[intended]

My Grandfather had 3 different SMS apps installed on his android when I looked at it one day. Each of them had tried to take over as the primary app.

AFAIK, This cannot happen on Apple.

[soylentcola]

I still think there ought to be some solution that includes both "apps can't force/trick you into changing defaults" and "owner of device can still choose to change defaults".

[intended]

From what I’ve observed in this thread, there seems to be an over abundance of faith in competition and freedom to tinker.

I think that this is faith, not objectivity - which is misplaced in this specific scenario.

The challenge isn’t market dynamics, but rule breaking and predation on victims.

Non tech inclined people are targets/marks for bad actors.

Malicious websites, innocuous messages, hard to avoid buttons - are all designed to circumvent good intentions.

This is resolved with rule enforcement, retributive and governance powers.

If we are adamant about competition, then apple being locked down while Android remains open is about the best you will see.

[dickersnoodle]

There is. It's called iOS.