When Apple gets to decide everything that runs on your device, it’s bad for you in the long term. As an iOS developer who loves my phone, I’ve worked on teams that have dealt with complete bs that I shouldn’t divulge here, trying to get Apple to approve our app. we werent doing onerous data collection. we weren’t writing spam or malware. Just Apple’s bureaucratic and anti-competitive nonsense.

Apples should not have the decision about whether to allow or pull the Hong Kong protesting app. It’s too much power for a private company to make

Yes, of course. To satisfy your pedantry: You should be able to put whatever software you want on your personal property and expect the device to boot it rather than refusing because it isn't signed by the powers that be. It's about freedom, not omnipotence.

> That's a bit of an exaggeration of course, but I do not think this is an important "need".

You do not get to decide what's important to other people. If you don't want care about running custom software, just don't do it.

> You can already buy an Android device if you want more flexibility

If Apple's lock in tactics didn't work. Also it means you have to choose between the things that made you go with Apple to begin with and freedom – even though you could easily have both if not for Apple's artificial restrictions.