It’s still extremely common over here in Australia, and I often get dirty looks for tapping “No Tip”.

The pressure is definitely mounting.

Sure, but I should be able to have both. We used to have both, and it was taken from us by monopolistic megacorps.

So, I accept that the situation is what it is, but I’m allowed to be pissed off about it. I’m also allowed to support regulations that would force Apple to give their users options.

As a power user, I find Apple’s approach to sideloading insulting as a customer and blatantly anticompetitive.

I buy an Apple phone because the phone market is effectively a duopoly: Android or iOS. I choose iOS over Android because of its much longer security support window and better accessory ecosystem (AirPods Pro + Apple Watch in particular), and also because I don’t want absolutely everything in my life to be owned by Google.

None of that detracts from the fact that Apple’s position on this issue hurts its customers and is fucking annoying. And their claims of “it’s for security” are disingenuous at best.