Apple's Craig Federighi Says Sideloading on iPhone Would Open the Floodgates to Malware
Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi today expressed his opposition to a provision in Europe's proposed Digital Markets Act that would require the iPhone to allow sideloading of apps outside of the App Store.
Speaking at the Web Summit conference in Portugal, Federighi said sideloading would result in the "floodgates" opening to malware.
Federighi said that while the Digital Markets Act has an "admirable mission" to promote competition and ensure that users have choice, he believes that the provision requiring sideloading would be a "step backwards" that takes away a user's choice of a "more secure platform" in iOS compared to Android.
"As an engineer who wants iPhone to stay as secure as possible for our users, there is one part I worry about, and that's the provision that would require iPhone to allow sideloading," said Federighi. "In the name of giving users more choice, that one provision would take away user's choice of a more secure platform."
Federighi addressed a common suggestion that Apple should at least give users an option to allow sideloading, arguing that even if users have no intention of sideloading, they could be "routinely coerced or tricked into doing it."
Many of Federighi's talking points were ones that Apple previously touched on in an in-depth document shared last month.
A replay of Federighi's appearance is available on LinkedIn.
Popular Stories
iOS 17.2 has been in beta testing for over a month, and it should be released to all users in a few more weeks. The software update includes many new features and changes for iPhones, including the dozen that we have highlighted below. iOS 17.2 is expected to be released to the public in mid-December. To learn about even more features coming in the update, check out our full list. Journal ...
Unidentified governments are surveilling smartphone users by tracking push notifications that move through Google's and Apple's servers, a US senator warned on Wednesday (via Reuters). In a letter to the Department of Justice, Senator Ron Wyden said foreign officials were demanding the data from the tech giants to track smartphones. The traffic flowing from apps that send push notifications...
Apple today released new firmware update for both the Lightning and USB-C versions of the AirPods Pro 2. The new firmware is version 6B34, up from the 6B32 firmware introduced in November. Apple does not provide details on what features might be included in the refreshed firmware beyond "bug fixes and other improvements," so it is unclear what's new in the update, but prior software releases ...
Apple's Korean suppliers have begun developing smartphone under-display cameras (UDC), paving the way for the first iPhone with a true "all-screen" appearance. According to The Elec, LG Innotek has entered the preliminary development of the UDC, which sits under the display and does not result in a visible hole in the panel when the camera is not in use. A UDC differs from a typical front ...
The iOS 17.2 update that Apple is set to release to the public in the near future will bring support for the next-generation Qi2 wireless charging standard to the iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 models. Qi2 was mentioned in the release notes for the RC version of the update that came out today. With the addition of support for the new standard, iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 models will work with Qi2...
Recently, MacRumors has received details on the battery currently being tested on the upcoming fourth-generation iPhone SE, and the information corroborates previous findings in relation to the device. The iPhone SE 4, known by its device identifier D59, is expected to use the exact same battery found in the base model iPhone 14. Partially assembled prototypes of the next iPhone SE have been ...
Today we're tracking a collection of deals that are matching - or nearly matching - the same all-time low discounts we saw during Black Friday. This includes the AirPods Pro 2 with USB-C, 9th generation iPad, and M1 MacBook Air. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the ...
Meta has revealed plans to end Instagram users' ability to chat with Facebook accounts later this month, rolling back a feature that it introduced over three years ago. In September 2020, Meta (then Facebook) announced it was merging its Facebook Messenger service with Instagram direct messaging, allowing Instagram users to chat with Facebook users and vice versa using the same platform....
Top Rated Comments
B) just make it an opt in toggle hidden in some developer settings that no average user is ever going to bother even opening and maybe add like two ARE YOU REALLY SURE YOU WANT TO ENABLE IT pop ups.
B. In my country, thieves thoroughly instruct victims how to disable android security and install fake bank applications. Hundreds of millions of losses. On iOS, this was impossible.