If you look at the Mac as an example, the vast majority of software is still distributed outside the Mac App Store, usually because either:
- The software is free and the developer doesn't want to pay $99/year to Apple
- The software is paid but the developer either doesn't want to give 30% to Apple, or they want to use a pricing model incompatible with the App Store (discounted upgrade pricing, rolling subscriptions etc.)
- The software does something that violates the guidelines, or in general is incompatible with sandboxing (or would be a worse product because of it)
Because so many applications are not, or in many cases _cannot_ be made available via the Mac App Store, users of said apps are in a sense "forced" to install outside the App Store. I believe that if sideloading was feasible for iOS, many developers (and certainly the big players) would pull out of the App Store completely.
I want to make it very clear though: I don't consider this an argument against sideloading apps at all. I consider it evidence that the App Store (on both iOS and macOS) is woefully inadequate at covering the full range of software developers want to build, and that in turn hurts customers.
I would love to use my iPad for more work related stuff, but I'm a software developer, so most of my day-to-day work involves software that just cannot run on iOS. If sideloading was available I could actually use it like the "Pro" device it claims to be, rather than just a very nice content consumption device.
Why hasn't this happened on Android ? Or has it happened and I'm not aware?
I think as long as sideloading is made inconvenient enough, most consumers won't use it and therefore most developers won't provide it. But it should still be an option for the sake of consumers that want things that the walled garden can't support.
If I had to guess I'd say it's that Google's rules aren't nearly as ridiculous as Apple's. For example Apple forbids you from even mentioning that you can sign up to a service externally, let alone linking out to an external payment page.
I completely agree with you though, there should always be an escape hatch.
> I believe that if sideloading was feasible for iOS, many developers (and certainly the big players) would pull out of the App Store completely.
Why do you believe that, when it hasn't happened with the only other comparable platform after years and years of supporting this model?
Windows and Mac are not comparable, as people are not as used to their respective stores, and lots of pre-existing software actually has to go out of its way to integrate with the store, instead of the other way around.
Largely because Apple's restrictions seem to be much stricter than any other store, and lately are rubbing a lot of very big companies the wrong way.
Were sideloading permitted I could see, for example, an Epic App Store, with their 12% cut and lessened restriction on external payment processing, being a popular place for apps to move to.
- The software is free and the developer doesn't want to pay $99/year to Apple
- The software is paid but the developer either doesn't want to give 30% to Apple, or they want to use a pricing model incompatible with the App Store (discounted upgrade pricing, rolling subscriptions etc.)
- The software does something that violates the guidelines, or in general is incompatible with sandboxing (or would be a worse product because of it)
Because so many applications are not, or in many cases _cannot_ be made available via the Mac App Store, users of said apps are in a sense "forced" to install outside the App Store. I believe that if sideloading was feasible for iOS, many developers (and certainly the big players) would pull out of the App Store completely.
I want to make it very clear though: I don't consider this an argument against sideloading apps at all. I consider it evidence that the App Store (on both iOS and macOS) is woefully inadequate at covering the full range of software developers want to build, and that in turn hurts customers.
I would love to use my iPad for more work related stuff, but I'm a software developer, so most of my day-to-day work involves software that just cannot run on iOS. If sideloading was available I could actually use it like the "Pro" device it claims to be, rather than just a very nice content consumption device.