Apple's App Tracking Transparency treated its own apps better than rivals

📝 Discussion Summary (Click to expand)

Top 3 prevailing themes

Unequal permissions for Apple vs. third‑party apps
"Apple's own apps are still blessed with permissions that other apps have to ask for. This needs to be addressed too." — iamcalledrob
Regulation conflating competition with privacy
"Regulations for user privacy shouldn't be conflated with regulations for market competition." — Zagitta
Calls for consistent, transparent standards across all apps
"It’s a bummer (albeit an expected one) to see Apple reducing the burden for third‑party publishers to collect personal data, rather than increasing the burden for themselves..." — rad‑b

🚀 Project Ideas

A system‑wide audit and equalizer tool that forces Apple’s first‑party apps to request permissions using the same UI and logic as third‑party apps.
Guarantees parity, letting users control every permission prompt without hidden privileges.

Key	Value
Target Audience	Power iOS/macOS users, privacy advocates, developers
Core Feature	Real‑time monitoring of permission requests; unified consent UI; permission re‑routing
Tech Stack	SwiftUI, Combine, CoreData, Accessibility APIs
Difficulty	Medium
Monetization	Revenue-ready: Tiered subscription $4.99 /mo

HN commenters repeatedly cite Apple’s “blessed” permissions as a fairness issue (“Apple's own apps are still blessed with permissions…”) – this tool directly addresses that pain.
Sparks discussion about regulatory compliance and could become a go‑to utility for privacy‑focused communities.

An on‑device AI photo gallery that lets users search their library with natural‑language queries (e.g., “dog at beach”) without requesting full‑library access.
Eliminates the need for third‑party apps to obtain broad photo permissions.

Key	Value
Target Audience	Photo enthusiasts, privacy‑conscious users, photographers
Core Feature	Local Core ML model for object/keyword detection; natural‑language search UI
Tech Stack	Core ML, Vision, SwiftUI, CoreData
Difficulty	Low
Monetization	Revenue-ready: One‑time purchase $9.99

Users like “I can search my photos with words like ‘Joey in red shirt’ without granting full access” resonate with the desire for better photo app capabilities while preserving privacy.
Potential to attract adopters looking for a privacy‑first alternative to Apple’s Photos app.

A developer‑focused SDK and system service that normalizes permission dialogs across all apps, including Apple’s, by intercepting system calls and presenting a single, consistent consent UI.
Enables true “equal treatment” of permissions without app‑level bias.

Key	Value
Target Audience	App developers, enterprise privacy teams, regulators
Core Feature	Permission request interception; standardized consent dialog; usage analytics
Tech Stack	macOS Accessibility API, Objective‑C/Swift framework, Open‑source distribution
Difficulty	High
Monetization	Revenue-ready: Enterprise SaaS license $199 /mo

Directly mirrors the concern raised about “Apple's own apps are still blessed with permissions…” and offers a concrete solution for developers to comply with equal‑treatment principles.
Opens dialogue on platform‑level fairness and could become an essential tool for regulated markets.