Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Netflix is the latest company to try bypassing Apple’s app store

marketwatch.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

291–300 of 482 posts

Re: Netflix is the latest company to try bypassing Apple’s app store

#291

Post by vbezhenar »

IBM wrote: post #225
madrox wrote: post #214

I worked on an app that is in the same category as Netflix. A week before launch, Apple chose to reject us in spite of months of meetings and reviews with their app teams and assurances we were in-bounds since we were working with them for launch featuring. It came down to the fact we required an email address and password for IAP so you could bring your subscription to the web or other platforms. While everyone else…

They won't pull the Netflix app, they just won't let it update until they've made changes. Spotify tried directing users to the web and that's what happened with them.

What if Spotify would make their app using JavaScript (something like React Native or Cordova) with ability to update bypassing AppStore?

Re: Netflix is the latest company to try bypassing Apple’s app store

#292

Post by tommymachine »

r00fus wrote: post #245
tommymachine wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The answer is yes. They already fought with Spotify over this. Spotify had to clean up their game quite a bit to pass App Store review. Apple still has plenty of leverage. Being the highest grossing app on the platform is a double edged sword - and Netflix needs to be on iOS even more than Apple needs them to. But it's very unlikely that Apple would go so far as to delist Netflix. Apple will just reject the new updat…

I think Spotify needs Apple far more than Netflix does. You don't listen to Spotify (for the most part) on TVs, but Netflix is there. Many fewer folks use Spotify on desktop OSs, it's common for Netflix. Netflix is well positioned to fight Apple over this, and if they call Apple's bluff, Apple will likely be forced to consider.

There’s no bluff . Sure Netflix could live on without iOS. But what would be the point of giving up 70% of iOS because they couldn’t get the 30%. It’s not even a problem for them . They’ll be able to move it to the browser just fine and keep 100% they just won’t be able to link it from the app . There’s no fight to be had . Apple has a stronger reason for not linking to external websites where users would be asked to put in their credit cards then just to make sure they get their 30% from the netflixes of the world.

Re: Netflix is the latest company to try bypassing Apple’s app store

#293

Post by roasm »

chrischen wrote: post #195
dperfect wrote: post #174

> They are being redirected to the mobile web version of the app and asked to enter payment details with Netflix directly. Sorry, but if Apple's policies are applied consistently (I know they often aren't), this won't fly. I have an app with a basic email/password sign-in screen (the app represents a small part of a larger web-based SaaS product). Apple has rejected my app for including anything in the app that even…

But why would people be signing up from your App if not by discovering about your app through the App store? Is that not marketing through the App store?

We have a couple apps and there really is no "discovery" through the App Store. You have to pay for ads, whether in the stores directly or in the many ad networks that put you in other apps or other advertising. Unless you're already at the top of the lists (because of your off-store brand), or you win the lottery in the game of getting featured, the App Store doesn't drive new users.

For the majority of apps, the App Store doesn't provide discovery. It provides a nearly frictionless delivery and purchase interface. That's worth something, but not 30% off the top. That's worth a premium on top of processing fees, like X cents per transaction and Y% of the transaction, where Y Edit: I should say, I don't think there's any way this is going to happen. It would take an anti-trust action to make any difference, but that's not likely to happen.

Re: Netflix is the latest company to try bypassing Apple’s app store

#294

Post by ckocagil »

segmondy wrote: post #106
tusharsoni wrote: post #17

Apple and Google should update their policies where they take a much smaller cut if the user got to the App Store page directly (via external link) or a direct search. They deserve the 30% cut if users find the app by browsing the store (which doesn't happen nearly as often).

Maybe intel deserves 30% of the cut since you used their CPU to find an app when you use a web browser. How about Firefox, do they deserve a cut? Maybe Comcast since you used their network. Apple & Google don't deserve 30%, their app store is a monopoly. The same way it's unfair for Microsoft to force you to only use Internet explorer is the same way it's unfair for us to be forced to use the app store. There should…

What alternatives are there on iOS?

