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

Apple’s Social Network

stratechery.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

181–190 of 209 posts

Re: Apple’s Social Network

#181

Post by mikhailt »

SyneRyder wrote: post #93
mikhailt wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or you can just distribute the apps without using the platform's payment processor. No one says you have to use Apple's payment processor. Direct users to sign up on your website and then have them download the apps free of charge. Btw; So does Google and Microsoft. They all take a cut of every app sale. The difference is the rate they take out. Oh, for Apple, it's 30% the first year of the sub only, it goes down to…

> No one says you have to use Apple's payment processor. Direct users to sign up on your website and then have them download the apps free of charge. Apple has removed apps from the App Store for doing this [1]. You have to provide an in-app subscription option that gives Apple the 30%/15% cut. [1] https://changemap.co/hellocode/exist/task/1855-apple-blockin...

Interesting, I haven't heard of any other apps having this issue.

Did Exist offer a way to sign up new accounts in their app? If yes, that may be it.

Slack doesn't have IAPs and yet, I can sign in with paid accounts just fine. There are other apps that were like this but they didn't have a way to sign up in-app IIRC.

Re: Apple’s Social Network

#182

Post by briandear »

bedhead wrote: post #29
sanderjd wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the next big thing that they have missed?

I think it's pretty clear that online video slipped right through their fingers. They were early with Apple TV and Steve Jobs' assertion that he had "cracked" TV back in 2011. And what happened? They did almost nothing and let Netflix run away with it. Apple wasn't even a contender. Same thing goes for mapping, which was highlighted in that recent blog post. They came out with Apple Maps years ago but almost did noth…

Maps is hardly the next big thing. What you do with Maps is potentially the next big thing. Online video? They pretty much invented that with the iTunes Store on software and Apple TV on hardware. That the subscription business model isn’t a thing at Apple isn’t “missing” anything. The difference between the iTunes Store and Netflix isn’t one of technology but of business model. As we have learned time and time again, being first is no virtue. Through iTunes, I have access to almost every movie: through Netflix, I have a curated selection with a high proportion of low-quality filler. If Apple can take the next step with subscriptions, it could be curtains for Netflix.

Re: Apple’s Social Network

#183

Post by elsonrodriguez »

cmsj wrote: post #164
_2d30 wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Smart speakers and possibly smart home in general. They won't/haven't missed entirely, but they are quite behind Alphabet and Amazon.

I think that depends how you define "behind". HomeKit has some functionality gaps at the moment, and less hardware supports it, but what it does do, it does tremendously well and with higher security bars than some of the competing technologies.

I have a full Homekit setup and I have to agree. I didn't try Google, but Amazon was a confusing experience. At the end of it turns out requests to turn off my lights had to go over the internet, vs Homekit where all device signaling is handled locally.

But what I think the parent was referring to is that Apple has no hardware offerings for the home aside from Homepod and Apple TV. Meanwhile Google has Nest and Amazon has Ring.

Re: Apple’s Social Network

#184

Post by JadoJodo »

basch wrote: post #71
ethagknight wrote: post #19

I don’t think he mentioned it, but the easy way for Apple to grow to a $2T company is to get my household, a typical locked-in Apple household with an iPad or iPhone for every person and a computer for each adult and an AppleTV at every TV, to start paying for ever more services through those Apple devices. TV service. Ubiquitous internet service. Financial services like payments but grow into banking. manage all my…

I completely agree. Apple needs to move into full banking. Mint, 401k Management, Bill Pay, TAXES, Yahoo Finance, Student Loans, the old Manilla (collecting ALL aggregate statements in one place forever.) They should buy Schwab, Envestnet, Personal Capital, YNAB, and Motif and slap a Robinhood/Monzo coat of paint on a new frontend. They could go from Apple Pay to Best Banking Experience in the World, in no time. As f…

I sincerely hope this is simply missing a `/s` at the end.

Re: Apple’s Social Network

#185

Post by _2d30 »

elsonrodriguez wrote: post #183
cmsj wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that depends how you define "behind". HomeKit has some functionality gaps at the moment, and less hardware supports it, but what it does do, it does tremendously well and with higher security bars than some of the competing technologies.

