What is sideloading? Explanations and safety

Appearing at the end of the 2010s, the termsideloadinghas taken on a certain importance since the beginning of the following decade. Under this term actually hides a relatively simple practice, which consists of downloading content to a device without going through the official library of its operating system. More precisely, in the context of the latest cases concerning Apple, it concerns the installation of files bypassing the App Store and its limitations.

Some examples:

• installing an app on your MacBook is sideloading if it is not available on the Mac App Store
• using an emulator like Windows 365 or Shadow to run 7-Zip on an iPad can be considered sideloading
• downloading an audiobook in and from the Audible app can also be considered sideloading
• playing a game on iOS using Amazon Luna or Xbox Cloud Gaming is another situation that can be described as “sideloading”

Why we do it

If there was previously no real term to talk about sideloading, it is in fact because behind this neologism lies a habit as old as software itself. Indeed, users have always been looking for programs that can “increase” the capabilities of their machine, or just for entertainment. So, buying Microsoft Office in CD-ROM form to install it on your iMac G3 was already akin to sideloading.

Indeed, Redmond's office suite has not always been available on the Mac App Store. What's more, the platform only emerged long after Apple's first personal machines.

What are the risks?

With the advent of everything digital, many malicious actors have nevertheless been able to prosper on the internet, starting with computer hackers and scammers. It is therefore entirely possible to come across malware imitating an application that you wish to install. Withoutantivirus worthy of the name, the danger is then not negligible: theft of personal data, ransom demand, impromptu debit from one's bank account, etc.

In addition, still in the category of security-related disadvantages, having installed an app via sideloading means that it will potentially not be connected to an automatic update system. The user is then no longer protected via bug and stability fixes, which can sometimes defend them against major flaws likethe one operated by Pegasus recently.

Finally, there is also the risk of poorly executed or poorly written code, which when launched can cause the OS to crash. It is for all these reasons that Apple has chosen to carefully control - although sometimes a few hiccups slip through the cracks - each application that wishes to be listed in the App Store. Objective: identify harmful content… or which does not correspond to the conditions of use of the platform. And that's where it gets tricky.

The real reasons for the discord

Indeed, for several months now we have no longer counted the cases relating the misadventures of publishers who, although at first glance benevolent, have had their app banned from the App Store. Perhaps the most egregious case is that of Epic Games. The video game studio has updated its Fortnite title by integrating a proprietary in-app payment module, 30% cheaper than transactions via iOS and Apple Pay. Result: a serious shortfall of potentially several million euros for the Apple firm which no longer collects its tax of the same amount, and a formal banishment of the person responsible.

The problem is that for many antitrust authorities this is anticompetitive behavior.By blocking a DOS emulator, Apple is thus cornering the gaming market with its alternative paid service: Arcade. Another scenario: by not authorizing either Google Pay or competing options for purchases via the Watch and the iPhone, Cupertino has control over all monetary flows entering and leaving its devices.

For the moment, no legislation has been able to impose sideloading on Apple managers. But several organizations are already working to encourage more independent developers (especially since privileges have been observed); in France, Germany, the United States and even at the level of the European Parliament. Future case law?