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You download the app and it doesn’t work

youdownloadtheappanditdoesntwork.com

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

#201

Post by screwycaboose »

Seems like a lot of these examples are intentionally ignoring the rules that allow them as exceptions just to build up a bigger strawman:

* Netflix: Reader app (reader is a special Apple exception for movies/tv, books, news... mass-market media)

* Github: Offers a free tier

* App store connect: I mean come on, it's an Apple dev tool

* Tesla: exception for physical goods

Basecamp/Hey knew this was going to happen. It's a wonderful marketing campaign for them.

Apple has zero incentive to change this. The buzz around it is niche and they'd lose countless dollars if they opened the door for exceptions. Basecamp knows this.

Also, where has Basecamp been for the decade prior? Funny how they're propping this as some rightgeous issue when it suddenly impacts their bottom line.

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

#202

Post by nodamage »

hakcermani wrote: post #11

Good start with compiling the list .. a couple more .. AirBnb, All airline apps. Maybe they have contracts with the big guys for some lump sum deal, or maybe they are just letting them go as they have to ... We developers already pay for the subscription, WWDC, a shiny iPhone / MBP every couple of years (to test and develop the new features :(, learn a language and sdks just for the Apple world - We Devs need Apple f…

AirBnb and airlines are companion apps for physical services and the rules for in-app purchases don't apply.

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

#203

Post by beheh »

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…

This violates the App Store Review Guidelines 3.1.3(b) [1]:

> You must not directly or indirectly target iOS users to use a purchasing method other than in-app purchase, and your general communications about other purchasing methods must not discourage use of in-app purchase.

[1]: https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/#mul...

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

#204

Post by iainmerrick »

donmcronald wrote: post #91
hakcermani wrote: post #11

Good start with compiling the list .. a couple more .. AirBnb, All airline apps. Maybe they have contracts with the big guys for some lump sum deal, or maybe they are just letting them go as they have to ... We developers already pay for the subscription, WWDC, a shiny iPhone / MBP every couple of years (to test and develop the new features :(, learn a language and sdks just for the Apple world - We Devs need Apple f…

Getting 30% from the whales and scammers is worth too much and a bit of bad PR or the loss of good apps isn't going to change that. They need the big players like Netflix, but after that scummy, high margin, do nothing, trash apps are the best for profits.

Out of interest, what apps are you thinking of? Games with in-app purchases and thinly disguised gambling?

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

#205

Post by baddox »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #128
hendzen wrote: post #37

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 go…

I can use Google Chrome, and still use a non-Google search engine. I can use a Kindle, and still read DRM-Free epubs. Yes, all the major tech companies are engaged in rent seeking. But Apple is the only one that says users must either must pay rent or throw away their hardware. The App Store and its policies are not the problem. The App Store is Apple's store, just like Amazon.com is Amazon's store. But the App Store…

I don’t agree with that explanation of the gaming console exception. Modern consoles are actually quite similar to smartphones in the breadth of their functionality. To be consistent I think you’d need to include consoles, most smart TVs and media streamers, and even tech-heavy cars.

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

#206

Post by gruez »

nodamage wrote: post #190

While I agree that Apple should probably relax their rules, this list of "exceptions" is not particularly compelling. The majority of them are companion apps for physical products/memberships for which the rules around in-app purchases do not apply: Tesla, Soho House, Wells Fargo, Blue Cross / Blue Shield, WeWork. Github has a free tier and doesn't require a paying membership to use. Netflix is a digital content app…

>While I agree that Apple should probably relax their rules, this list of "exceptions" is not particularly compelling.

Yeah, the first few items on the list were relatively convincing, but the convincing-ness takes a nosedive further down the list. I mean, who in their right mind would compare hey to a companion app for a car?

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

#207

Post by donarb »

zem wrote: post #182
breakfastduck wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a bit of a joke to be honest. Hey are trying to market an app on the app store as a 'free' app. Not offering sign up also means they don't have to add the 'offers in app purchases'. So they're advertising the app as free. Even though its $99 a year. Apples 30% cut is obscene and should be less. But Hey are using a 'free' label to market their app.

the app is free. it's not a hey account, it's an app that lets you access your hey account from an iphone. the account itself has no dependence on the app.

It actually does. You cannot use a regular email application to access your email on Hey, they don't use POP/IMAP.

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

#208

Post by mmglr »

Sorry to change the conversation- but how is HEY any different from maintaining a whitelist? For example iCloud has had the VIP feature for a few years now which I use without issue. This is the 4th or 5th article on HN I have seen talking about HEY and Apple. It's almost like this is a marketing ploy.

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

#209

Post by Wowfunhappy »

baddox wrote: post #205
Wowfunhappy wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can use Google Chrome, and still use a non-Google search engine. I can use a Kindle, and still read DRM-Free epubs. Yes, all the major tech companies are engaged in rent seeking. But Apple is the only one that says users must either must pay rent or throw away their hardware. The App Store and its policies are not the problem. The App Store is Apple's store, just like Amazon.com is Amazon's store. But the App Store…

I don’t agree with that explanation of the gaming console exception. Modern consoles are actually quite similar to smartphones in the breadth of their functionality. To be consistent I think you’d need to include consoles, most smart TVs and media streamers, and even tech-heavy cars.

My concern with phones isn't really that they're general-purpose per se, but that they're many people's primary computer--if not their only computer. Game consoles don't have that level of importance in our lives.

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

#210

Post by detaro »

arduinomancer wrote: post #175

Why is Apple's revenue here even percentage-based at all? It makes zero sense. According to Apple they need this revenue cut because of the cost of keeping the platform running. If I offer a subscription in my app for 1$/month vs 10$/month what marginal expense is being incurred that apple deserves an extra $2.70 for the higher price?

Do you price your subscriptions purely by the marginal expense of serving the content/service to another customer? Or do you price them according to what the market will pay for your product?
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