Apple has laid out its arguments against allowing sideloading iPhone apps, claiming the practice would make its phones less secure and trustworthy for users.
The new 16-page report, titled “Building a Trusted Ecosystem for Millions of Apps”, outlines Apple’s existing security processes and how it believes these could change if it were forced by regulators to allow sideloading.
The report is part of Apple’s pushback against lawmakers and other critics, who have argued that it should be forced to allow apps to be sideloaded onto its iPhones, bypassing its centralized App Store, The Verge reported on Wednesday.
Sideloading refers to installing apps from a source outside of the official App Store, such as a website or third-party app store.
Apple already allows sideloading on its Mac computers, but it argues that this model doesn’t work for iPhones because they carry more sensitive and personal information.
Apple’s Senior Vice President, Software Engineering Craig Federighi recently argued during the company’s trial with Epic Games that Mac’s model means that it has a level of malware that “we don’t find acceptable and is much worse than iOS”.
“Allowing sideloading would degrade the security of the iOS platform and expose users to serious security risks not only on third-party app stores, but also on the App Store,” Apple’s new report said.
