why your first statement is strictly IN YOUR OPINION.
I already provided a link to support what I said.
If you don't like it, that's just YOUR OPINION, nothing more.
That’s correct, IN MY OPINION, that link isn’t worth the cost of the bits to transport the verbiage because your original assertion is not supported.
It would really help if the bar on critical thinking skills could be raised.[…].
But you don't believe there will be scam apps when they can be downloaded from the web with no app review.
By golly... I hope you're right.
As for horror stories... have you ever heard of spyware, malware, or ransomware?
It's quite a nuisance. Luckily it doesn't have much of a foothold in the iOS market. I wonder why that is?
Yeah I see what you mean. The App Store gets tons of visibility.
But that's only when you're browsing in the App Store.
I regularly see plenty of Instagram ads and Youtube ads that point people to the App Store. The most common one... that game with the lava and gold. ?
But those Instagram/Youtube ads could just as easily point people to a scammy website if sideloading is enabled.
And last time I checked... Instagram and Youtube have tons of visitors. I would say people browse IG/YT way more than the App Store.
Like I said earlier... I don't think the solution to "there are scam apps on the App Store" should be "we will allow downloads from anywhere"
?
Luckily... there are more good apps than there are scam apps.
What was it... 200 billion app downloads every year?
Even if you added up all the apps in the "scam app lists" they would be dwarfed by regular well-behaved apps.
So that's a plus.
200b?
Makes me wonder just what the make-up is.
I have more downloaded apps on each of my PC's, Mac, Android, and less on my Linux than I do on my iPhone.
Is a download a new purchased app?
Playing Google but not finding a definitive answer.
If sideloading is put in place on the iPhone (and iPad) I suspect that unless Apple does something odd in its implementation, it will end up similar to Android but a bit higher as to the balance of scam/mal/harvesting apps.
One detriment for Android is the diversity. What works on one flavor won't work on another. Makes apps a pain at times but also nefarious apps. I suspect iOS/iPadOS will be an easier mark as one endeavor can hit a bigger percentage of users.
In the end, it will become just another footnote and quietly forgotten.
I, too, download more apps on my Windows machine. But I'm a mid-aged computer nerd.
Meanwhile... these young hotshots are on their phones 24/7
Here's the info I found:
How many mobile apps were downloaded worldwide?
There were more than 218 billion app downloads in 2020 (TechCrunch, 2021). A 6.86% increase from the year prior. Experts predict that there would be a 25% increase in global mobile app downloads between 2018 and 2022 when forecasts estimate there will be 258 billion app downloads globally.
From here:
Number of Mobile App Downloads in 2024: Statistics, Current Trends, and Predictions - Financesonline.com
In 2019 alone, consumers downloaded a total of 204 billion mobile apps, up from 140.7 billion app downloads in 2016.
Instagram and Youtube ads mean very little for overall download on the Apps Store(are quite annoying actually and skipped as soon as possible by the most) and very easily somebody could report a scam app to Instagram or Youtube making them block those ads so a lot of resources wasted for little gain.Yeah I see what you mean. The App Store gets tons of visibility.
But that's only when you're browsing in the App Store.
I regularly see plenty of Instagram ads and Youtube ads that point people to the App Store. The most common one... that game with the lava and gold. ?
But those Instagram/Youtube ads could just as easily point people to a scammy website if sideloading is enabled.
And last time I checked... Instagram and Youtube have tons of visitors. I would say people browse IG/YT way more than the App Store.
Like I said earlier... I don't think the solution to "there are scam apps on the App Store" should be "we will allow downloads from anywhere"
It quite obvious that a lot of users here have very little experience with sideloading on mobile phones. The idea is that somebody making a scam app wants the best exposure but doesn't want a lot of attention or popularity especially the wrong attention from people that know software because that means game over for them. The App Store gives them the best exposure no matter what and even if they are discovered and their app is eliminated they still reached way more users than they would have reached through sideloading.
Alright... it sounds like scam apps will be most effective in the App Store.
But how does this relate to sideloading?
There are always people posting links to "scam apps in the App Store" whenever the topic of sideloading comes up.
How are they related?
Will sideloading reduce the number of scams in the App Store?
No, right? You say the scammers want the biggest audience... so they will remain in the App Store.
In other words... I don't see how "scam apps in the App Store" are supporting the argument for allowing sideloading.
It seems like a separate issue entirely.
?
I, too, download more apps on my Windows machine. But I'm a mid-aged computer nerd.
Meanwhile... these young hotshots are on their phones 24/7
Here's the info I found:
How many mobile apps were downloaded worldwide?
There were more than 218 billion app downloads in 2020 (TechCrunch, 2021). A 6.86% increase from the year prior. Experts predict that there would be a 25% increase in global mobile app downloads between 2018 and 2022 when forecasts estimate there will be 258 billion app downloads globally.
From here:
Number of Mobile App Downloads in 2024: Statistics, Current Trends, and Predictions - Financesonline.com
In 2019 alone, consumers downloaded a total of 204 billion mobile apps, up from 140.7 billion app downloads in 2016.financesonline.com
I thought about it a bit more.
All of my family has a phone per person.
Generally a tablet or two per household.
Generally a pc, chromebook, or mac per household.
If you count downloads I can see why, if my numbers are anything like normal.
Also can see why Apple doesn't want any sharing when it comes to iOS/iPadOS apps.
Fragmentation in a lot of ways is a problem in other it could be a blessing because it makes it difficult to target specific vulnerabilities that wouldn't necessary be present in any OS version or Android skin but for scam/harvesting apps it poses no problem at all as you make the app target Android 5.0 Lollipop and you reach over 98% of Android users.
My point was that the popularity of such apps that are outside the App Store would be very small, almost irrelevant, like it is on Android.