While I am far from an expert in topics like cyber-security, I might have some knowledge that others might be lacking.

It seems like the SP community is fixated on the assumption that apple's policies only stop users from downloading mods.

This is far from true. Such policies keep iOS users from downloading a working form of any content that might alter their device. In other words, any app, mod, etc that is not on the App Store is shot down, because it (most likely) doesn't pass apple's rigorous cyber-safety standards.

Now, this doesn't mean that such downloadable content is necessarily dangerous to your phone. It just means that it is risky, and apple doesn't like risks.

Apple in action: RIP gameboy emulator

So, let's see apple shoot down some non-mod content.

One app that I adored, which couldn't be purchased from the App Store, was GBA4iOS, an emulator for the game boy advanced. Long story short, when I attempted to redownload the game boy games for the emulator, none of them worked. Why? Because the downloads were not approved, and could be threats. Therefore, they must have been made unusable by the iOS device.

Now, these downloads were used by many people. They were far from malicious.

However, when it comes to security, there must be no exceptions. Hence apple's (arguably aggressive) no-download policies.