ProtonMail CEO calls Apple's forced in-app purchases 'Mafia extortion'

Post by codelord » Sat, Oct 10, 2020, 1:21 AM UTC

intricatedetail wrote: post #320

codelord wrote: post #315

"ProtonMail says that Apple forced it to monetize its app". I stopped there. I have seen a lot of articles like this misleading the public about the issue. Apple didn't force them to monetize anything. It was monetized. Apple told them to use IAP or don't direct to your own payment system in the app. Either these journalists aren't capable of doing some basic research to understand the issue or are outright trying to…

Care to explain why do you think these articles are deceptive?

Post by marketingPro » Sat, Oct 10, 2020, 1:25 AM UTC

yyyk wrote: post #306

bsg75 wrote: post #43

I'm actually happier to pay a small premium for IAP based subscriptions because of the cancellation options. Having been subjected to asinine "retention" policies that make ending a subscription service an onerous and time consuming process (ex: NYT), and having seen first hand how a company purposefully makes subscription cancellations difficult, being able to open a single interface and click `Cancel` is a massive…

Users who don't like Apple policies are often told to 'switch to Android'. But how one does that when the subscription cannot be managed without an Apple device/account and there's no way to 'pass' your subscription directly to the merchant? That's pretty much the definition of lock-in - there's no way to cut Apple out. Apple on the other hand could remove the user out by banning all its subscriptions - which is far…

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Oct 10, 2020, 1:25 AM UTC

MagnumOpus wrote: post #272

dmitryminkovsky wrote: post #270

Guessing this is a hugely unpopular opinion here: A mafia engages in racketeering/extortion. They take a game that’s fair, and make it unfair. Instead of creating value, they steal it. Without the mafia, people would retain more value for themselves. Apple, on the other hand, created and maintains an enormous platform. Without Apple, the App Store would not exist. The rules are posted to a webpage and are applied mor…

You aggregate Apple the platform creating hardware and OS company with Apple App Store which extorts rents due to dominant market position on the Apple hardware far disproportionate to the value that it adds. (If it added that much value that 30% of revenues for every app that can be downloaded from there was fair, then they would have to prohibit other app stores.) The App Store is not necessarily linked to the hard…

Post by codelord » Sat, Oct 10, 2020, 1:33 AM UTC

brainless wrote: post #325

codelord wrote: post #315

"ProtonMail says that Apple forced it to monetize its app". I stopped there. I have seen a lot of articles like this misleading the public about the issue. Apple didn't force them to monetize anything. It was monetized. Apple told them to use IAP or don't direct to your own payment system in the app. Either these journalists aren't capable of doing some basic research to understand the issue or are outright trying to…

ProtonMail user here: I think you are missing the point. They didn't have "in app" purchase ever. The email account being paid really isn't about the app in my opinion. I can use the same account on any device I want to. But now they must have IAP on Apple devices, for which they raise prices. Imagine Gmail personal now being mandatorily paid because they have optional pricing tiers on their website, that's linked in…

Post by intricatedetail » Sat, Oct 10, 2020, 1:39 AM UTC

ramenandtrance wrote: post #65

I think this is what happens when we have a "feudal system". People have given over control to a few feudal lords. We increasingly don't control our infrastructure or data. We are seeing the consolidation of power into the hands of a few powerful organizations. Once you get locked into your walled in garden, it's difficult to leave, be this for developers or end users, and these organizations know it.