OPINION : The European Union ’s decision to force Apple into a more undefendable market place harms iPhone users who ’ve choose iOS for certificate reasons
A lot of iPhone users choose iOS because they value and have lay reliance in Apple ’s promises to prioritise their digital certificate and digital privacy .
However , through a desire to foster greater rivalry in the market , the European Union is taking that choice away from smartphone drug user across the entire bloc .
The decision toallow third - party app marketplacesand in - app payment services , as well as the ability to sideload apps and use a different solvent to Apple Pay for wireless defrayal , will benefit developer and fight back against a comprehend monopoly .
However , as Apple says , this decision will define the society ’s ability to protect user from the innumerable bad actors out there looking to steal ownership of devices , exploit data , extort them for money , hijack their identity , raid their accounts , and every other repulsion story you hear about . There ’s too much at bet to have amateurs behind the steering wheel .
Of course , it should be enunciate , users will still have the opportunity to alone apply the App Store to download apps and pay for services , but the market will talk too . If lower prices are available elsewhere due to the alteration , hoi polloi will choose to go down that route . We live in a society where the penny are everything . Eventually , the secondary marketplaces will become the norm and so will the increased threats that bestow from less experienced guardian .
Does this serve the originative economy ? Yes , it should . But if you ask most iPhone user whether they care one iota about a ) the cut Apple study from developers through in - app leverage and b ) whether it ’s fair that all downloads and purchases must be made through Apple , what do you think they ’d say ?
Would they say it was something they ’d think about for a single minute ? A few in the know common people might . Some might say they correspond it ’s unfair on the developer residential area and the content creators that Apple hold the marketplace and get such a big share of the spoils for in - app purchase .
But remember about how many of those would aboveboard rank that concern above their own digital security ? I ’d say few to none . Some may be unconcerned about this change and think of it as scaremongering from Apple . They ’d be improper .
iPhone Wild West awaits
Check the Google News Technology section now and again . Invariably , you ’ll see headline like : “ These 25 Android apps with millions of downloads culled due to malware ” . It ’s a hobo camp out there .
How often do you take heed about fly - by - nighttime game developers fleecing user for in - app purchase ? How often do you hear about knockoff apps springing up all over the property and make it past the Play Store protections ? And this is Google . It has the imagination to be on top of this stuff ( even though they ’re often not ) . Who knows who will be offer apps on Apple platform from now on ?
And , as Apple says , it ’s method acting of mitigating the menace once the ecosystem is out of its paw wo n’t always be enough .
I do n’t want that on the iPhone . Give me the walled garden any sidereal day of the week . I prise the App Store ecosystem because I know that – baring rare exceptions – everything is secure . The App Store is a market place with vigorous and , quite honestly , anal operation for vetting apps and developers . I believe the defrayal facilitator I am using . I intrust Apple Pay entirely because I understand how it works as a one - fourth dimension token that never gives my card detail to a vendor .
As Apple has said , it wo n’t be expanding the choice beyond the EU because it does n’t consider this is the best direction to keep its drug user safe .
Apple says : “ We ’ve been very unmortgaged about new threats the Digital Markets Act introduces — admit increased hazard for malware , fraud and scams , illicit and objectionable content , and reduced power for Apple to respond to and remove malicious apps . The changes required by the DMA also call for new engineering and process that are untested and may require further development . ”
Part of this is obviously spin from Apple . It may be accentuating the nature of the risks over fears its part of the pie might slice elsewhere . However , the concern are well ground .
You will not find another app market place , contactless payment tool , or in - app purchase supplier as conscientious as Apple when it comes to protect its users . That auspices is n’t just a moral conviction , surety and privacy is a crucial part of its very successful business model .
I ’m a staunch Remainer , so it ’s rarified you ’ll see me observe an EU ruling not applying in the UK ( or in the United States where I live and work ) , but in this instance I ’m beaming the Digital Markets Act does not enforce in either nation .
And it ’s the same for the efforts to make Apple spread out up iMessage , which we assume will be next . Leave it alone . Politicians with money on the mind are undermining thing that users value and have actively chosen as part of their digital lives . The EU is overreaching and it will harm consumer .
