It won't be GateKeeper. It will be policies. They won't make it obvious at all, because they know how unpopular it will be.
Let's see what the future brings. I'm not thrilled with it (for example, I have one app that I've written, that uses ffmpeg[0], and ffmpeg no likee sandbox).
But once again, the only "iOS-ing" that has happened so far is the theme. Yes, the theme looks more iOS-like, but that's about it. There are almost no technical differences whatsoever underneath since Catalina and almost no security changes.
I recall them as the HIG group. I first encountered it at MacHack, in 1987, or so. There were a couple of HIG engineers, there, and they referred to themselves that way.
The reason was, because they insisted that app developers follow HIG guidelines.
Are you sure? The story I've always heard is that the Blue (Mac OS) vs. Pink (Taligent) team split originated in a planning meeting around 1988, and the "Blue Meanies" were core members of the Blue team.
Maybe. I just remember people referring to them as "Blue Meanies" because of the characters in The Yellow Submarine[0]. They were the ones that hated music and creativity, and folks didn't like HIG telling them they couldn't have fuschia scrollbars in their new, five-thousand-dollar color Macs.
But that said, I think you are correct[1]. The last MacHack I attended (maybe 1989?), Dean Yu hadn't yet been hired by Apple, and was infamous for writing system-crashing inits (Kill Dean's Inits!). I think he wrote the "Energizer Bunny" init that could have the EB running around every computer on the network.
Apple is the chef, and the Mac user is the frog...
Apple just started the burner to low, changing the UI only.. next phase will be to add just a little more restriction over time until one day it is iOS and most user (the ones that did not leave) did not even notice it happened.
That is how the game is played, slow methodical change.
It's remarkable how overwhelmingly negative the comments on HN are to everything Apple does. The top comment is always some "this is the final straw...I'm leaving the platform" screed (if you look back, those people have usually made that declaration a dozen times), and everyone who claims anything contrary is pushed to transparent.
HN needs to go out and take a walk and get some perspective. What a bunch of sour assholes.
The same for PowerPC processors, Intel processsors, and now ARM processors.
Remember when the first rumors of Apple switching to ARM surfaced? I think it was about five years ago.
To be fair, Apple has been on its "deathbed" a hundred times, in the last three decades. I have been programming Apple since 1986. I have seen quite a bit.
It won't be GateKeeper. It will be policies. They won't make it obvious at all, because they know how unpopular it will be.
Let's see what the future brings. I'm not thrilled with it (for example, I have one app that I've written, that uses ffmpeg[0], and ffmpeg no likee sandbox).
[0] https://github.com/RiftValleySoftware/RVS_MediaServer