I think with the case of Iceblock the developer talked about how the app is super simple by design so that it can be used by 80 year old grandmas. I believe thats part of the reason it wasn't a PWA or something of that nature (among other reasons)
In the case of this application, the circle of users may shift more towards technically savvy.
If we assume this to be true, I could see how it may make sense to provide the application as a sideloadable APK or as open source so that it can be compiled and installed using TestFlight. Its unfortunate that we've reached the point that users can't even run software on their own computing devices.
I wonder if things continue to get bad will we start to see a greater number of people refraining from installing updates to their devices just because prior versions allow more things like jailbreaks. Apple is burning their reputation with these moves so it may happen.
> Apple is burning their reputation with these moves so it may happen.
I highly doubt there will be any noticeable backlash against Apple for removing ICEBlock, sans negative online commentary (which to be fair isn't exactly zero, but doesn't have enough noticeable effect by itself).
Its not ICEBlock specifically, but that a precedent has been now been fully set against the First Amendment, where the government can lean on monopolies and the monopoly will comply to destroy rights.
>I highly doubt there will be any noticeable backlash against Apple for removing ICEBlock, sans negative online commentary (which to be fair isn't exactly zero, but doesn't have enough noticeable effect by itself).
No not just IceBlock but overall increasing the blocking of users from running the software that they want to run.
In the past we've just had niche applications blocked (emulators, some porn applications and apps maybe hackers would use).
Everything else was fair game to be in the app store. Now that semi-mainstream applications are getting banned, it encourages more people to find ways to get the software they want to run.
I love when coders run into fascists because we tend to think that deep knowledge of the rules and mechanisms will help us here the way it does everywhere else, but we're in a sphere where every rule is mutable by anyone who is capable of organizing enough violence.
They want something from the government that is at the government's discretion, such as semiconductor access, data facilities, subsidies, clearances, inclusion in circular partnerships
I don't think Tim Apple is anything but a Tim Apple supporter at the end of the day, it's just that this administration has shown that will abuse the civil litigation system to tie up your time and money endlessly without ever actually reaching a verdict until you finally just give up and pay Trump to go away...ahem, make a donation to the presidential library fund
I don't think it's even litigation they're worried about. It's the tariff power that the cowardly GOP-controlled Congress has given up to Trump to use as a cudgel.
Apple's board would quickly replace any CEO that put the fiscal future of the company into question. Apple is still a tech darling in terms of stock performance and Cook has a fiduciary duty to make sure Apple doesn't flounder. Cook did what he had to do and he's forever going to be remembered as the bad guy for doing it. Whether he actually is or isn't a Trump supporter, we won't know. We have to wait for a tell all book from Cook. My guess is that he will remember this time as the darkest in history and regret it. That is fortunately or unfortunately the immense responsibility that falls on a leader.
but an enthusiastic supporter can be counted on to be a supporter tomorrow. he'll cow to whomever it is in his best interest to cow to, just like how Zucc banned Trump then paid him or how WaPo went from liberal leaning to only publishing pro-free market editorials as a matter of policy
What do you call the guy who abhors the tenets of national socialism but joins the Nazi party solely for the opportunity to sabotage the movement from within? Are they also a Nazi?
Would you consider all members of group X to be represented by X?
That’s an interesting question. I’m not sure I’ve ever thought about it, but definitionally, I think I’d have to say they’re a Nazi. Especially if they’re, like, presenting golden trophies to curry favor with higher-ups in the organization.
The obvious counterexample is a deep undercover cop - are they a member of the mafia or a biker gang? I’d say no since they’re operating under the color of law, but it’s a pretty analogous situation.
This leaves aside the question of partisans, members of the resistance or just surly shop stewards enforcing union work rules to the letter were more effective Nazi opponents than a guy who aimed to take the organization down from the inside. I have my suspicious.
How about IBM? They supplied nazis the punch cards they needed to process the data they collected to round up jews and other marginalized groups and put them into concentration camps through a subsidiary and refuse to this day to be transparent about it. Are they Nazis?
The number tattooed on every concentration camp prisoner was an IBM number.
The German IBM subsidiary was, in my book, a collaborator for sure and morally culpable. I don’t have a view on whether a private enterprise can be a Nazi.
Allowing preferences or downloaded videos to be stored in local storage.
Downloading from YouTube is hard, Google keeps trying to kill yt-dlp. You can download manually from your own site using a web browser, but the app wrapper would make it easier to search by metadata ("Find ICE videos from my town") and to make sure you don't accidentally download the same thing twice.
Plus YouTube might take those down for ToS violations sooner or later.
Anyway it doesn't matter - We should have the right to have apps like this and make them available to the general public. If you can't get it from the App Store, and you can't install an apk on Android, and you can't install an alternate store trivially, then it's as good as dead.
In the case of this application, the circle of users may shift more towards technically savvy.
If we assume this to be true, I could see how it may make sense to provide the application as a sideloadable APK or as open source so that it can be compiled and installed using TestFlight. Its unfortunate that we've reached the point that users can't even run software on their own computing devices.
I wonder if things continue to get bad will we start to see a greater number of people refraining from installing updates to their devices just because prior versions allow more things like jailbreaks. Apple is burning their reputation with these moves so it may happen.
I highly doubt there will be any noticeable backlash against Apple for removing ICEBlock, sans negative online commentary (which to be fair isn't exactly zero, but doesn't have enough noticeable effect by itself).
No not just IceBlock but overall increasing the blocking of users from running the software that they want to run.
In the past we've just had niche applications blocked (emulators, some porn applications and apps maybe hackers would use).
Everything else was fair game to be in the app store. Now that semi-mainstream applications are getting banned, it encourages more people to find ways to get the software they want to run.
Apple defined ICE as a "protected class" in blocking anti-ICE apps
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45520407
that's why they are not challenging this
Why so many people fail to infer the obvious answer here -- that Cook is a Trump-supporting Republican -- boggles my mind.
And not that it really matters, but I say this as a longtime Apple user and employee.
Tim Cook and the rest of the billionaire class do exactly what they want to do politically.
Would you consider all members of group X to be represented by X?
- Kurt Vonnegut, "Mother Night".
Good book that is a direct answer to your question.
The obvious counterexample is a deep undercover cop - are they a member of the mafia or a biker gang? I’d say no since they’re operating under the color of law, but it’s a pretty analogous situation.
This leaves aside the question of partisans, members of the resistance or just surly shop stewards enforcing union work rules to the letter were more effective Nazi opponents than a guy who aimed to take the organization down from the inside. I have my suspicious.
The number tattooed on every concentration camp prisoner was an IBM number.
https://teachingsocialstudies.org/2024/02/19/ibm-and-auschwi...
Downloading from YouTube is hard, Google keeps trying to kill yt-dlp. You can download manually from your own site using a web browser, but the app wrapper would make it easier to search by metadata ("Find ICE videos from my town") and to make sure you don't accidentally download the same thing twice.
Plus YouTube might take those down for ToS violations sooner or later.
Anyway it doesn't matter - We should have the right to have apps like this and make them available to the general public. If you can't get it from the App Store, and you can't install an apk on Android, and you can't install an alternate store trivially, then it's as good as dead.