> I honestly can't imagine going back to having the list of approved software for one of my most important computers dictated by a publicly traded company. I'm shocked other people tolerate it!
Because it isn't the most important computer for many (probably most) people - it's their phone/entertainment device and it does what they want; any semblance of it being a general purpose computer was never there.
I used to think this way as well, as for me, the phone is just a thing that's somewhat useful but definitely not my main compute device. Within the past couple of years though I have seen where the smart phone is the only compute device a person (family) may have. No internet connection at home, so data is only available via phone. I was shocked at how prevalent this actually is.
Plenty of people have iPhones or iPads and use them as general-purpose computers. If they don't, it's mostly for ergonomic reasons than software restrictions (most people probably don't want to sit in front of an 11-inch iPad for 8 hours a day).
Maybe the answer is just that most people don't care as much as nerds on HN do.
Because it isn't the most important computer for many (probably most) people - it's their phone/entertainment device and it does what they want; any semblance of it being a general purpose computer was never there.