Yeah, but you aren't an "end user". I've never met an end user who, when presented with something they want to do--like change the Safari icon to a picture of a dog--who is like "I'm glad I'm not allowed to do that because X"... they pretty much couldn't possibly say that as they aren't in a position to understand X. It is only some vocal minority of admittedly-informed software developers attempting to analyze the tradeoffs of how all this stuff works that are making that decision, and to be a bit frank about it, it just seems like they (you) are either being a bit snooty about the feature in question (being able to have a photo of something you care deeply about as your wallpaper can bring someone immense joy, and to just discount that feels weird) or a bit unimaginative (as there are just so many things you could get: in the jailbreak community we would routinely take suggestions and throw something together for small handfuls of people because it brought us and them joy to do so) with respect to "what they are losing" :/. Even if you can't just can't fathom anyone like yourself benefiting, how about this: we had a blind high school student get involved in jailbreaking as a developer who then built a bunch of software to make his ability to live his life more practical... should we just say that people with niche problems can only get them solved if they are important enough to hit Apple's radar, because no one is ever allowed to solve problems for themselves "for their own good"? :/
Reading this again, I think your definition of “end user” is what’s actually judgmental here. You seem to think “end user” means people who don’t have the ability to figure out their technology and make it work for them, and need someone else to do it for them. You don’t have any room for a person who’s well versed in technology and willingly accepts certain product limitations and acknowledges how those limitations provide other benefits. Okay, if that’s your definition, I can’t be an end user, even though I consciously choose the Apple ecosystem so I can spend some of my time using technology being off the wheel and trust that the wheel has been taken over by a company whose judgement I trust.
But at the same time, if Apple opened iOS to the same freedoms macOS has, users could, in fact, make informed decisions about what they want to run just as companies could configure restrictions and mandate defaults. It doesn’t exactly feel either-or to me. Apple hasn’t actually locked down the device if users can jailbreak or side load. All we’re suggesting here is that there should be a setting advanced users can toggle on. Think of how users can turn on WSL in Windows by downloading an app - what would “Developer Mode” look like on an iOS device, and is there not a middle ground between completely unrestricted and completely sandboxed?
Forget iPad replacing macOS, at this point I’m fascinated by the idea that an iPhone Pro might actually run macOS-like in the future for developers. It’s been a decade since the first jailbreaks were commonly available and we could run shells and other background apps—at the expense of battery life. Apple has built everything they need to keep things safe even if they open the sandbox... they could treat it like location permissions and continuously prompt, allow only some apps, spy or sandbox what function calls apps can make by default, etc. Yes, it could be abused, but they could cloud-scan files before running, or even require signing and submission. I know folks will keep pushing for fewer restrictions, and I know the business reasons that keep Apple from doing this. But this use case won’t ever actually go away...
> But at the same time, if Apple opened iOS to the same freedoms macOS has, users could, in fact, make informed decisions about what they want to run just as companies could configure restrictions and mandate defaults.
OP is just saying that deciding to do that has a usability and security cost that some users will perceive as a net negative.
I know it’s a toggle, but as soon as that toggle exists app developers will use it to provide unsigned copies of fortnite to the kids, it won’t just be for pro users.
This is the point of contention here, imo. Jailbreaking, sideloading, and turning on developer modes are not always informed decisions. I've personally serviced hundreds of iPhones that have had all these things done because someone followed a set of instructions without knowing what they were doing or had someone else turn the option on without informing them and then they were exposed.
I am a happy end user of Apple, and I vastly prefer the walled garden.
When I was younger, I preferred a Windows to a Mac as I liked to customize everything and make it look fun and cool and unique, and to be able to use many niche programs that only existed for Windows. I preferred Android to iOS for the same reason.
Now that I'm working most of the time, however, I just want something that works. I don't care about customizing all that much; I'll leave it to the (mostly) great designers Apple pays. I really value being less concerned about the legitimacy of things I download or view, knowing that Apple's choices to make a walled garden have protected me further.
Beyond myself, though, I'm immensely happy that my older, less tech-savvy parents have iPhones, and I bought my mother a MacBook which she has loved compared to her old desktop. All she wants to do are common tasks on it, and to accomplish them simply and quickly and without worrying about viruses.
I empathize with the jailbreaking community and honestly love how responsive you all are, and how you really make an effort to build things that bring people joy. I think there's millions of people in the world that prefer to have jailbroken phones and more customization and freedom, but there's also millions who prioritize as I do. There's a pro and con to every choice.
How am I not an end user? I buy Apple products, and I use them daily. I described ways I have accepted the limitations Apple has put on my usage of them. I could describe more? I can’t swap out RAM or storage, I’m no longer willing to risk the damage of swapping out batteries. I can’t install hacks that let me switch Safari tabs with my mouse wheel. These are my daily devices, I use them both for work and life. How am I not the end user? I don’t get it.
I think what's meant is that you aren't representative of an end user. That seems a sane interpretation of what saurik was trying to convey when put into the context of his other statements.
I don’t think that’s what they were saying to me. They saw that I represented myself as a software developer and determined that I was making decisions for someone other than myself, when I straight up said that I was knowledgeably making decisions for myself.
This is very nuanced because, to me, there is a difference between a "missing" feature and a feature that's intentionally "withheld". Things like changing icons, in my mind, are missing features. Things like being able to install whatever apps or scripts are available outside of the walled garden are intentional decisions made for security, privacy, etc.
