Apple Terminates Epic Games' Developer Account • Hacker News Board

Re: Apple Terminates Epic Games' Developer Account

#931

Post by ClumsyPilot » Sat, Aug 29, 2020, 4:24 PM UTC

renaudg wrote: post #858

AsyncAwait wrote: post #841

I don't think Epic is doing anything but trying to pocket more for themselves, yet I also think that the comments here overstate how "aware" average people are about Apple's restrictions, tax etc. I don't think most people would consider direct payment to reputable companies like Epic to be a particular security risk. I don't think most realize why they can't subscribe to Spotify from their iPhones, they think it's s…

"if Apple was OK with displaying a 30% Apple tax on checkout" Do you know any store that adds a line showing their margin on the customer receipt ?

Free market works on freedom of information and informed choice. If you entered into a contract because I mislead you, thats fraud. Sensorship is a form of market manipulation and apple is ACTIVELY SENSORING this information: https://youtu.be/jdEdGPnaDRY

Also margin is the wrong term - these are transaction fees charged by the platform.

The best comparison is Airlines and airport - every time i buy a ticket, i know how much money actually goes to the airline.

Re: Apple Terminates Epic Games' Developer Account

#932

Post by abc-xyz » Sat, Aug 29, 2020, 4:28 PM UTC

pier25 wrote: post #925

abc-xyz wrote: post #860

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> All the comments saying "just buy an Android" ignore the simple fact that you buying an Android does not change the fact that a significant portion of the market is elsewhere. All the comments saying “just allow side-loading apps/third-party stores and let people decide themselves” ignore the fact that by doing so then iOS will end up with the same virus/malware issues that you see on Windows and Android. Suddenly…

MacOS is open and doesn't have those issues.

Actually they do, and the reason for that is precisely because they allow third-party installations on Macs, and the exact same thing would happen to iPhones if they allowed third-party installations there as well.

> Adware has become much more aggressive in 2019, heavily targeting consumer and business endpoints on Windows, Mac, and Android devices. A new team of the most active adware families have replaced the top adware family detections of 2018. In total, we saw approximately 24 million Windows adware detections and 30 million Mac detections. The top three consumer threat detections belonged to adware families and the number one business detection was also adware. The number one Mac detection, an adware family called NewTab, brought in 28 million detections itself.

https://resources.malwarebytes.com/files/2020/02/2020_State-...

Re: Apple Terminates Epic Games' Developer Account

#933

Post by Nasrudith » Sat, Aug 29, 2020, 4:30 PM UTC

delhanty wrote: post #334

dang wrote: post #463

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a stub comment to collect the replies so we can collapse them, to prevent offtopicness. Sorry, no-JS users.

Unfortunately, supporting a brand as team sports is a thing like supporting a political party as team sports is. HN is, hopefully, better than most places on the internet as there are lots of people willing to decide each issue on its merits, and also recalibrate their positions continually in the light of events,

It is politics because it inevitably involves demands of government intervention, often of frankly questionable wisdom.

That is distinct between the emacs vs vi sort of social identity dichotomies. Coke isn't trying to ban pepsi or demand they change their formula.

Re: Apple Terminates Epic Games' Developer Account

#934

Post by RightTail » Sat, Aug 29, 2020, 4:33 PM UTC

ThatPlayer wrote: post #328

RightTail wrote: post #28

Maybe Epic will have some breakthroughs in making Fortnite browser based. Not sure what would be needed to accomplish this. Maybe better WebGL? That would be amazing to help kids discover that the internet is much larger than apps.

This doesn't completely work because of all the missing features that Apple's iOS Safari does not implement. And you cannot even get a different browser (engine), because of Apple's App Store rules. Off the top of my head, iOS Safari doesn't support notifications or (at least on iPhone) fullscreen API. Surprisingly there is controller support https://caniuse.com/#feat=fullscreen

So this couldn't be done in a different browser to the best of your knowledge?

