Apple: builds their entire software ecosystem on free, open-source foundations.
Also Apple: better have a million euros if you want to even start distributing software.
The best use case for an external app store is free open-source software, like we have on the Android side with F-Droid. Apple stopped that before it even started. Jeez.
Note that third party app stores like F-Droid still aren’t first-class citizens like Google Play, since every installation still needs to be confirmed by an os popup, they can’t automatically install updates on most phones.
EU should double down with a regulation stipulating that people are free to install whatever OS they want on devices (smartphones included) and companies can’t gatekeep it.
the problem is firmware. the community has been porting postmarketos to android phones for years, there are a ton of phones where PmOS will boot but most things like camera, phone service or bluetooth won’t work because they are missing the firmware necessary.
