111–120 of 274 posts
So they're going to remove most of the games that my kids have been duped into installing from an ad in another game? ;p
I do not think Apple should have the power to do such decisions. I do not like tracking at all. But I think this is something which needs to be handled by governments (laws/regulations) not by apple forcing their opinion about what is right onto everyone else by abusing their marked positions. In this case it might be beneficial for the users. In others cases it was not beneficial for the users at all but only for ap…
Why should governments force their opinion about what is right onto everyone else? Why not allow freedom in the market so that users can choose what matters most to them? Right now, Apple is serving the market of those opposed to tracking and in favor of greater privacy. If it turns out this is what consumers want and are willing to pay for, competitors will feel pressure to follow suit. No heavy handed government regulation needed.
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When it comes to YouTube the waters are muddy. The YouTube app is just a client to a third-party web service (whose functionality falls outside of App Store rules); so in this case it can be argued that the "functionality" of the app is just the client functionality and not the content itself. Furthermore you can skip ads on YouTube after a 5-second timer, so this seems reasonably fair, though I would still not insta…
> Furthermore you can skip ads on YouTube after a 5-second timer For me, that only really happens these days with mid-video ads (and even then it's happening less frequently despite the number of mid-video ads increasing.) Most of this week I've had double unskippable ads at the front of many videos and they're generally 60+ seconds combined.
Full text of the clause: > 3.2.2 Unacceptable > (vi) Apps should allow a user to get what they’ve paid for without performing additional tasks, such as posting on social media, uploading contacts, checking in to the app a certain number of times, etc. Apps should not require users to rate the app, review the app, watch videos, download other apps, tap on advertisements, enable tracking, or take other similar actions…
Wow this is why my next phone will be an iphone, so sick of apps in Android play store pestering me to rate their app after completing an action in the app or forcing me to turn on location services when I can easily enter a zip code instead.
This exists on iOS too. I recently downloaded a wardrobe app that refused to let me select clothes for hot or cold weather unless I turned on location services. Also some fast food apps (either Burger King, Popeye's or Taco Bell...can't remember which one) constantly whine about location services off and introduce extra friction to type in a zip code.
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Iirc, those shrink wrap licenses are of questionable enforceability. The Wikipedia entry on "shrink wrap contract" agrees, but I'm not well-versed on the topic.
Do you think you can fight this out in court against Apple?
At no point has Apple ever gone after the websites or individuals despite it being fairly trivial to do so e.g. DCMA or cease and desist letter.
In fact Craig Federighi has gone on the record stating that they fully support people hacking the Mac, OSX etc and believe it to be an important part of the ecosystem.
Everybody complains about the walled garden, but damn I love to see things like this.
You do realise Apple could still do this in their app store AND allow 3rd party app stores?
The app store with the least oversight and cheapest prices would be the winner.
Policies like this are good for users but bad for apps and by extension app stores.
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Note that “tracking” is used in an intentionally misleading way here. Apple’s guidelines expressly permit all sorts of silent, invisible, no-opt-in tracking within apps, and most apps in the app store embed this sort of spyware. The term “tracking” in this instance refers to GPS or contacts permission and other such things that Apple has built an opt-in switch for.
What sort of "silent, invisible, no-opt-in tracking" does Apple allow?
Even without GPS permission, IP geolocation provides them a rough track log, enough to say “user x was in california on monday, new york on tuesday, then new jersey for the remainder of the month”.
Everybody complains about the walled garden, but damn I love to see things like this.
Doesn't Apple track every app you install, access and run? Track you if you want to develop your own code for your own fully paid for device?
They (a) show what data is being sent e.g. stack traces and (b) provide the privacy policies.
At least on my device I am not seeing a list of apps being sent to Apple.
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> Furthermore you can skip ads on YouTube after a 5-second timer For me, that only really happens these days with mid-video ads (and even then it's happening less frequently despite the number of mid-video ads increasing.) Most of this week I've had double unskippable ads at the front of many videos and they're generally 60+ seconds combined.
You can, you know, pay for the service (be the customer and not the product) and not see any ads