The announced changes sound like retaliation. Considering Apple is acting like a sovereign state by collecting taxes from what it perceives as its subjects it looks suspiciously like an act of war.
Not sure what you mean, the announced changes are pretty much the best thing ever to happen to the Apple eco-system. The only bad part about them is they're restricted to EU.
Have you seen the €0.50 "core tech fee" per app installation/year Apple wants to charge even if the app is installed from a 3rd party store? An app with 2 million users will be expected to pay 41000€ a month, and one with 10 million around 375000€ every single month, and this without counting the transaction fee.
Of course, if you comply with Apple's feudal claims then you can stay stuck in the App Store and pay a 30% sales tax (that unlike sales taxes from non-mafia institutions you aren't allowed to pass to the customers, because obviously non-apple users also have to subsidize Apple users) like a good peasant, they "generously" wave the new fee.
Full access to NFC, bring your own browser engine, zero fees on third party stores, the changes are genuinely positive. What makes you say they feel like “retaliation”?
See the core tech fee for developers that want the new terms. It's not zero fees on third party stores, it's 50 cents /month per install over 1 million users.
IRL, I agree. No one with an iPhone has even brought this up. I only hear about it from users online
I live in the EU with an iPhone. While I do think Apple should just cut the crap and allow side-loading, the only thing I had personally wanted it for on iPhone was access to emulation and better alternative gaming markets. However, I bought a steam deck last month and lost the need for any of that.