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Rethinking the App Store

stratechery.com

11–20 of 350 posts

Re: Rethinking the App Store

#11
The concept that Apple needs to have a monopoly on app distribution for privacy and security is a smokescreen.

The OS does that with its capability based design which of course the desktop OSs have a very hard time migrating to after the fact.

Having other means to install apps doesn’t change that at all.

And what’s more, nothing forces a user to actually go outside the Apple App Store if they want the supposed benefits they provide.

Re: Rethinking the App Store

#12
post #8
post #4

I love Stratechery, but I think this one gets it wrong. Think of App Store as three products: 1. App quality screening 2. App promotion/distribution 3. In app purchasing Ask any reasonable dev if they are willing to foot a fixed cost to get their app screened, a fixed cost per app download (bandwidth), and variable cost to get their app promoted in the store (not everyone needs this) and they would agree. What pisses…

I think you have totally wrong expectation about developers. - Ask any reasonable dev if they are willing to foot a fixed cost to get their app screened I don’t think most devs will support this, considering the constant arguments about IOS development requiring yearly $100 fee.

Read Job’s quote in the article, someone has to foot the bill to ensure the quality of Apps on the store. $100 a year seems reasonable to me for unlimited App screenings imho.

Re: Rethinking the App Store

#13
I am of the opinion that the only fair option is to allow 3rd party stores with the same permissions as the official app store.

Apples curation isn't (as they suggest) preventing malware, theft of information, etc - this if verifiably false given recent history with apps like tiktok stealing clipboard content. The ability to change content of payment screens post-approval (as epic have just done) also means that curation isnt stopping apps from potentially injecting phishing, etc, either. In short, they are just choosing what they like - just as any 3rd party store could do.

The security comes from the sandbox (and surrounding permissions) - not from the curation.

Jobs originally said that the aim of the 30% was to cover costs of running the store. It is evident from the MASSIVE profits that this is no longer the case.

The size of these app marketplaces (I dont just mean apple) make them markets in their own right - its about time they were recognised and treated as such.

Re: Rethinking the App Store

#14
The security argument is flawed: iOS devices would be fully secured if Apple allowed secondary app stores on their devices.

Using other stores not supported by Apple would have come with a big risk warning anyway. It would then be the user's responsibility.

Re: Rethinking the App Store

#15
post #8
post #4

I love Stratechery, but I think this one gets it wrong. Think of App Store as three products: 1. App quality screening 2. App promotion/distribution 3. In app purchasing Ask any reasonable dev if they are willing to foot a fixed cost to get their app screened, a fixed cost per app download (bandwidth), and variable cost to get their app promoted in the store (not everyone needs this) and they would agree. What pisses…

I think you have totally wrong expectation about developers. - Ask any reasonable dev if they are willing to foot a fixed cost to get their app screened I don’t think most devs will support this, considering the constant arguments about IOS development requiring yearly $100 fee.

I agree, screening happens every time you submit an update, that's likely to be hundreds of dollars a time so thousands a year for many devs. Waiving this for free apps won't work because whether or not an app should be free is part of what this is all about. It will kill most genuinely free apps.

Re: Rethinking the App Store

#16
One idea I don't see discussed is that the App Store model is a disincentive for Apple to come up with better sandboxing and security.

Apple is in fact uniquely positioned to introduce a better sandboxing model. They control most of the stack, crucially the CPU and the build toolchain, not to mention the PL. They could, were they not so reliant on the App Store auditing process, make it less likely for people to develop malware and privacy-invasive software, by building better abstractions around processes and IPC, through eg. virtualization and capabilities [0].

That, of course, would take away the main raison d'être of App Store, which is a significant money-maker for Apple.

[0] https://fuchsia.dev/fuchsia-src/concepts#fuchsia_is_designed...

Re: Rethinking the App Store

#17
post #7
post #4

I love Stratechery, but I think this one gets it wrong. Think of App Store as three products: 1. App quality screening 2. App promotion/distribution 3. In app purchasing Ask any reasonable dev if they are willing to foot a fixed cost to get their app screened, a fixed cost per app download (bandwidth), and variable cost to get their app promoted in the store (not everyone needs this) and they would agree. What pisses…

I am considering building some paid apps for the App Store. If I had to deal with payment processors, handling subscriptions, etc. myself there is zero chances I'd do that.

Have you had bad experiences with other payment processors in the past? Honestly curious. I’ve used Stripe, and they are amazing in terms of product quality and customer service.

Re: Rethinking the App Store

#18

In other news, i wonder why ios app developers aren't considered apple's employees? In fact someone could sue apple to force them to do so. Their developer guidelines are so strict and hands-on that they don't justify them being used as "gig workers". And apple's statements in this document make the emphatic point that they use those developers to deliver an excellent experience. They even provide their paycheck (and…

App developers choose when they work, how they do the work and how much they charge, which are the main indicators of an independent.

The main argument against Uber was that drivers can't negotiate on price/pay, but clearly app developers set the price of their apps and IAP.

Re: Rethinking the App Store

#19

In other news, i wonder why ios app developers aren't considered apple's employees? In fact someone could sue apple to force them to do so. Their developer guidelines are so strict and hands-on that they don't justify them being used as "gig workers". And apple's statements in this document make the emphatic point that they use those developers to deliver an excellent experience. They even provide their paycheck (and…

What about cross platform solutions? web pages? or apps that are interfaces to seperate solutions. What about apps that are written once that developers still receive royalties from without any updates? Apple enforce a base level quality that mostly isn't that hard to conform to, some developers do not like this, but most apple consumers do, otherwise, they would be free to buy android phones and sideload everything

There are a lot of different reasons to buy an Apple device, you cannot draw the conclusion that people are fine with the App Store just based one the fact that they own an iPhone.

I own an iPhone because Apple supports them for way longer than any other manufacturer and I care about that specific point. But I’m against some of their current store policies and would prefer more choices (either alternative stores or a way to side load). That doesn’t even mean I would actually use these alternatives, to be fair I don’t know myself, but I think that should be an option. It seems insane that Apple has complete control over the entire system and apps distribution with zero possibilities to compete.

Re: Rethinking the App Store

#20

One idea I don't see discussed is that the App Store model is a disincentive for Apple to come up with better sandboxing and security. Apple is in fact uniquely positioned to introduce a better sandboxing model. They control most of the stack, crucially the CPU and the build toolchain, not to mention the PL. They could, were they not so reliant on the App Store auditing process, make it less likely for people to deve…

The raison d'être of the Apple App Store is to make money.

All other considerations are secondary at best.

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