The issue would be not that problematic if I could just run a real Firefox browser on iOS, not a skin over Safari, which leads me to a question that puzzles me for a long time.
Why Apple is not facing antitrust charges for not allowing competing browsers on their platform? Microsoft didn't SHIP competing browsers, but allowed them to run just fine on windows, and was fined nonetheless, but Apple somehow gets away with not even allowing competing browsers at all!
I'm not from the US, so maybe I'm missing something about these antitrust lawsuits. Can someone please explain?
> 1. Apple is not a monopoly player in the app market.
Apple has a 100% monopoly in the app market by running the only AppStore available for iOS devices, and that store review guidelines specifically prohibits use of any other web rendering engine but WebKit [1]
> 2. Microsoft's antitrust fine was for forcing OEMs to not include any competing browsers (Netscape) on threat of losing special pricing.
That's not the only lawsuit they faced. There was EU case that forced MS to make a special installer [2] for alternative browsers.
I really can't perceive the meaningful difference between these cases. And I believe it's about time to force Apple to allow installation of alternative app stores, from where users would be able to install all the apps they want, without being handcuffed by device manufacturer.
The critical bit here is "for iOS devices". The legal definition of monopoly is interested in the broader market, not what the manufacturer of a device with comparatively tiny market share does.
iOS with a 13.4% global market share as of 2019 does not even come close to monopolist status. While I'd like to see iOS forced open as well, there is currently no legal method to do so.
Why Apple is not facing antitrust charges for not allowing competing browsers on their platform? Microsoft didn't SHIP competing browsers, but allowed them to run just fine on windows, and was fined nonetheless, but Apple somehow gets away with not even allowing competing browsers at all!
I'm not from the US, so maybe I'm missing something about these antitrust lawsuits. Can someone please explain?