Netflix has been doing this for a while. For the longest time you simply couldn't sign up unless you went to the website.
Netflix is the latest company to try bypassing Apple’s app store
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Re: Netflix is the latest company to try bypassing Apple’s app store
#312Earlier quoted context omitted.
Isn't that illegal? Didn't Microsoft lose a huge case about IE just like this?
Only because Microsoft was in a monopoly position in it's market. Apple isn't, and thus is not subject to the same oversight. Not that the current administration is going to be performing any anti-trust litigation anyway.
We currently have duopoly which is not much better than actual monopoly.
The reason we don't have anti trust litigation is because neither GOP and DEMs are interested to do it and that's because these companies since them got smarter and heavily lobby.
Corruption all the way.
Re: Netflix is the latest company to try bypassing Apple’s app store
#313I 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're already trying to control the UX with the TV app and are offering companies better rev share rates to do the integration work.
To be fair, that’s not the only reason the TV app was created. Most notably:
– Users want a single place to keep track of all the shows they’re following across all services. Streaming services weren’t coming up with a cooperative solution for this, so Apple did it instead.
– Plainly put, a large chunk (if not most) streaming service apps suck. The TV app adds value by letting users skip the choppy, inconsistent, badly organized, lowest-bidder browsing UIs so many streaming service apps have and get straight to watching this week’s episode.
I like the TV app and wish it did more. I wouldn’t be bothered if I never had to open a service-specific app again. All I need is a clean, frustration free way to browse the libraries of the services I subscribe to.
Re: Netflix is the latest company to try bypassing Apple’s app store
#314Earlier 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 ?
> let's talk about taking the entire web back to 1996.
Let's not, that's a tangent. The original statement to which you replied was this:
> A website from 1996 will look much the same in a modern version of Chrome. Good luck with your SDKs.
That remains true, despite the advances you listed. http://www.thekrib.com/ is an example from 1994 which still looks like it renders about the same. It doesn't have the bells and whistles, but the point is, _what was written remains available._ Interactive applications tracking a moving SDK cannot be left for future generations, they have to be maintained. Putting non-interactive content into those types of applications is forcing a maintenance burden forevermore.
Re: Netflix is the latest company to try bypassing Apple’s app store
#315Earlier quoted context omitted.
Only because Microsoft was in a monopoly position in it's market. Apple isn't, and thus is not subject to the same oversight. Not that the current administration is going to be performing any anti-trust litigation anyway.
We currently have duopoly which is not much better than actual monopoly. The reason we don't have anti trust litigation is because neither GOP and DEMs are interested to do it and that's because these companies since them got smarter and heavily lobby. Corruption all the way.
When you write DEM in all caps just because GOP is written in all caps, you sound like one of the people who write MAC in all caps just because PC is all caps.
Re: Netflix is the latest company to try bypassing Apple’s app store
#316Earlier quoted context omitted.
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?
They would reject the update that attempted to roll out that system.
Re: Netflix is the latest company to try bypassing Apple’s app store
#317Could this be analogous to the 'Net neutrality' arguments? Only in this case Google and Apple are the 'bad guys' (the infrastructure providers, eg the ISP). While the so called 'Over-the-top' application/service providers (eg Netflix, Spotify, Epic games, etc) and their users are the victims ? I can see a small difference, where the ISPs did not have anything analogous to 'advertisement' benefit to their 'Over-the-to…
Totally. Device neutrality. Software freedom even. People should be able to run whatever legal software they want on their own devices for whatever legal purposes.
Re: Netflix is the latest company to try bypassing Apple’s app store
#318Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
You have to get there from the start; the app store has to be there from day one. Since that didn't happen on the desktop, it's pretty hard to retroactively introduce one (although Microsoft is trying hard).
Which major operating system doesn't have an app store equivalent?
Re: Netflix is the latest company to try bypassing Apple’s app store
#319Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
And arguably far more necessary. We have our phones turned on and with us almost 100% of the time we are alive. They can track our locations and hear everything we say. It's more important to control what apps can have access to with smartphones than it was on any prior platform.
Re: Netflix is the latest company to try bypassing Apple’s app store
#320Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
We got here rather simply... Apple introduced the iPhone with no apps at all, then gave a half-assed open solution (bookmarks on your home screen, essentially), then they introduced the App Store, with their rules. Since there was no other way to get apps on the phone (short of jailbreaking), App Store won and Play Store was built in this model.
Other smartphones in this space at the time (Windows Mobile and Blackberry) didn't quite capture the imaginations like Apple did. WM was fairly easy to sideload apps to; not sure about Blackberry.