Apple’s iOS Security Research Device program will be available to researchers with a track record of high-quality security research on any platform, so not every regular developer will be able to access these devices. The handsets will come with ssh, a root shell, and advanced debug capabilities, all designed to make it easier for security researchers to spot bugs.
Nice initiative, I guess, but obviously anybody should be able to turn their iPhone into a device like this.
Thom Holwerda,
A rooted iphone would sell well too. Of course the reason apple doesn’t do it is because they still want to block competing app stores and force owners and devs to use apple as the middle man.
https://www.google.com/search?q=jailbreak+ios+12.2
The123king,
First of all, you should provide a specific link to be on the same page, unless you were making a sarcastic point, in which case carry on, haha.
The thing is we already know rooting is a thing, but hacking into the OS, fighting against the manufacturer to gain access via root exploits, potentially bricking the device, loosing warranty, are all big negatives compared to being able to buy the phone you want without having to go through this crap in the first place (be it IOS or android), An officially supported path would be far more robust and consistent. It would likely encourage 3rd party stores like GOG, IndieGameBundles and Steam to support IOS. It would open the door to tons of open source software repos being available for IOS. More innovative use cases could become more viable. Alas, these are all things that apple rejects because as a middle man, they want full control.
I’ll be honest, if IOS were sold with a root option, a big chunk of my criticism against apple and it’s draconian business model to control what owners can do on their own hardware goes away. Apple is willing to incur such criticism simply because being in a position to tax the software industry makes them tons of money (ironically while not paying much in taxes themselves, but that’s a different topic).
> An officially supported path would be far more robust and consistent.
I wonder if Apple could essentially be “persuaded” to do this by the fear from the current Herd-Of-Donkeys (TM), going on about monopolies and too-big business and wanting to break Apple up – especially Elizabeth Warren:
[1] “Warren’s Populist Puritanism – Don’t bust successful businesses for their size. Focus on real anti-competitive issues.”
(https://www.wsj.com/articles/warrens-populist-puritanism-11552848483)
And here’s a zinger that Americans apparently *don’t* support such a move – at least according to one poll:
[2] “Americans don’t support Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s plan to break up big tech: Poll”
(https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/04/elizabeth-warrens-plan-to-break-up-apple-facebook-amazon-google-not-popular-poll.html%5D)
Jimw338,
The WSJ link is behind a paywall for me.
Having a few corporations with so much power over our technology is extremely dangerous and sets a bad precedent for the future.
Breaking up a company could be an effective penalty for non-compliance, but the goal shouldn’t necessarily be to break up companies, instead it should be to restore owner rights. I’d like to see laws passed prohibiting all companies (including apple, but not limited to apple) from heavy-handed control tactics that take away owner right even after point of sale. Apple should not be allowed to ban competing software providers, they should compete for customers on merit like everyone else has to, Owners should not be beholden to the corporations that sell the hardware. Once you own something, only you should decide what software you want to use and where you get it from.
I’m very happy to be using a smartphone OS that supports all of this for all users as standard.
[forgive my smugness, but when you use a more niche OS, you take the opportunities when they arise!].
More seriously, this looks like a good development from Apple, and it’s just a shame they’re restricting it. My guess is that only a limited number of people would want to take up the offer, even if it was available to everyone.
> My guess is that only a limited number of people would want to take up the offer, even if it was available to everyone.
Exactly. So Apple’s “we don’t want to open it up because that will destroy our 30% ‘Apple Store Tax’ business model, and people will start using other app stores we don’t control” argument might not even *be* an argument. Apple has always excelled at creating easy, no-hassle, “just works” solutions (sometimes more successful at the “just works” part). That’s at least part of why (some, at least) people buy iOS versus Android. Just because there’s a “non-Apple-App-Store” available doesn’t mean those people will necessarily stop using Apple’s ecosystem.
Now, maybe I’m wrong, and Apple actually *has* crunched the numbers/user-models/etc and figured out that allowing rooting/non-Apple-App-Stores for *those who want it* *would* actually destroy their ecosystem-lock-in business model. I don’t know.
Are there “non-Google” app stores out there for Android? No “download from GitHub and then root the phone to side-load it” options, but actual “build to be easy to use” Android app stores that aren’t Google? If so, Google apparently has decided that they won’t negatively affect their Google Play store enough to care about them.. Apple should do the same.
There are plenty of easy to use non-google app stores for android out there, fdroid being the first that comes to mind, 🙂
Jimw338,
There are alternatives android stores that make installation just as easy as the official stores, here are some of them:
https://www.androidpit.com/best-google-play-store-alternative-app-stores
The thing to remember is that google has a rather different business model than apple. for better or worse google mostly makes profits by tracking users and selling ads and not apps. Apple’s app store is a large source of apple’s profits. It would potentially take a hit of billions if the IOS app market were opened to competitors.
This link is talking about the effect that apple’s fees have on it’s profits, it gives an idea of the kinds of numbers we’re talking about…there’s no question that apple stands to loose quite a lot in a free market for apps without coercion.
https://www.businessinsider.com/lowering-app-store-fees-could-cost-apple-billions-2019-3
Apple’s profit projections are based on the contiuation of these profits, but it’s facing lawsuits by publishers in the EU that may put an end to the easy money from charing app fees in europe.