I have a full Homekit setup and I have to agree. I didn't try Google, but Amazon was a confusing experience. At the end of it turns out requests to turn off my lights had to go over the internet, vs Homekit where all device signaling is handled locally. But what I think the parent was referring to is that Apple has no hardware offerings for the home aside from Homepod and Apple TV. Meanwhile Google has Nest and Amazo…

Yes, this is correct. Apple doesn’t make money from HomeKit directly. That’s just a feature of their ecosystem: not a product within it. Currently, Apple only has the HomePod which is frankly quite weak relative to a Google Home or Echo. Then of course there is no Nest or Ring competitor product line.

Re: Apple’s Social Network

#186

Post by nickthemagicman »

xeromal wrote: post #128
nickthemagicman wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to have this exact same problem. I'm currently using privacy.com to manage all of those little one off subscriptions. It's basically unlimited virtual credit cards. You can pause them, you can add limits to spending, you can delete them if youre done with the service and the service won't be able to charge your bank account. I just discovered it and have been using it for a few months and it's awesome. I highl…

I had that with Simple but they went out of business early this year. :(

Yeah I didn't realize Simple did that. That's awesome.

I'm enjoying the hell out of it currently with these guys.

Re: Apple’s Social Network

#187

Post by retromario »

qwerty456127 wrote: post #26

> Apple Inc. shares had their worst day since 2014 amid concerns that growth in its powerhouse product, the iPhone, is slowing. In the fiscal fourth quarter, Apple said iPhone unit sales barely grew from a year earlier Why do sales always need to grow, why sustaining is not enough? Also wouldn't it be a good idea to change the focus product periodically? I.e. we've sold so much iPhones that everybody who ever wanted…

> Why do sales always need to grow, why sustaining is not enough?

I wonder this often myself too. It's unorthodox, but I wish more companies focused on staying sustainable rather than trying to grow continuously (or making growth the only goal of the company). A good book on the topic: https://www.amazon.com/Small-Giants-Companies-Instead-10th-A...

Re: Apple’s Social Network

#188

Post by oksawe »

mkirklions wrote: post #46
throwawayinside wrote: post #25

If you are a developer with a SaaS business, be very afraid. Apple is going to do everything possible to collect a 30% tax on your business to fix their growth problem. It’s ironic, really. The company that mastered tax evasion is about to become the world’s most determined tax collector.

Ib4 apple downvote storm. Dev here, I actively campaign against Apple (and FAAG) products. They seem like a danger to our capitalistic system as they have enough power to sway politics. Apple has always been anti-dev from my point of view, forcing users to use their hardware and pay to produce apps. While there doesnt seem to be many 'good guys', Apple has used their weight to constantly do unpopular things for their…

- They seem like a danger to our capitalistic system

Good! Capitalism has failed a great many people.

Re: Apple’s Social Network

#189

Post by dragonwriter »

mkirklions wrote: post #46
throwawayinside wrote: post #25

If you are a developer with a SaaS business, be very afraid. Apple is going to do everything possible to collect a 30% tax on your business to fix their growth problem. It’s ironic, really. The company that mastered tax evasion is about to become the world’s most determined tax collector.

Ib4 apple downvote storm. Dev here, I actively campaign against Apple (and FAAG) products. They seem like a danger to our capitalistic system as they have enough power to sway politics. Apple has always been anti-dev from my point of view, forcing users to use their hardware and pay to produce apps. While there doesnt seem to be many 'good guys', Apple has used their weight to constantly do unpopular things for their…

> They seem like a danger to our capitalistic system as they have enough power to sway politics.

Business owners using their power to sway government is the foundation and backbone of capitalism, historically (sure, it may violate post hoc rationalizations of capitalism, but those have little to do with capitalism as it has existed in the real world anyway.)

Re: Apple’s Social Network

#190

Post by erikpukinskis »

oflannabhra wrote: post #33

I appreciate that Ben took the time to read between the lines of what Apple has been saying, to tease out how Apple is thinking about Apple. It's clear that's why he has a successful business. This article made me stop and think about Apple's future, and to be honest, the future of computing. I think it is clear that in 10 years mobile computing has reached maturity (which is astounding). There is no broad use-case a…

> There is no broad use-case advantage that iOS has over Android

This isn’t really true. At least, once you start using iMessage it’s no longer true.

If you try to switch to Android you will be silently dropped from any iMessage group chats you are in. You will also no longer be able to send high quality media to iPhone users.

Post reply on HN