I’ve been using a Mac for fifteen years, so that means fifteen years I’ve been using the Apple operating system (and twelve years since it has its own app store); I was able to install what I wanted, not just those that met the App Store rules or what a development studio agrees to create under its monetization policy.

We are now on the verge of the iPhone’s launch. side loading —Installing applications outside the App Store – due to European legal impositions, there will be clashes of opinion with two mainstreams: those who will celebrate the arrival of alternatives and those who will prefer the centralized model that we have had since 2008.

No need to think of exotic and hypothetical scenarios: your Mac experience is enough to know that this process has many advantages.

Notarization and qualification

One of the criticisms is that the centralized model (single App Store) is much more convenient for the user. Of course it is, but the macOS App Store allows you to follow a centralized model and it has never been successful. And not because too many developers have turned their backs on it, but because some of its limitations are incompatible with certain types of great apps.

A paradigmatic case is this: CleanMyMacA versatile application used to perform cleaning and maintenance tasks on Mac. It wasn’t part of the App Store, but had to get into the App Store a few years ago as a way to build reputation; This was something that not all apps in this category had. type: If it’s on the App Store, it’s trustworthy.

But to reach the App Store, the app had to be decaffeinated, creating a gap between CleanMyMac on the App Store and what can be downloaded from its website (or from an alternative store like Setapp). The person who downloaded it from the official store found a version with fewer functions, because otherwise it would not have passed Apple’s filter.

CleanMyMac is not a dangerous or harmful application, but rather a great maintenance tool that basically turns terminal commands into a nice and easy-to-use interface. However, it does not have a full place in the app store.

This doesn’t mean that the App Store is a bad store either. It is very nice but it has some shortcomings. In macOS, it is easy to overcome these shortcomings by downloading applications and utilities from alternative stores or from any website, and many years ago Apple introduced a wonderful function in macOS to protect us from possible harmful or malicious software: Gatekeeper.

Gatekeeper verifies that the software we install comes from a developer that has been determined and certified by Apple to be free of malicious content, and also provides information to the user so that they can reconfirm their intention to install that application.

When it comes to iOS in the European Union, Apple could have washed their hands of knowing it was a precaution they had to follow but didn’t want to, but still didn’t: Even if the apps come from third-party stores, they will need a notarization process.

An automated, human review to ensure that each app does not cross red lines regarding privacy, security, and permissions set by Apple. And if there are cracks, it will not be the user’s fault. side loadingThis would mean that the measures Apple has put in place regarding notarization will fail. Just as the App Store’s centralized process has failed throughout these three decades. Just like Instagram allows an app to steal our password.

Yes definitely, This notarization will have no effect on the content. A third-party application cannot ask for permission to access our camera and gallery unless there is a justifying use, such as pornography or cryptocurrency mining.

This security measure can be bypassed on macOS, but not on iOS, if we agree to install an app even if Apple warns us that the application is not trustworthy, so the security argument disappears.

We have been using macOS with this system for twelve years and have not experienced any security disasters. On iOS, with an even more controlled process with no room for free installation (only notarized applications and only through a store, with no ability to download from the web), security should not be an issue at all.

The experience may not be so comfortable from now onespecially if Meta, Google, Netflix, Epic and the company accompany Setapp by distributing their software on their own, repositioning what we previously found in the App Store. In turn, we will see more applications with other types of offers. For now, streaming games are already (and globally) allowed, and if you dare, it’ll be easier for users to sign up and unsubscribe from services like Spotify or explore Netflix’s list of owned games in a central location. with your own store.

And best of all, commissions dropped, allowing developers to save money by facing competition. A savings that will be offered to users.

If only we hadn’t had great tragedies for decades side loading Since macOS also comes to iOS, we should not expect a crisis. Especially when it arrives in a much more controlled and centralized way.

Featured image | Xataka, Wikimedia Commons, Mockuuups Studio

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