One of the features of Android is the ability to sideload apps. This means that users can choose to download apps outside of the Play Store and install it on their phones. This is a feature that isn’t available on iOS devices, at least not officially.Apple has long touted the security of its products and during the Web Summit 2021 event, Apple senior vice president Craig Federighi blasted sideloading in which he said, “Sideloading is a cybercriminal’s best friend.” This statement was made in response to a proposed European legislation that would force companies to allow sideloading on their devices.
The executive likened an iPhone to buying a “great home with a really great security system”, and that by allowing sideloading, you would “weaken” the security of your “home”. According to Federirghi, “The safe house that you chose now has a fatal flaw in its security system, and burglars are really good at exploiting it.”
He also goes on to state that he understands the argument about giving users the option of choosing whether they want to sideload, but states that this rarely works out the way people would hope.
“Clearly, I’m no fan of sideloading, but I want to address an argument I hear a lot: ‘Let people choose whether or not to sideload. Let them judge the risks, and they can decide themselves.’ And it’s easy to see the attraction of this argument, but history shows us that it doesn’t play out the way we’d hope because even if you have no intention of sideloading, people are routinely coerced or tricked into doing it.”
What this means is that short of a law forcing Apple to allow sideloading, don’t expect the company to be giving in anytime soon.
Filed in . Read more about Apps, iOS, iPhone and Security. Source: bgr