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Apple blocks game streaming services unless individual games are approved

bbc.com

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Re: Apple blocks game streaming services unless individual games are approved

#161

Post by threeseed »

ThatPlayer wrote: post #95
threeseed wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is still a movie and so would be regulated under existing movie classification systems. And since movies are over a century old every country has a similar regulatory framework. Most countries do not have an equivalent for apps/games and so it is ultimately left to Apple to regulate.

What regulations are those? Netflix has Minecraft Story Mode now https://www.netflix.com/title/80227995 . What regulations are being applied, and how are those incompatible with video games? Also aren't movie rating systems like the MPA self-regulated? Not required by law. There's already equivalent systems for video games with PEGI and ESRB.

You understand that there is more to the world than the US.

Every country has regulations for music/movies/TV. US and a handful of other countries have them for games and I am not aware of any for apps.

Re: Apple blocks game streaming services unless individual games are approved

#162

Post by banachtarski »

zinekeller wrote: post #145
gfxgirl wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

lol. There's a reason Safari is called the new IE. So many features missing or buggy, not following standards.

Actually, most developers with an opinion on "new IE" says that Google Chrome is the new IE. There are cases of Firefox and Safari implementing features and Chrome-specific behavior that they won't endorse but are used by webistes (notably, unsurprisingly, Google's sites) [1, 2, 3]. Additionally, there are features that most have requested but are effectively being blocked by Google [3]. 1: https://hacks.mozilla.org/…

I think you’re really cherry picking here. Most developers that frequent “caniuse” most likely encounter lack if safari support above every other browser. Also have you seen webgl 2? What a joke from the webkit team. Yes webgpu is on the way but it’s been like a decade now.

Re: Apple blocks game streaming services unless individual games are approved

#164

Post by shmerl »

__m wrote: post #163
shmerl wrote: post #146

Good reason for users to ditch Apple.

Not really. Stadia wasn’t exactly a big success either

I don't think this should be even the main reason. But it's as good as many others, it just extends the list.

Re: Apple blocks game streaming services unless individual games are approved

#165

Post by judge2020 »

echelon wrote: post #151
Barrin92 wrote: post #113

Just more evidence that large platform and device owners will try to gate-keep and landgrab as much as they can and try to destroy the open web and force competitors into financial agreements to collect economic rent. There finally needs to be regulation on this. No banning of end user services as long as they're legal, I don't want a phone maker controlling what I do on the internet. It's ridiculous. Microsoft in th…

It's time for the DOJ to break up Apple. Together with Google, they're destroying the Internet and open computing. Soon, it'll be all information that is locked down and controlled. Computers didn't use to be like this. Apple has land grabbed their way here and is now clamping down harder than ever before. If we don't revolt, we're going to wind up in a terrible place where Apple and Google make all the movies and ga…

Break up how? Apple's main argument against Epic is that the iPhone (and related devices) wouldn't be successful without the app store and the app store wouldn't be a thing without the iPhone, thus they're both a part of the same product (the Apple ecosystem). It's hard to argue against that, so there's not many more places where it would make sense for an Apple break-up.

Re: Apple blocks game streaming services unless individual games are approved

#166

Post by SllX »

Barrin92 wrote: post #113

Just more evidence that large platform and device owners will try to gate-keep and landgrab as much as they can and try to destroy the open web and force competitors into financial agreements to collect economic rent. There finally needs to be regulation on this. No banning of end user services as long as they're legal, I don't want a phone maker controlling what I do on the internet. It's ridiculous. Microsoft in th…

I look at it like this, without a horse in this race: some enterprising mofos are trying to create additional value for Apple's platforms, pay Apple's fees if they have to (or at least Microsoft was willing to, from what I hear they didn't expect to be shot down entirely), and Apple is saying no. No.

I mean what they're offering, at least in theory, is pretty neat, pretty compelling. Play Xbox Series whatever games, but on your iPhone or iPad. Apple just says No.

Well, if Apple wants to reject the value that these enterprising mofos is trying to bring to their platforms, who is the government to tell them that they can't shoot themselves in the foot? If it causes a few people to switch to Android such as Mike over at Penny Arcade, and maybe discover that they don't need an Apple-branded phone after all, that's Apple's loss. There's been no shortage of compelling Apps and services to be had in the App Store, no shortage of money to be made there if you have something that people 1. want and 2. are willing to pay for. Companies like Uber, Lyft, Doordash, Facebook, even Google have been making bank in the last 10 years off the back of iPhone users, built up a good portion of their business around iPhone and iPad users. Apple can keep the good times flowing through their platform, tighten up on the squeeze and get out of their own way, or they can lose out on opportunities that are literally sitting right in front of them, practically begging for Apple to pick them.

The people that care, that really care, are either going to switch to Android, or purchase an extra device just for this, or iPhone users are going to not give that much of a damn and just live life as they always have: without being able to stream games. Life is tough like that.

Markets always sort crap like this out in the long run though. Give it a few years, we'll come back to this and see if it actually matters.

Re: Apple blocks game streaming services unless individual games are approved

#167

Post by sjwright »

Aeolun wrote: post #71

This is silly. They’re not seperately approving every app on my VNC server either.

The distinction is that the app developer is also selling access to specific computer software running on the developer’s infrastructure, to be run in a way that appears to function just like on-device code.

I don’t fully agree with Apple’s decision but I do understand it and recognise that it’s an awkward intersection between selling software and access to software that’s running elsewhere.

Re: Apple blocks game streaming services unless individual games are approved

#168

Post by helgie »

threeseed wrote: post #16
627467 wrote: post #11

Seems odd (to be charitable and say the least)... Do they vet music/movie streaming services content too?

Apple has always distinguished between interactive apps and read/view-only content. Music/Movies are in all countries regulated by well established rules which govern what level of objectionable content is permitted i.e. you will never find porn on Netflix. Apps/Games have similar regulations in some countries but definitely not all. So Apple has opted to "fill in the blanks".

Why should me playing a game be more restricted than me watching someone else (and anything else their commentary/antics might entail) play the very same game on twitch?

Re: Apple blocks game streaming services unless individual games are approved

#169

Post by sjwright »

dzhiurgis wrote: post #153
zepto wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No - it clearly doesn’t mean that. They regulate the store, not the web.

They do regulate how Safari works making a lot of native-like experiences impossible.

Failing to implement certain features (for arguably legitimate reasons in some cases) isn’t the same as “regulating”.

Re: Apple blocks game streaming services unless individual games are approved

#170

Post by Pfhreak »

superkuh wrote: post #159
Barrin92 wrote: post #113

Just more evidence that large platform and device owners will try to gate-keep and landgrab as much as they can and try to destroy the open web and force competitors into financial agreements to collect economic rent. There finally needs to be regulation on this. No banning of end user services as long as they're legal, I don't want a phone maker controlling what I do on the internet. It's ridiculous. Microsoft in th…

I am not being glib when I say: just don't use Apple. Yes, what they do is bad. But it isn't force. It isn't coercion. It's people coming to them and wanting to use their services. Just don't use their services. Just because you feel powerless in making individual choices doesn't mean advocating for the use of force against the company is moral.

Individual action can be important. Regulation is also a valuable tool. When we discover behaviors that are dangerous, regulating them is absolutely reasonable and moral.
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