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Apple Has Removed Dash from the App Store

blog.kapeli.com

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Re: Apple Has Removed Dash from the App Store

#211

Post by cft »

copperx wrote: post #150
izacus wrote: post #41

The thing the pisses me of about these cases is this: "I called them again and they said they can’t provide more information." They terminate your account and then they even refuse to tell you why. A basic human thing, a chance to fix the issue, but no. Go f* yourself from Apple and that's it.

What's enraging is that you pay $100/year for that abusive treatment.

$100/year? What if you have say a company of 5 people whose salaries get paid by the virtue of your app. One noreply email from Apple and Google and their jobs and your $1m/yr company is over? This has only become possible with the invention of curated app stores. You cannot even be fired from a normal job in the US instantly by a noreply email.

Re: Apple Has Removed Dash from the App Store

#212

Post by DominikR »

notatoad wrote: post #82
DominikR wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Android also has the similar ToS regarding in app purchase, the only difference is that they do not currently enforce it. For an indie developer it doesn't sound like a big issue, but for big corporations uncertainty in the business model is a big deal. Often large budgets and many jobs depend on it.

Android does not have a ToS regarding in-app purchases, the Play Store does. You are free to distribute your android app outside the play store. And the play store ToS rules around in-app purchases also don't apply to physical goods, or products or services that can be used outside the app. This means that a companies like netflix or spotify are free to collect payments for their services without giving google a 30%…

> Android does not have a ToS regarding in-app purchases, the Play Store does.

I think you know very well that I was talking about the Play Store.

> And the play store ToS rules around in-app purchases also don't apply to physical goods, or products or services that can be used outside the app

Apple in app purchase ToS:

3.1.5 Physical Goods and Services Outside of the App: If your app enables people to purchase goods or services that will be consumed outside of the app, you must use purchase methods other than IAP to collect those payments, such as Apple Pay or traditional credit card entry. Apps may facilitate transmission of approved virtual currencies (e.g. Bitcoin, DogeCoin) provided that they do so in compliance with all state and federal laws for the territories in which the app functions.

It is not identical (I wrote it is _similar_) as Netflix does have to give Apple a cut, but there are many exceptions both on Apple's side just as there are other exceptions on Google's side.

What really annoys me about your comment though is that my comment wasn't about saying Apple is better or Google is better (clearly some people here can't even mentally handle anyone criticising their beloved company), I'm not even interested in such a conversation.

My comment was about the issues companies have with the fact that Google doesn't enforce their own ToS. (or even worse, maybe they do in some cases and most developers don't know)

Small developers are incentivised to ignore the rules while larger businesses can't risk allocating large budgets towards a business model that contains such uncertainty.

Maybe you can next go through my comments and correct me on grammar errors. English is not my native language after all so I'm certain there's lots of material to find there. Have a nice day!

Re: Apple Has Removed Dash from the App Store

#213

Post by skybrian »

cft wrote: post #211
copperx wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's enraging is that you pay $100/year for that abusive treatment.

$100/year? What if you have say a company of 5 people whose salaries get paid by the virtue of your app. One noreply email from Apple and Google and their jobs and your $1m/yr company is over? This has only become possible with the invention of curated app stores. You cannot even be fired from a normal job in the US instantly by a noreply email.

It's extreme but it's not entirely new. A new version of an operating system or Internet service you depend on could make your app impossible or infeasible.

Re: Apple Has Removed Dash from the App Store

#214

Post by RantyDave »

stuaxo wrote: post #102
projectileboy wrote: post #68

I wonder if Apple knows how many developers use Dash. They probably don't realize what a high-profile faux pas they're making.

This is the first time I've heard of this (not a mac user but am a developer). At least as this is software for developers, I reckon most won't mind buying it outside the appstore, it sounds really useful.

It's great, works a treat with PyCharm.

I like to think this is a foulup and will be fixed soon. However, XCode 8's help system is massively improved and this might be a case of Apple trying to force developers down that route. Which is a bloody shame. I really hope this is just some screwup :(

Re: Apple Has Removed Dash from the App Store

#215

Post by serf »

spaceribs wrote: post #51
gjolund wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its called business.

"it's called being smart"

this year there needs to be another option next to the downvote button.

1) Upvote

2) Downvote

3) User made a politically charged comment in a thread that has nothing to do with politics as a way to insert opinions.

As for what the third button does. I don't know. It doesn't really even have to do anything, it'd make me feel better just being able to count the appearances of such comments in every thread this election year.

A joke, of course, but only kind of.

