when you cant even have an app without a corporation’s approval

Apple has successfully positioned themselves as “the good guy”.

• Apple broke the monopoly of phone provider locks, and still prohibits phone provider bloatware.
• Apple seems like the only provider with any care for privacy, and many of their features and policies are privacy focussed
• Apple puts more effort than most software providers into usability
• you might think Apples constraints on the App Store blocks legitimate opensource and personal projects, but it mostly blocks commercial exploitation. It blocks behaviors that abuse customers or their privacy, that will give users a bad experience. I’ve read the requirement for a fee with a real credit card is actually the most effective strategy against malware
• every major app is available in the App Store
• its just a phone. My phone needs to just work, unlike my computer which needs to do whatever I want it to.

So maybe the root cause is lack of consumer protection in the US, but my experience with iPhone is much better than with Android phones. I’m not blind to corporate shenanigans but I do feel better protected in the Apple ecosystem. I do have freedom to choose almost any legitimate app, and I’m not particularly interested n futzing around with my phone anyway