XPost: misc.phone.mobile.iphone, comp.sys.mac.apps

This is a post I wrote moments ago on the adult newsgroups, which is useful
for the adults on this child-like Apple newsgroup, since it explains a lot.

I wonder how many of you Apple zealots have any inkling of these facts?

"Free software" is usually open source and you can use the source code
for your own versions with any modifications you want to apply to it.

Hi Arno,

I use iOS and Windows and Android concurrently, all day, every day.
Most people do not (and I used to use Linux all day, every day too).

So I know what's UNIQUE about iOS when it comes to Apple IPA locks.

You're apparently responding to Alan Baker, who, besides being an Apple
troll (i.e., one who brazenly denies everything he hates about Apple
products), has never in his life ever used Windows, Linux or Android.

Hence, he thinks "re-use" is about "free & open source", where even if an
app is free & open source, if Apple distributes it, they have control.

Apple can even revoke your use of that "free & open source" app, if they
want to, since Apple controls every action you perform with that app.

Hence, the point about "re-use" I'm making has nothing to do with the type
of software since *every* IPA on an iOS device is locked to 1 AppleID
(note there are family-plans too, but that's essentially the same thing).

Most people have no idea how restrictive the Apple subterranean cave
ecosystem is; they're unaware that you can not re-use that IPA on another device which has a *different* Apple ID, even if it's free & open source.

No other common consumer operating system restricts free app re-use.
Only Apple.

And that's bad.

Read on only if you're technically inclined to know what's going on.

When an IPA is installed on an iOS device, it's signed with a provisioning profile that is tied to a specific Apple Developer account and a set of authorized devices. For apps downloaded from the App Store, this process is managed by Apple and linked to your Apple ID.

All apps, even those which might be considered "free & open source" suffer
this process, since every single app ever downloaded from Apple's App Store restricts their usage to the Apple ID that originally downloaded them.

While you can "sideload" apps on iOS (using Developer Certificates), that process is not typically performed by the common user but it too is
restricted, but usually to a number of installations & not to an Apple ID.

The Mac also ties a "free & open source" Apple App Store app to your Apple
ID, but the Mac allows re-use on another Mac of a different Apple ID; but
not really since updates can't happen on apps which are copied from one Mac
to another. However, to its credit, the Mac can download an app from the developer's web site, and that app is not tied to the Apple ID by Apple.

So in that respect, the Mac is more like every other operating system.

The question now arises as to *why* Apple adds your unique Apple ID to
every app installed from the Apple App Store, even those which you'd
otherwise consider to be "free & open source". Note that Apple can track
not only your usage of that app, but meta data inherent in that usage.

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