Who decides what FUNCTIONALITY you get on your smartphone anyway?

[Andy Burnelli]

Who decides what FUNCTIONALITY you get on your smartphone anyway?

My argument is based on the evident facts.
a. The _market_ is who decides what privacy you get
b. Not Apple
c. Not Google

In many cases, Apple restricts the kind of privacy that a smartphone can
provide even as Google doesn't restrict anywhere nearly as much as Apple.

In the case of the Tor Browser, for example, Apple won't allow that kind of
privacy in WebKit, but Google _does_ allow that kind of privacy; hence the
official Tor Browser from the Tor Project is on all platforms _except_ iOS.
*Can I run Tor Browser on an iOS device?*
<https://support.torproject.org/tormobile/tormobile-3/>
"We recommend an iOS app called Onion Browser, which is open source,
uses Tor routing, and is developed by someone who works closely with the
Tor Project. However, Apple requires browsers on iOS to use something
called Webkit, which prevents Onion Browser from having the same privacy
protections as Tor Browser."

However, there are _other_ cases where not only Apple doesn't allow the kind
of privacy the _market_ can provide, but Google doesn't allow it either!

A classic example of that is the system-wide "NetGuard", where the Google
Play version won't allow you to block in-app ads system wide, but the
non-Google play versions provided by the FOSS market do allow ad blocking.
<https://netguard.me/>
<https://github.com/M66B/NetGuard>
<https://f-droid.org/en/packages/eu.faircode.netguard/>
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.faircode.netguard>

Notice here that Google won't allow the ad blocking you want, but the
_market_ can provide it because Google can't stop the open source market.

Another example are the YouTube ads, which can all easily be eliminated
using the FOSS NewPipe app, which again is privacy that is not allowed by
either Google or Apple and yet the FOSS market easily provides the privacy.
<https://newpipe.net/>
<https://f-droid.org/packages/org.schabi.newpipe/>
<https://github.com/TeamNewPipe/NewPipe>

The problem really isn't Apple or Google as you _expect_ bullshit from Apple
& Google in terms of the privacy that they won't allow the user to have.

The problem, as I see it, is a typical phone customer is gullibly clueless.
Sigh. You can't fix stupid.

People compare Apple to Google but what they need to realize is not so much
that both Apple and Google do not have your best interests in mind, but that
*Apple prevents the _market_ from supplying what you need; Google can't.*

The huge difference in functionality is a _direct_ result of that 1 dynamic.

All current cellphones have pretty much equivalent hardware capabilities.
It's not the hardware that provides you the functionality that you want.

It's the _market_ who supplies you with app functionality.
Not Apple or Google.

Apple's stranglehold on the market is why even the most expensive iPhone
will always pale in app functionality to even the free Android phones.

[Alan]

On 2022-01-10 12:54 p.m., Andy Burnelli wrote:
> Who decides what FUNCTIONALITY you get on your smartphone anyway?
>
> My argument is based on the evident facts.
> a. The _market_ is who decides what privacy you get
> b. Not Apple
> c. Not Google
>
> In many cases, Apple restricts the kind of privacy that a smartphone can
> provide even as Google doesn't restrict anywhere nearly as much as Apple.
>
> In the case of the Tor Browser, for example, Apple won't allow that kind of
> privacy in WebKit, but Google _does_ allow that kind of privacy; hence the
> official Tor Browser from the Tor Project is on all platforms _except_ iOS.
> *Can I run Tor Browser on an iOS device?*
> <https://support.torproject.org/tormobile/tormobile-3/>
> "We recommend an iOS app called Onion Browser, which is open source,
> uses Tor routing, and is developed by someone who works closely with the
> Tor Project. However, Apple requires browsers on iOS to use something
> called Webkit, which prevents Onion Browser from having the same privacy
> protections as Tor Browser."
>
> However, there are _other_ cases where not only Apple doesn't allow the kind
> of privacy the _market_ can provide, but Google doesn't allow it either!

'iCloud Private Relay is designed to protect your privacy by ensuring
that when you browse the web in Safari, no single party—not even
Apple—can see both who you are and what sites you're visiting.'

<https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT212614>

You're welcome!