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The App Store is a monopoly: Here's why the EU is correct to investigate Apple

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Re: The App Store is a monopoly: Here's why the EU is correct to investigate Apple

#101

Post by 2OEH8eoCRo0 »

slivanes wrote: post #5
Findeton wrote: post #2

Yes, it's a monopoly, but that doesn't mean it's bad per-se. People are freely choosing to buy iPhones and there are alternatives. If the situation on the App Store was so bad, there wouldn't be enough good apps and perhaps people would choose other devices. No one is forcing any company to publish into the App Store.

"No one is forcing any company to publish into the App Store." Yes Apple is, there is no alternative to the App Store on an iPhone.

"Nobody is forcing them to be iPhone developers" - HN

Re: The App Store is a monopoly: Here's why the EU is correct to investigate Apple

#102

Post by RivieraKid »

BoysenberryPi wrote: post #63

Genuine question: Why does this matter? I see 0 problems with Apple having a "walled garden." It's their product and their platform so they should be able to decide what gets supported and developed for it. I personally don't like how Apple conducts their business so I just don't use Apple products and that's that.

Because it makes apps more expensive.

Re: The App Store is a monopoly: Here's why the EU is correct to investigate Apple

#103

Post by raz32dust »

spullara wrote: post #9

As a consumer, I am 100% in favor of the way run the app store. I don't want to give random apps my credit card. I don't want to have 18 accounts to keep track of. I don't want to have to call telephone support to cancel my account. I don't want malware in my apps. I don't want apps to have my email if they don't need it. I don't need another middleman for content companies license and distribute. Everything Apple is…

"Everything Apple is doing is helping make a better app store for me." - it is the benevolent dictator fallacy[1]. You cannot say dictatorship is good because one dictator seems to have done good things. In the same way, just because Apple has been nice so far (in you opinion at least) doesn't mean that the practice itself is good.

[1] Don't google it. I made it up.

Re: The App Store is a monopoly: Here's why the EU is correct to investigate Apple

#106

Post by throwaway851 »

wvenable wrote: post #18
spullara wrote: post #9

As a consumer, I am 100% in favor of the way run the app store. I don't want to give random apps my credit card. I don't want to have 18 accounts to keep track of. I don't want to have to call telephone support to cancel my account. I don't want malware in my apps. I don't want apps to have my email if they don't need it. I don't need another middleman for content companies license and distribute. Everything Apple is…

The problem isn't how they run their store -- the problem is that they are the only store.

If there were multiple stores, chances are that the app developer would choose the least restrictive App Store. So maybe Apple’s App Store rejects an app because it’s doing something sneaky, but some other App Store isn’t as rigorous and publishes the app. If you’ve ever been in the situation where you’re the IT person for your extended family, don’t be surprised when your grandmother tells you that she needs help with some weird problem with her phone and you track down that it’s some app that she got from an alternate App Store. That sort of situation is not a good user experience and isn’t good for the Apple ecosystem. The walled garden is a feature, not a bug. If you want a different experience with more choices, there’s Android - seriously.

Neil Cybart wrote this in a July 6th newsletter: “Billions of people use Android smartphones. However, the press views Android as so inferior to iOS that it’s not a viable alternative for Apple users. That ends up saying more about the competition failing than Apple users suffering from Apple possessing too much power and success.” I had a hard time believing that when I read it, but maybe it’s true.

Re: The App Store is a monopoly: Here's why the EU is correct to investigate Apple

#107

Post by basch »

MereInterest wrote: post #67
behnamoh wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's their product and they can do whatever they want with it. If anyone doesn't like that, they can easily not purchase iDevices. Apple doesn't force people to buy their products.

It's my phone, and I can do whatever I want with it. If Apple doesn't like that, they can easily maintain ownership by not selling the device. I don't force Apple to sell iPhones instead of leaving them in a warehouse. Once I've bought it, it is mine. The entire idea that Apple can do whatever they want on a device that they have already sold is ludicrous.

Should a private company be allowed to sell a secure locked down device, with people buying it knowing that you cant 1) modify the bootloader 2) modify the os 3) sideload apps?

To many people, the fault you find in the product is the added value that differentiates it from competitors.

Re: The App Store is a monopoly: Here's why the EU is correct to investigate Apple

#108

Post by eigen »

sanxiyn wrote: post #50
vogre wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you think that fee is unfair?

Because, I guarantee, if iOS app distribution market was competitive, fee would be lower than 30%. 30% fee is a monopolistic rent.

Google Play store is also 30%.

> For apps and in-app products offered through Google Play, the service fee is equivalent to 30% of the price. You receive 70% of the payment. The remaining 30% goes to the distribution partner and operating fees. [https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answ...]

Re: The App Store is a monopoly: Here's why the EU is correct to investigate Apple

#109

Post by matsemann »

spullara wrote: post #9

As a consumer, I am 100% in favor of the way run the app store. I don't want to give random apps my credit card. I don't want to have 18 accounts to keep track of. I don't want to have to call telephone support to cancel my account. I don't want malware in my apps. I don't want apps to have my email if they don't need it. I don't need another middleman for content companies license and distribute. Everything Apple is…

This is completely missing the point. It's not merely about how the store is run, but that there is no alternative. You could have exactly the same with a competing store.

Re: The App Store is a monopoly: Here's why the EU is correct to investigate Apple

#110

Post by CubsFan1060 »

MereInterest wrote: post #67
behnamoh wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's their product and they can do whatever they want with it. If anyone doesn't like that, they can easily not purchase iDevices. Apple doesn't force people to buy their products.

It's my phone, and I can do whatever I want with it. If Apple doesn't like that, they can easily maintain ownership by not selling the device. I don't force Apple to sell iPhones instead of leaving them in a warehouse. Once I've bought it, it is mine. The entire idea that Apple can do whatever they want on a device that they have already sold is ludicrous.

I'm curious, if you didn't like the way it is, why did you buy one? None of these things are new. They've basically been the same since they came out.

You largely had a choice of two products. It sounds like one did what you wanted, and one didn't. You bought the one that didn't and now you're unhappy about it. I don't quite understand that.

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