Re: Apple Terminates Epic Games' Developer Account

#935

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Aug 29, 2020, 4:37 PM UTC

AsyncAwait wrote: post #841

I don't think Epic is doing anything but trying to pocket more for themselves, yet I also think that the comments here overstate how "aware" average people are about Apple's restrictions, tax etc. I don't think most people would consider direct payment to reputable companies like Epic to be a particular security risk. I don't think most realize why they can't subscribe to Spotify from their iPhones, they think it's s…

[deleted]

Re: Apple Terminates Epic Games' Developer Account

#936

Post by frusciante29 » Sat, Aug 29, 2020, 4:55 PM UTC

When did a content consumption device turn into a general purpose computing device? The former used to be a thing not that long ago, among techies. I see the tables have turned now, when it suits their argument.

Re: Apple Terminates Epic Games' Developer Account

#937

Post by frusciante29 » Sat, Aug 29, 2020, 4:56 PM UTC

When did a “content consumption device“ turn into a “general purpose computing device”? The former used to be a thing not that long ago, among techies. I see the tables have turned now, when it suits their argument.

Re: Apple Terminates Epic Games' Developer Account

#938

Post by AsyncAwait » Sat, Aug 29, 2020, 5:00 PM UTC

abc-xyz wrote: post #898

AsyncAwait wrote: post #889

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> All the comments saying “just allow side-loading apps/third-party stores and let people decide themselves” ignore the fact that by doing so then iOS will end up with the same virus/malware issues that you see on Windows and Android. Why? Who is forcing YOU to sideload? There's no reason why the default couldn't be status quo and you'd only opt in into sideloading, this way the users who want the walled garden still…

Because 99% of the user base isn’t tech savvy and will install all sorts of crap without realizing the consequences of doing so. I may be capable of sticking to the App Store and not side-loading apps, but many of my friends, family and non-developer coworkers are not. They’ll click on random links in their mailbox, ads from apps and when browsing the web.. the end result is that they end up accidentally having their…

> I’ve never had to help fix an iPhone and I don’t know anyone who’s been infected with malware (besides e.g. TikTok secretly copying clipboard and such), however for Windows and Android then I have people reach out to me on a monthly basis because they accidentally installed something that fucked up their computer/phone and they need help fixing it.

All well and good, but this is not due to sideloading. That is an option that is disabled by default and the majority of people keep it that way. There's sketchy apps on the Play Store itself, which does not require you sideloading. I feel like you're conflating sideloading with malware here.

> As for F-Droid, I hope you realize that their store is even more locked down than the App Store

Not sure what you mean exactly, considering you can even have your own repos in F-Droid, but in any case the point is that it is a 3rd party store.

I don't think anyone is arguing no store can be locked down if you have multiple choices.

Re: Apple Terminates Epic Games' Developer Account

#939

Post by nso » Sat, Aug 29, 2020, 5:14 PM UTC

amelius wrote: post #853

AsyncAwait wrote: post #841

I don't think Epic is doing anything but trying to pocket more for themselves, yet I also think that the comments here overstate how "aware" average people are about Apple's restrictions, tax etc. I don't think most people would consider direct payment to reputable companies like Epic to be a particular security risk. I don't think most realize why they can't subscribe to Spotify from their iPhones, they think it's s…

Informing users about the Apple tax would cause an outrage since users already paid for their phones, and own them.

There is no Apple tax. It's a fee.

"A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed upon a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures"

Re: Apple Terminates Epic Games' Developer Account

#940

Post by the_other » Sat, Aug 29, 2020, 5:24 PM UTC

amelius wrote: post #913

the_other wrote: post #906

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From some. I simply don’t care. To me, Apple are keeping my highly sensitive data (my phone is my bank card, address book, post box, todo list...) secure. I’m really grateful the tools and experience is consistently so good for so long. Whether I’m paying that 30% or the software devs are, I’m not really bothered. I want the high quality to continue. I accept that multiple app stores may improve things... but from wh…

Android is a bad comparison, because they are basically an adware based product, and rightfully many people reject it as a serious tool for managing their personal information and communication. This actually makes Apple a monopolist.

I find that a fairly twisty perspective.

I agree Google are adware. I disagree that tales them out of the discussion of monopoly.

I also think the monopoly discussion and the 30% fees discussion are separate. This relates to my interpretation that the 30% covers “shelf space, distribution, And security”.

If the fee were 5% but nothing else changed, Apple might still have a monopoly.