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

marketwatch.com

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

#401

Post by amelius »

kitsunesoba wrote: post #313
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'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. – Plainl…

> Users want a single place to

Imho, we've got to solve that "single place" problem, because it creates a winner-takes-all situation. Not just with apps, but also taxi-cabs, food-delivery, etc. Perhaps a government should step in and say that you can have a "single place" but only if you don't abuse your power.

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

#402

Post by gutnor »

Barrin92 wrote: post #295
gesman wrote: post #285

Earlier 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.

Desktop OS where designed for physical media first (side loading). The freedom came first, became part of the expected feature of a desktop, and it would be difficult to take it away.

iPhone defined the image of the smartphone and they started internet first with a curated appstore.

Also remember that in day to day life, from a user perspective, there are more benefits than downsides to the AppStore. Even today, finding software, software update, compatibility, license management, consistent original media availability, ... are actual problems in the desktop (especially windows) world and almost non existent in the iphone/smartphone world.

To go back on the topic. I do hope that the TVApp does succeed, otherwise eventually a market actor will solve the problem and someone will wonder in 10 years how we ended up with cable companies again.

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

#403

Post by scarface74 »

close04 wrote: post #377
masonic wrote: post #364

Earlier quoted context omitted.

control what apps can have access to with smartphones But the Play store doesn't do that. It just documents what permissions are sought by the app, not whether this privileges are appropriate... hence flashlight apps seeking Contacts and Location.

Play Store is at the other end of the spectrum where you can literally upload massive amounts of malware and no one bats an eye.

The issue is not that a manual review process should catch bugs. The issue is that Android’s permission system allows it.

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

#404

Post by ysavir »

sametmax wrote: post #374
kitsunesoba wrote: post #313

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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. – Plainl…

On the other hand, Apple controlling the UI means, as usual, they kill other services ability to innovate. But most apple users don't care to have very limited capabilities as long as the core value is here and it's streamlined in the apple experience. Hell, they used a phone without copy/paste for a long time and it didn't bother them.

Companies aren't innovating anymore, though. We've reached the point where we have dominant players controlling the field, and any "innovation" we see has to do only with profit margins.

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

#405

Post by bausshf »

donarb wrote: post #197
tolmasky wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would absolutely care if a new price materialized out of thin air that then got passed off to me. 30% is a lot. I posit that if a new 30% penalty was instilled tomorrow in just about every piece of software you interacted with, you would both notice and care. I also care when the 30% applies solely by proxy through me. That is to say, since Apple doesn't allow you to differentiate pricing on the Store (IOW, charge…

What new price? Apple's 30% has been in place since the App Store opened. Outside of the HN bubble, users have no idea what Apple charges developers, nor do they care. If a customer wants an app, they check the price and determine if they want to pay it or not, just as business is conducted every day all around the world. If a developer is losing money building apps (most cut their own throat with $.99 apps), they ne…

Even if it's not a new price 30% is a lot.

Imagine if you had a physical store that you rented space for, but all purchases made you had to give 30% to your landlord.

It's INSANE

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

#406

Post by pas »

scarface74 wrote: post #403
close04 wrote: post #377

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Play Store is at the other end of the spectrum where you can literally upload massive amounts of malware and no one bats an eye.

The issue is not that a manual review process should catch bugs. The issue is that Android’s permission system allows it.

It's great that it allows it.

The problem is that a lot of users don't want to admit that they are not competent to decide whether the app truly needs those permissions or not.

If there would be a power user subscription for Android, it'd be great. It'd pay for itself, etc. (Of course purists still could just root the device and so on.)

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

#407

Post by [deleted] »

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…

[deleted]

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

#408

Post by rhodysurf »

scarface74 wrote: post #337
solarkraft wrote: post #273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Denying rivals a chance to innovate and compete on the merits Apple consistently gives its apps more permissions than normal developers they get. They also reject apps that interfere with business fields they are in/eyeing.

Name one....

Their apps are free to use private APIs and other devs are banned from using them

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

#409

Post by mbesto »

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…

> but as a developer whose livelihood is tied to their decisions, I'm tired of being jerked around.

Let me get this straight. A for-profit company providing a marketplace that has allowed you to sustain a livelihood as a developer is now be considered as "jerking you around". This is truly fascinating.

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

#410

Post by EB66 »

mbesto wrote: post #409
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…

> but as a developer whose livelihood is tied to their decisions, I'm tired of being jerked around. Let me get this straight. A for-profit company providing a marketplace that has allowed you to sustain a livelihood as a developer is now be considered as "jerking you around". This is truly fascinating.

Is it surprising? No. Is it being "jerked around"? Absolutely.

A company wielding their quasi-monopoly power to change the rules of the game at the last minute on a whim is precisely what I'd call being "jerked around".

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