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

You download the app and it doesn’t work

youdownloadtheappanditdoesntwork.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 559 posts

Re: You download the app and it doesn’t work

#31

Post by awillen »

scubbo wrote: post #7

I'm pretty surprised they haven't just Maliciously Complied by offering an in-app signup buried somewhere obscure in the app, with lots of big flashing warning signs saying "don't click this, it's only for compliance reasons" - and a nice discoverable easily-followable link to the browser-based sign-up. They could be continuing to make the (justified and correct!) stink about Apple's terrible practices, while also ha…

Could they just put in a random explanatory video and say the functionality for non-users is they're able to watch the video? It seems like they just need to have any kind of non-user thing to do...

That said, I think Apple forbids you trying to redirect people out of the app by explaining that they take a cut if you sign up in it.

Re: You download the app and it doesn’t work

#32

Post by g_p »

gcheong wrote: post #18

I don’t think anything will change unless a strong class action and/or monopoly suit is brought against Apple and I often wonder why we haven’t seen one yet.

The EU's new antitrust investigation [1] might be close enough to a monopoly suit, just likely to be slower and more drawn out. It had the desired effect against Internet Explorer though last time around, I guess.

Relevant quote from investigation announcement: "The investigations concern in particular the mandatory use of Apple's own proprietary in-app purchase system and restrictions on the ability of developers to inform iPhone and iPad users of alternative cheaper purchasing possibilities outside of apps."

[1] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_20_...

Re: You download the app and it doesn’t work

#34

Post by Hamuko »

MattGaiser wrote: post #22
Hamuko wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And Apple rejected the app because you can't buy that $99 service via IAP, meaning they have no ability to get their 30%.

Tie it to an API and break the API later?

Yeah, I imagine that's going to go down real well with Cupertino.

Re: You download the app and it doesn’t work

#35

Post by masonhensley »

scubbo wrote: post #7

I'm pretty surprised they haven't just Maliciously Complied by offering an in-app signup buried somewhere obscure in the app, with lots of big flashing warning signs saying "don't click this, it's only for compliance reasons" - and a nice discoverable easily-followable link to the browser-based sign-up. They could be continuing to make the (justified and correct!) stink about Apple's terrible practices, while also ha…

An alternative I’ve seen is let users register for a free account don’t indicate there’s an upgrade but drip email a few days down the road for the user to upgrade via a web workflow

Re: You download the app and it doesn’t work

#36

Post by paulgb »

rocky1138 wrote: post #14

All of these examples work as websites. What this says to me is that we actually don't _need_ apps.

Except Hey, which would need the Push API to build a reasonable PWA experience. Android and Safari desktop have it, but not iOS.

https://caniuse.com/#feat=push-api

Re: You download the app and it doesn’t work

#37

Post by hendzen »

Apple takes a 30% cut of all IAP.

Google scrapes info and displays it in widgets above links to the actual content. Google charges trademark holders AdWords ransom to protect searches for their own brands.

Amazon kills OSS business models by offering managed OSS services on AWS at an unbeatable cost. Amazon picks off the best performing market place categories with Amazon Basics ‘recommended’ competitors.

The list goes on and on.

Tech is an industry defined on building scale and then collecting rents. Apple IAP is just the current outrage but the entire industry is working towards building the next ‘platform’ for others to sharecrop on.

Re: You download the app and it doesn’t work

#38

Post by benologist »

Developers that charge extraordinary amounts via subscription should be listed somewhere too, so we know who to avoid. BUDGE used to make children's games that unlocked for $5 - $15 one-time purchase, now the same size and caliber titles are each almost $100/year, just a big Apple-sponsored bet on zombie subscription fraud staying "acceptable" for a few more years till Apple fixes the problem they created that amplified their cash flow. Throughout it all we miss that the 30% isn't even getting us good custodians.

https://mjtsai.com/blog/2019/07/12/predatory-ios-app-subscri...

Re: You download the app and it doesn’t work

#39

Post by cannam »

I'm really enjoying all this.

I don't care about Hey and I'm not an iOS user, but I would love to see this situation, which represents something increasingly accepted as normal but that none of us quite understand, forced into a proper accommodation with reality.

Re: You download the app and it doesn’t work

#40

Post by searchableguy »

shaggyfrog wrote: post #30
rocky1138 wrote: post #14

All of these examples work as websites. What this says to me is that we actually don't _need_ apps.

Consider the user experience of an email app that only works when you have a network connection — so you can’t even see your mail when you’re offline. Pretty lousy.

You can have offline web apps. Although apple is actively sabotaging PWA standards.
Post reply on HN