[sekasi]

I don't know why you're being downvoted. You've got a point. There's no perfection in the App Store when it comes to review, but it's an ecosystem that is built around trying to create a sense of control and privacy. Sorry if you don't disagree but I reckon facts overwhelmingly disagree with you if you do.

That's not to say in any way ANDROID BAD or anything like that, it's just a broader attack vector that you're up against with Android unless you're a very careful experienced customer. Most people aren't. :/

[jackewiehose]

I didn't downvote but I understand why others did (I would have if it wasn't already grey).

It's incredibly frustrating to read these pro-walled-garden-arguments. By the same argument you could say that the people in Hong Kong or elsewhere should just shut up and accept that their leaders will know what's best for them.

I worry about a future where these locked-down devices will be the norm for all of us. Don't defend Apple for locking you in. That's ridiculous.

[edmundsauto]

The analogy isn't useful because you're comparing a government to a corporation.

[jackewiehose]

Of course it's not the same but it comes down to a party that wants to restrict your freedom in order to protect you.

[edmundsauto]

One crucial difference is whether you can opt-out. Another big difference is the stated intention of the party/entity: i.e. Apple is not a company "of the people, by the people, and for the people".

My objection is that it's not that useful to only look at whether a party wants to restrict freedom. Personally, I don't think that's a very useful dimension at all -- I don't consider the existence of a road limiting to my freedom to drive wherever I feel like it.

[jackewiehose]

From my point of view, I can't "opt-out" from Apple. Neither in business nor in private. And I tried.

Of course, you can always use another road or go completly off track. Like living in the woods?

[millstone]

I don't see the worry. Apple is not actively locking anyone in; people are free to choose Apple's products, or not.

[jabbany]

Also didn't downvote personally, but I can certainly see why someone would.

Fundamentally, the problem exposed by this particular piece of malware was the ability for it to persist across removals and device resets, not that it was "sideload-able" by the user. Malware persistence should not be possible on a well-designed system, especially one where applications are generally untrusted and sandboxed. Had this been malware that requires sideloading but could be removed when noticed, it wouldn't even have made the headlines at all.

The problem with making the walled-garden argument here is like saying nobody will get sick if we just put everyone in isolation all the time. Like, sure, it is _a_ solution, and assuming the isolation is perfect, it _does_ achieve the goal... But this merely sidesteps the problem, and anything that slips through the wall (which as pointed out by other commenters, does happen on iOS too) will be just as dangerous as before.

The real solution is to "buff up everyone's immune system" and make it easy to restrict and treat malware apps when they inevitably end up on a device, walled garden or not.