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Apple Announces App Store Small Business Program

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Re: Apple Announces App Store Small Business Program

#661

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No it doesn't. Apple and Google have stood on the neck of the mobile app distribution market for over a decade, and small developers have suffered for it. This change doesn't address the problem at all.

Google Android allows 3rd Party app stores and sideloading, with $0 0% fee. Hardly neck-standing.

The only way to implement automatic upgrading, background installation or batch upgrading/installation of apps is via the Play Store. Third party app stores cannot compete with the Play Store on feature parity.

Re: Apple Announces App Store Small Business Program

#662

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does me being able to install an application i downloaded from F-Droid, GitHub or whatever other place i might trust or even developed myself on my phone without having to pay or get Apple's permission mean that Apple will sell my data to 3rd parties?

Not GP, but if enough people were conditioned to install their apps from sources outside of the appstore, Apple may end up seeing their AppStore margins shrink and do a pivot to selling user data.

But that isn't something that has to happen, only something that Apple may choose to do. They do not have to, however.

Re: Apple Announces App Store Small Business Program

#663

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really shouldn't reply but I really can't leave this unaddressed. > But you agree that it would increase the developer split. Thats good enough for me. Glad you agree that it would increase the developer revenue split. I never agreed. Please don't put words into my mouth. It is soo disingenous. I haven't done it to you so don't do it to me. As for the rest of the points. You aren't accepting the reality of the situ…

> Nobody will benefit from this in the long run Even if you think it is only a short term benefit, that is still a good thing that the benefit would exist in the short term. Great. Glad you agree that there would be at the very least, a short term benefit. > More app stores won't benefit the consumer or the developers in the long run Even a short term benefit is still a benefit and is still a very good thing! Glad yo…

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Re: Apple Announces App Store Small Business Program

#664

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really shouldn't reply but I really can't leave this unaddressed. > But you agree that it would increase the developer split. Thats good enough for me. Glad you agree that it would increase the developer revenue split. I never agreed. Please don't put words into my mouth. It is soo disingenous. I haven't done it to you so don't do it to me. As for the rest of the points. You aren't accepting the reality of the situ…

> Nobody will benefit from this in the long run Even if you think it is only a short term benefit, that is still a good thing that the benefit would exist in the short term. Great. Glad you agree that there would be at the very least, a short term benefit. > More app stores won't benefit the consumer or the developers in the long run Even a short term benefit is still a benefit and is still a very good thing! Glad yo…

> Glad you agree that there would be at the very least, a short term benefit.

Never agreed. You are obviously trolling. Goodbye.

Re: Apple Announces App Store Small Business Program

#665

Wow. That's amazing. That's a 20% increase in revenue for those eligible. I'm guessing they decided the increased value of their products from more smaller developers creating apps for the platform is greater than the lost revenue. If I understand correctly though, since it's a hard cutoff it creates this gap between 1m and ~1.2m where you're actually worse off by making more money pre-tax. 999k --[-15%]--> 849k 1000…

While it is quite nice, maybe they did it to look better in the antitrust investigation. They are still forcing devs to use their in-app purchases within iOS apps, forbidding 3rd-party payment processors. And iPhone 12 is no longer repairable by swapping parts between devices [1], Safari is still the only web engine on iOS. Finally after many years they are slowly starting to support royalty-free VP9 codec across the OSs but on the other hand are starting to use proprietary M1 chips to further lock in their users.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY7DtKMBxBw

Re: Apple Announces App Store Small Business Program

#666
post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nope, you should do your research before reaching for your guns. In Italy for example it’s a well known, scandalous situation that’s been going on for years. Apologies for the Italian links but that’s all I could find for now: https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2020/05/14/frutta-e-verdura... https://youtu.be/29OYrFOYkTg

And I could play disingeniously and claim a much higher percentage in my home country, where distributors routinely make much much more. But again, that would be disingenuous, since our environment for comparison is the US market and not the Indian or Italian market, both of which are rife with corruption. I could counter with a German or a British example which would just as much counter your point.

That’s parochial, the Apple Store is global not just a US thing.

Folks, Apple has many faults and they’re certainly leaning on their position but don’t undermine your arguments with outrage comments

Re: Apple Announces App Store Small Business Program

#667

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Nobody will benefit from this in the long run Even if you think it is only a short term benefit, that is still a good thing that the benefit would exist in the short term. Great. Glad you agree that there would be at the very least, a short term benefit. > More app stores won't benefit the consumer or the developers in the long run Even a short term benefit is still a benefit and is still a very good thing! Glad yo…

> Glad you agree that there would be at the very least, a short term benefit. Never agreed. You are obviously trolling. Goodbye.

> Never agreed.

You agreed that "EPIC is buying their way in" to the market.

Buying their way into the market helps developers in the short term at the very least, which is a good thing.

So you agree that they were "buying their way in" to the market, in the short term. Great! Glad you think that.

This results in developers getting more money, in the short term, at the very least.

Re: Apple Announces App Store Small Business Program

#668
post #659

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Decouple payments/subscriptions from distribution (AppStore). Allow us to pay using Stripe, PayPal, Amazon Payments, Google Pay, Apple Pay, or any of a host of other payment processors: the developer can choose his own payment platform, just like in the rest of the world outside of the iPhone. That's a good first step towards competition that would allow Apple to keep the AppStore exclusivity -- for now.

At the very least , they would need to decouple the payment processor in a way that still provides the user all of the following; 1) No need to re-enter billing information across apps 2) A centralized UI for the user to manage all their subscriptions, enforce consistent billing policies, request refunds, etc. 3) Enforce parental controls and family approval policies which may be configured on the account 4) Prevent…

> In the end, the payment processor is a red herring.

Not in the context of introducing competition.

Re: Apple Announces App Store Small Business Program

#669

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think that's a fair assessment at all. Both Google and, especially, Apple have spent millions of dollars, hours, and effort to create their respective App Stores and the people and tools needed to run them. There's a reason why there's a difference, in the real world, between a Walmart and a Target or Sprouts. Likewise, there's a difference between Apple, Google, or anyone else's App Stores. The main differen…

> Both Google and, especially, Apple have spent millions of dollars, hours, and effort to create their respective App Stores and the people and tools needed to run them Both Google and especially Apple have also spent millions of resources and money, making sure they are the only app store in use (by default). They could have spent some of those millions creating a set of rules for independent app marketplaces to be…

You're missing the point. Apple doesn't want independent App Stores because that's not what their customers want. Their customers want a simple way to install apps that they can trust and to pay for things in a way that they can trust. Independent app marketplaces are anathema to that.

Re: Apple Announces App Store Small Business Program

#670

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think that's a fair assessment at all. Both Google and, especially, Apple have spent millions of dollars, hours, and effort to create their respective App Stores and the people and tools needed to run them. There's a reason why there's a difference, in the real world, between a Walmart and a Target or Sprouts. Likewise, there's a difference between Apple, Google, or anyone else's App Stores. The main differen…

> they're buying in to the whole group of customers that said App Store brings with them. Isn't that what a duopoly is, by definition?

No, because there are other alternatives. The App Stores in these cases aren't considered their own market segments because they rely on the purchase of device to access them. Those devices are available from a large number of providers. Don't like Apple? Get an Android phone from any number of providers. Don't like the service? Switch to another carrier. Until the law changes to a point where companies have to allow other people to dictate their platforms (which will never happen), a company can do whatever it wants so long as it doesn't prevent a competitor from spinning up their own version.
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