App Store review process (scroll down on that page… more), but the threat of being removed is always there.
After WWDC this morning my thoughts about my future as a Mac user boil down to two simple benchmarks.
6:33 am · 23 Jun 2020Two things are going to decide this for me, & it’s really only the 1st one I don’t know the answer to
Linux in virtualised on the Mac, vs Linux in WSL2 on Win10, which is less painful
and
A ton of shitty iOS apps on the Mac, vs the back catalogue & current programs on Win10
iOS apps on the Mac aren't any kind of drawcard for me, they're a major turnoff, and if as I wondered back in April it's cheaper and easier to run virtual Linux boxes on a Windows machine, why wouldn't I? (That "which is less painful" is missing a question mark.)
As for the big picture – well I don't know, why would I – but all of this makes me fear (that word again) for the future of the Mac. Maybe the Mac will stay an open platform, and maybe the likes of SwiftUI will mean a resurgence in Mac apps. Maybe. Or maybe the icy grip of the App Store will close… if it did you could still make native apps, sure, but why would you? And once they're gone the platform's gone, it'd only be a matter of time. A Mac with only Apple's own apps, electron apps & iOS ports would be an evolutionary dead end.
The WWDC keynote was only a few hours ago as I write this, I still need time to absorb all of this, but I've used the word fear four times now in this post so yes, "I am taking WSL2 on Win10 a lot more seriously now…"