Re: Apple Has Removed Dash from the App Store

#216

Post by norswap »

At this point, this is neither surprising, not unexpected. There is ample precedent, there are tens of stories like this every days (maybe even counting only those that hit the HN frontpage).

To avoid these problems, don't sell on the App Store, it's as simple as that (and very sad). Apple's processes suck and Apple doesn't care, as it has had year to fix things, but hasn't. Complaining won't change it. People have complained, and it didn't change.

Re: Apple Has Removed Dash from the App Store

#217

Post by izacus »

givinguflac wrote: post #124
blktiger wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Better for you maybe, but not better for the average user who ended up with malware infecting their systems left and right because they weren't technical enough to avoid it.

Exactly. I have personally been on the receiving end of plenty of phone calls from users who had no idea they couldn't necessarily trust an application downloaded from a 3rd party site. "But it's the same application!" Sure it is, but who knows what else you're getting, even if it's as 'benign' as shitty toolbars. Has no one ever seen a parent/grandparents nightmare of toolbar hell in a browser window?

We did. And somehow the computer revolution still happened even though people actually had to learn a bit about how their tools worked. Meanwhile in that crazy wild west the whole OSS infrastructure powering the most important global computer network was born. Tools, operating systems and software that isn't allowed to exist in app stores because they might be "dangerous" to the average user (whoever that is).

Re: Apple Has Removed Dash from the App Store

#218

Post by cyberferret »

vortico wrote: post #15

The OS X platform already has a stupid easy download-and-install process with their .app folders. It's a shame that some users prefer to instead use an alternative distribution method controlled by a centralized party rather than buying software directly from the developer.

I used to dislike purchasing from the Mac App Store too, so when I got my new iMac a few months ago I decided against migrating all the unused junk from my old MacBook and would instead start with a fresh OS X install.... great idea, right up until I realised that I didn't have all the install files for dozens of audio tools I use.

The App Store ones were a simple matter of logging in with my Apple account and reinstalling (this included Dash, mentioned here). The other tools meant hunting around for installers, realising that most of the installers now were several versions ahead of the ones I used, in many cases breaking my music projects. It also meant trawling through 9 years of emails to find licence file attachments and serials numbers so I could re-register the applications, or try and purchase upgrades for those where I couldn't find an installer with the same version as I had bought.

Giant PITA. For once I was glad that App Store apps were all auto updated through the time I had them, and I didn't have to bother with activation codes etc. In fact, I ended up trashing the fresh install idea and migrated my old machine to the new. I was actually easier to put up with old junk apps I didn't use anymore than to try and manually install just the ones I needed.

Re: Apple Has Removed Dash from the App Store

#219

Post by izacus »

logfromblammo wrote: post #203
mhurron wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> buy advice/services from an expert with similarly aligned interests. For most people, that's probably the walled gardens that people not on HN don't complain about.

No, the walled garden is the walled garden. The expert consultant is often a relative or favorite blogger or golfing buddy or corporate IT person. How many of us have set up a clueless person's computer? We give them a restricted user account, so they can't install 500 random spyware/adware toolbars. We change the IE/Edge shortcut to open Firefox instead. We install ad-blockers and script-blockers with an overly gene…

The difference is, that that user can turn off the walled garden if they will. That user can also choose what it wants inside the garden instead of being told what he can use by someone from California which may or may not share the values or culture.

Re: Apple Has Removed Dash from the App Store

#220

Post by DominikR »

zeveb wrote: post #171
DominikR wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Now read again what he wrote: > From what I understand, Apple doesn't force anyone. It's up to them to use it or not. They can always NOT deliver apps for iOS if they think 30% is too much. Is it not clear that he is talking about the 30% cut that Apple takes for distributing apps on their app store? Do you own the app store if you buy an iPhone? Is it this what you are saying?

> Do you own the app store if you buy an iPhone? Is that what you are saying? No, I'm saying that if I bought an iPhone, then it would be my right to install software written by anyone I pleased on it. I'm also saying that any software developer who wishes to has a right to write software for that putative iPhone. Apple simply isn't a party to such transactions.

You can jailbreak it and install whatever you want. But Apples app store has rules to primarily make Apple profit and also create an ecosystem with certain standards that Apple believes users would appreciate. (and judging by the sales numbers average users do)

You have the right to do with your property as you please, but what you really want is that Apple changes their product so it's easier for you to install what you like. You simply do not have this right. This limitation is well known and advertised so you should have known before you bought an iPhone, and even if you didn't - you can return the iPhone and get your money back.

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