Re: Netflix is the latest company to try bypassing Apple’s app store

#295

Post by Barrin92 »

gesman wrote: post #285
madrox wrote: post #214

I worked on an app that is in the same category as Netflix. A week before launch, Apple chose to reject us in spite of months of meetings and reviews with their app teams and assurances we were in-bounds since we were working with them for launch featuring. It came down to the fact we required an email address and password for IAP so you could bring your subscription to the web or other platforms. While everyone else…

Building business that solely relies on constant mercy of someone else's platform is an extremely risky endeavor to begin with.

And virtually unavoidable in the smartphone app space because of the gatekeeping function of the stores. I don't know exactly how we got here given that nobody would have accepted this sort of curation on a desktop, but we somehow just walked into it on our phones.

Re: Netflix is the latest company to try bypassing Apple’s app store

#297

Post by ckocagil »

scaasic wrote: post #9
ihuman wrote: post #6

Doesn't this violate the App Store guidelines? > Section 3.1.3(b) Multiplatform Services: > Apps that operate across multiple platforms may allow users to access content, subscriptions, or features they have acquired elsewhere, including consumable items in multi-platform games, provided those items are also available as in-app purchases within the app. You must not directly or indirectly target iOS users to use a pu…

Given that Spotify, a direct competitor to an Apple service, is allowed to remain while also breaking this rule makes it seem like this won't be enforced in Netflix's case. But who knows, maybe when Apple launches their video service they'll come down on both companies, and we'll see what happens.

I'll tell you what will happen: an anti-trust case of massive proportions.

Re: Netflix is the latest company to try bypassing Apple’s app store

#298

Post by roasm »

tommymachine wrote: post #138
menacingly wrote: post #103

I do think the Apple/Google cut has been natural. The phone and successful app stores aren't accidents, they're endpoints in a long chain of work to focus consumer attention in a way that sells software. That said, these benefits have an expiration date. I don't think the app store cut has been a ripoff for its entire history, but if the temperature of the room has shifted toward hostility, it might be that they've s…

But to negotiate that, you have to be able to threaten them with leaving. And there's no other way to get iPhone users, who are by far the biggest spenders. And if you're going to go this route of web-only transactions, you're going to have some user drop-off and missed sales, it's just a question of how much. Like, where does it make sense to switch. If its 30% drop off it doesn't matter either way. If its 15% or 5%…

I'm sure it would cause outrage, but I can definitely imagine a negotiation happening. It's in both Apple and Netflix's best interest to stay together. The rest is just negotiating a percentage that works.

Of course, there is no way they would use that negotiated the percentage for the rest of us.

I think it would take an anti-trust action of some sort to cause a dent here, but I'm not holding my breath.

Re: Netflix is the latest company to try bypassing Apple’s app store

#299

Post by sattoshi »

threeseed wrote: post #288
electic wrote: post #281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hacker News is one such site that is very basic and has none of the stuff you outline as modern features. You know what? It is by far one of the most performant and enjoyable websites I use daily.

Seriously ? Sure pick out a few examples. Now let's talk about taking the entire web back to 1996. No Javascript, Websockets/SSE, AJAX, CSS etc. You really think all of the innovations made in the last two decades is just throw-away ?

The goalposts have wheels!

Re: Netflix is the latest company to try bypassing Apple’s app store

#300

Post by ApolloFortyNine »

shady-lady wrote: post #232
Aunche wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Android is free, which unequivocally is a net positive for consumers and smartphone manufacturers. Google places some terms of use to their software and suddenly they're being "anti-competitive." Had they made Android a walled garden like Apple, they wouldn't have been fined.

> Had they made Android a walled garden like Apple, they wouldn't have been fined....Android is free, which unequivocally is a net positive for consumers It's unequivocally a positive if they play by the rules. They fell foul of Europe(who was protecting it's consumers). Google's not a charity and made the choices they made to get to where they are. Making Android free ensured they quickly became relevant in the emer…

On Android, I can install whatever I want, replace whatever I want. Hell, I can even install another App store if I wanted.

On iOS, you can't do any of that.

How is that not infinitely more anti-competitive? Somehow licensing software to other manufacturers makes you more anti-competitive then owning the entire pipeline?

Post reply on HN