What do you think should be the parameters / conditions / requirements Apple should establish for such 3rd party app stores? For instance, any requirements on them for a baseline of security checks?
Or would you want Apple out of that loop too?
As a side question, are there stats on which are the most popular Android app stores (e.g. top 10 ranked by usage or something like that). I ask because I wonder, in practice, how many app stores are really used at any scale on Android.
> What do you think should be the parameters / conditions / requirements Apple should establish for such 3rd party app stores?
None. Apple doesn't deserve authority over what other people publish on their platform, just as they don't deserve to be liable for the ways people abuse iDevices. In my opinion, they should use this as an opportunity to strengthen app sandboxing and the overall iOS security model. If their current sandboxing system is as good as they say, it should do a great job at isolating third-party apps.
> As a side question, are there stats on which are the most popular Android app stores
Not really, there's no centralized way to collect those stats. Individual projects will give download stats sometimes though.
> I ask because I wonder, in practice, how many app stores are really used at any scale on Android.
Honestly? Not that much. I use both the Play Store and F-Droid alongside one another, and they do a good job complimenting each other. F-Droid fills in the gap of Open Source apps that don't make sense to distribute on a traditional app store, while Google Play offers a nice place to get my other apps.
The goal is for the App Store to live in harmony with developers. Right now though, iOS developers have literally zero bartering power with Apple besides leaving their ecosystem or screaming at some poor call-center worker. Offering sideloading gives them (rightful) leverage against Apple, while also letting me install my cool nerd porn like QEMU and emulators.
> Why do iOS developers as a group need the government to grant them bartering power?
Because Apple won't give it to them in good-faith.
> If so why can't every other sizeable group, such as commenters on HN, demand government granted bartering power?
They can, they just won't necessarily get it. I think there is ample evidence to support the claim that Apple is holding back software distribution and service innovation with their actions. If found guilty of anticompetitive practice (eg. in the case of Spotify), the most fitting consequence would be breaking Apple's monopoly on app distribution. The only law we'd need is one mandating the installation of third-party software packages (APKs on Android and IPAs on iOS).
Is forcing the App Store to compete with the free market a bad thing? It shouldn't be, if the value proposition is there.
Thought experiment: if Apple didn't provide an App Store on iOS, would you argue that they must provide the capabilities for others to build and deploy App Stores? What would be the argument to force them to do that?
Or would you want Apple out of that loop too?
As a side question, are there stats on which are the most popular Android app stores (e.g. top 10 ranked by usage or something like that). I ask because I wonder, in practice, how many app stores are really used at any scale on Android.