Apple apologizes to WordPress, won’t force the free app to add purchases

Post by realityking » Sun, Aug 23, 2020, 7:23 AM UTC

ehsankia wrote: post #230

parasubvert wrote: post #153

I find the group think here to be incredible, and you all will likely be very disappointed when the legal system winds up supporting Apple. Regulating retailers because you don’t like their cut is price controls, which is completely contrary to a free market, and ultimately undermines the end user experience of having a trusted, secure store. Perhaps Google or Apple’s power is so strong as to warrant regulation - but…

I personally don't think 30% is particularly high in normal app selling scenarios. The two bigger issues with Apple's system are 1. The complete control over the ecosystem, which is gated and opaque. No alternatives to bypass the App Store. 2. 30% is fine for single app sales, but when you're an app that sells monthly subscriptions or tons of in-game content, it just doesn't scale the same.

Post by thdrdt » Sun, Aug 23, 2020, 7:28 AM UTC

7tsfmCAusrQ wrote: post #86

vturner wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is off-topic, but your comment on your user base caught my attention. Do you think Android app development can be monetarily worth the time investment for individual developers who would be just starting out? I made two apps years ago and greatly enjoyed it, much more than any development I've done since. At that time, the markets were dominated by the big players. Only the big apps made any $$. Is that still th…

Absolutely, yes, but if you are writing your own apps rather than being paid to write apps for other people, there's a strong luck element as with any entrepreneurial activity. I have six apps out right now, of which just one accounts for 90% of my revenue. Rather than setting out to write apps, I think it's better to think about an app as merely a vehicle to deliver a service, a product, some unit of customer value,…

Post by em-bee » Sun, Aug 23, 2020, 7:37 AM UTC

em-bee wrote: post #209

em-bee wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the equivalent would be that you can only use an apple car to go shopping in the apple store, and you can't use that apple car to go shopping anywhere else.

so in fact what we have here is a vertical lock-in. lock-in is just as bad as a monopoly, as it removes the ability to choose competitors. i believe the EU has a law for interoperability, it only applies to API's as far as i know, but one could see the phone as a device with an API that allows apps to run on it. it could therefore be considered that now allowing any app to run on the phone is a violation of that law.

Post by antihero » Sun, Aug 23, 2020, 7:48 AM UTC

rubber_duck wrote: post #5

Really at this point Apple control over app store is anti-competitive (and Google over play store), having to rely on community outrage to get stuff like this turned is ridiculous. They should create legislation to control access to all app stores to prevent this rent seeking - force app stores to treat all apps equally according to store defined guidelines (including store owners apps) - any submissions have to be r…

Post by dwaite » Sun, Aug 23, 2020, 7:58 AM UTC

travisjungroth wrote: post #32

rubber_duck wrote: post #5

Really at this point Apple control over app store is anti-competitive (and Google over play store), having to rely on community outrage to get stuff like this turned is ridiculous. They should create legislation to control access to all app stores to prevent this rent seeking - force app stores to treat all apps equally according to store defined guidelines (including store owners apps) - any submissions have to be r…

Im not really into congress defining how apps get reviewed. I’d rather see it just get broken up in some way. Either you can’t have a phone and an app store (like the studio/movie model) or they at least have to support other app stores. Side note: my iPhone autocorrected app store to App Store, which I think is another example of overreach.