I smell a ten-figure fine cooking in the kitchen of the EU.

Governments are going about this the wrong way. The problem isn’t with app stores. The problem is that you can’t install a different OS on your phone (or current Mac, or iPad).

RtJ called it out years ago:

1. Lie
2. Cheat
3. Steal
4. Kill
5. Win
   (everybody's doin' it)

Apple is a piece of shit company standing in the shadow of its past self.

The problem is that the stock OS is a walled garden. No common user will flash their phone.

I'm waiting for the EU to eventually say "Ok nevermind, this is clearly a company that isn't going to be compliant. If not compliant by X date this company will no longer be allowed to operate here"

Or a hella massive fine for blatant waste of regulators time plus non-compliance.

I’ve been saying for the past two years that Apple should stop doing business in the EU, but every time that I bring that up someone points out the manufacturer of the chip making machine is based in the EU therefore no one can pull out.

Gross.

On machines where it's trivial to do so (such as pcs), how many real life users (as opposed to forum haunting online geeks) will install another os?

Exactly what I was thinking.

Around 5%