• TheMurphy@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    This would actually be a big step for many Android users wanting to try out another OS.

    I know for myself that sideloading apps is a must for me on my phone, and if an iPhone could do that, it’s at least one step closer for consideration.

      • Octopus1348@lemy.lol
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        10 months ago

        on Apple you are forced to use an Apple ID

        Not entirely true. For most functionality on Android, you also need to be signed in with Google, but you can de-google it. On Apple, it’s the same, but you can’t de-apple it. You can currently only use the App Store which needs an Apple ID, so you can use without an Apple ID but you lose like 80% of the stuff you could use your phone for.

          • Octopus1348@lemy.lol
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            10 months ago

            Wait so you don’t need an Apple ID for the App Store? Or did I interpret your comment wrong.

          • abhibeckert@lemmy.world
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            10 months ago

            You kind of are forced to use it app store aside.

            In the EU at least, that restriction will be gone in a couple months.

            You can not use iMessage without an apple ID but you could use RCS without a Google account.

            You can use SMS without an Apple ID, and iMessage falls back gracefully to SMS. Photos will be lower quality and sending messages to international phone numbers will be expensive… but it will work and RCS support is coming to iPhone later this year which should fix both of those.

            Another bigger drawback to not using an Apple ID is backing up is going to be an absolute pain.

            Not really. You just plug it into a PC with a USB cable, and it automatically does a backup. You could just do that every night to charge your phone.

            Because you can’t access the file system on iOS, for things like photos and contacts or messages, your only options would be iCloud as far as I know (I could be wrong) or I guess if you have a Macbook as well Airdrop?

            Yeah you’re wrong. The “Files” app on iOS, which is also embedded in various apps as a file open/save/import/export/share/etc option, has a plugin architecture where third party apps can provide all the same file storage as iCloud. You can use Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, Dropbox, Bit Torrent Sync, an Git server, etc, etc by simply installing a third party apps.

            In fact, Apple charges monthly fee to use iCloud in the files app (assuming you want to store a reasonable amount of data in the cloud). As far as I know, most iPhone users don’t pay and a lot of those people would be using third party file apps.

            Access to photos/contacts/calendar/etc is also fully available via an API, though I’d encourage you not to let apps access that data. There’s quite a long history of it being used for some really creepy levels of tracking — for example, most photos have metadata including date/time/location and face recognition is trivial these days. You’re handing over a detailed location history for both yourself and anyone you’ve ever photographed by giving access to your data, and third party apps have been caught using this for malicious purposes. Sometimes unwittingly, as part of a third party library. Obviously it depends on the app - if you want Flickr to be your cloud storage/backup for your photo library, that’s probably safe (and Flickr does have that feature).

            Connecting an iPhone to an Apple ID is entirely optional. The only requirement is a quick check on first run wether or not the device has been reported as stolen. The App Store is the only essential functionality that requires an account with Apple even that is technically optional (you can sideload enterprise/school/work related apps for example as well as if you’re a developer you can sideload your own apps, and you can do all of that without an Apple ID on the device (the developer/enterprise/school/etc will need an account).

            • Aatube@kbin.social
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              10 months ago

              Yeah you’re wrong. The “Files” app on iOS, which is also embedded in various apps as a file open/save/import/export/share/etc option, has a plugin architecture where third party apps can provide all the same file storage as iCloud

              Photos, contacts, messages etc aren’t exposed to Files. The person you’ve replied to seems to be talking about cloud-syncing them with a third-party service or backing them up in a computer-decryptable way.

              you can sideload enterprise/school/work related apps

              But any other personal app will not be downloadable unless you plan to only use 3 that aren’t already installed.

          • Octopus1348@lemy.lol
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            10 months ago

            That’s de-googling (which I specifically mentioned in my previous comment). I’m talking about the stock experience most people will have on Android. For that, you need a Google account.

            An user not familiar with Android will just use the Play Store, and they’ll need to log in with Google.

            • Honytawk@lemmy.zip
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              10 months ago

              Not really, you can just remove your Google Account after setting it up and things will stay working without issue.

              You only really need a Google account to download apps from the Play store. But you can use sideloading and different stores for that.

              • Octopus1348@lemy.lol
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                10 months ago

                But you can use sideloading and different stores for that.

                That’s (part of) what I said. You can also remove your Apple ID after you downloaded some apps, but that doesn’t change the fact that you need one to do so.

    • smileyhead@discuss.tchncs.de
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      10 months ago

      Still having to buy completely another device to switch operating systems… Not because the system was not adapted yet, but because of software locks and purposful roadblocks.

    • maness300@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      Nah. As an Android user, the only other OS’s I’m interested in are ones that further embrace the Linux ecosystem.

      • OrangeCorvus@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        Apple will find a way to appease the dumbasses in Europe

        I imagine Tim Apple’s bottom is shinier than Bender’s from all that kissing. One often wonders why people keep drinking the Kool-Aid from such behemoths. Must be something in the water.

      • Patch@feddit.uk
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        10 months ago

        but there’s nothing in the law that states they have to let you sideload whatever you choose

        That’s pretty much exactly what the law does say.

        The gatekeeper shall allow and technically enable the installation and effective use of third-party software applications or software application stores using, or interoperating with, its operating system and allow those software applications or software application stores to be accessed by means other than the relevant core platform services of that gatekeeper.

        There’s a provision for not letting the user actively break the device, but that’s it. And it’s couched in terms like “if strictly necessary and proportionate” and “provided they are justified”, so it’s not something Apple can apply on a whim.

          • Patch@feddit.uk
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            10 months ago

            It doesn’t say anything about specific software. They have to allow you to use third party stores, they don’t have to allow you to download torrent apps so that you can pirate.

            Literally in the quote I posted…

            The gatekeeper shall allow and technically enable the installation and effective use of third-party software applications or software application stores

          • abhibeckert@lemmy.world
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            10 months ago

            There was a time, on Android custom roms, if you had pirated apps installed, they were uninstalled automatically. I see something similar happening here.

            I’m sure Apple will do malware scans on third party apps, like they do on the Mac. But if they start uninstalling legitimate third party apps, that’s going to be treated as “no allowing third party app stores” and the maximum EU fine for that is high enough to bankrupt Apple. They won’t do it.

            • Railcar8095@lemm.ee
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              10 months ago

              the maximum EU fine for that is high enough to bankrupt Apple. They won’t do it.

              I don’t think Apple will remove side loaded apps at a massive scale, but let’s be real. Apple is worth more than a trillion. If the EU fines them enough to bankrupt, they will just leave the EU and not pay the fine. US would go to war with the EU before they allow such amount of money to be transferred to the EU.

      • Honytawk@lemmy.zip
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        10 months ago

        If less options is the only selling point of iOS, then it is a shit OS.