Comment by mmwelt

4 months ago

Unfortunately, iOS simply does not allow apps like Briar to run reliably in the background[1]. Unless Apple changes its thinking about iOS, Briar or other similar apps would never work reliably.

[1] https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/685525

55 comments

mmwelt

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Zambyte  4 months ago

People have the power to not use iPhones, and should exercise it.

  • ctm92  4 months ago

    Switching ecosystems is a huge pain, I started with iPhone and eventually moved to Android and back again to iPhone. When you use a lot of the Apple/Google Services, it's not really easy to just switch over

    • immibis  4 months ago

      It's only Apple that does this lock-in thing, IME. Google also has services, but they're not as important or inseparable.

    • meristohm  4 months ago

      I guess it's easy if a person cares enough about it? I'm the relative PITA in my family because I prefer to put everything on a paper calendar and mostly use my phone for Signal, iMessage, occasional email, some photos, and internet, including toe-dips into this forum as my social media engagement. I'm in my 40s, grew up with a Commodore64, and am disenchanted with computers now (while still using them for a few things- life's messy, and that's okay). Surveillance capitalism is more of a threat to much of what I care about (includes partcipatory democracy and mutual aid), and it makes sense to both push back and find a better path.

      Humans have done okay for a hundred thousand years+ without computers, with some dark ages here and there when people get greedy.

  • the_clarence  4 months ago

    Honestly with Apple not producing folding phones I think in a few generations everybody will have naturally moved to Android

    • Kirby64  4 months ago

      This is such a weird take. Folding phones are a tiny market and they all have considerable durability downsides.

      Also, if the market did shift Apple could easily build one. I’m sure they’ve prototyped a few already.

      6 replies →

    • meristohm  4 months ago

      huh? Those things are a novelty. I may be aging into fuddy-duddy land, though. If I keep using a mobile phone, I like the smaller ones that easily fit in one hand and most pockets, I want it to last a decade or more (this iphone is from 2018, I think), and I like it just powerful enough for communication, browsing, and photos. Done with games.

      To try to see another view, though, if the tech is there and not too harmful (that's relative- I think our venture into computer-land is immensely harmful in many ways) and durable enough, it seems nice to protect the screen? Except if grit gets between the glass?

lostmsu  4 months ago

I actually have an app in iOS store that completely executes in the background: https://itunes.apple.com/app/id6737482921?mt=8

Never had it stopped by iOS. So not only there's no fundamental restriction, the App Store itself allows some apps to do that.

  • forgotpwd16  4 months ago

    Not sure what you mean with fundamental. As mentioned in the thread parent comment links to, the issue lies in enforced limits and lack* of general mechanism available to developers to allow background execution for any kind of app or/and purpose. No one said iOS itself lacks the functionality for background execution.

    *In the same thread, it is noted that this lack is by choice and special-purpose mechanisms are preferred instead to prevent abuse.

tough  4 months ago

There's AltStore sideloading, would that enable it?

  • ivanmontillam  4 months ago

    It's not an issue of sideloading or censorship in iOS. It's a product decision related to background apps (they kill the running process with no recourse to bring it up again on its own).