Epic Games steps up Apple fight with EU antitrust complaint

> Actually, there is one near-perfect solution...

So your perfect solution is to recreate the mess that's on the PC???

I don't think you understand - we don't want that. That's why people like me, my wife, my kids, my parents, my relatives, and most of my friends buy an iPhone - so we don't have to go through that hell.

The number of people who buy a iphone for sheer simplicity is enormous. My friend's Android has a better camera, a different friend's Android has some cool games that I can't get. But that's OK, and it's my trade-off to make.

If Blizzard really doesn't like Apple, when why don't they fork Android and make their own phone and have a cool backend like Unreal engine running it? They have the resources and the fans to do it. And frankly, it'd probably be really freakin cool.

This. The reason app stores suck so much isn't their distribution of apps. They do fine at that, and it would be easy to switch binary distributors.

It's the value-added services that are inexplicably linked that bug me. Why can't I allow push notifications without Google's app store? And why can't I use Google's app store without getting bundled into dozens of other services?

Allowing other app stores isn't going to be very compelling so long as Google and Apple can force you to use their app store if you want access to their value add services like push notifications.

That sounds like the same class of argument as "all an operating system needs to provide is process scheduling and hardware access". It doesn't match user expectations and it certainly isn't a good user experience. Having to sign into a different account for every game to get basic functionality is a nightmare. Users want to purchase a game from a store, install it, play it, and have everything work. That's it - no other configuration or connections required.

There are still a lot of people, especially on the general web stuck in the Steve Job's era believing in bad developers, quote;

"What happens sometime though is that some people, uh, lie. Some people use unpublished APIs and their app gets rejected. Some people submit an app that they say does one thing, but really does something else. They try to hide it from us, they get very clever about that. They try to hide it from us and we find it and we reject it. And they run to the press and tell a story about oppression and it gets written up and they get their 15 minutes of fame because they hope it will convince us to change our minds which never does, but they keep trying to do that. And it’s unfortunate, but we take it in the chin. That part of what we do. We don’t run to the press and go, “This guys a son of a bitch liar.” "

That was in All Things Digital D8 Conference 2010. Nearly 11 years ago. The landscape has changed, the context has changed. iPhone has only sold 50M unit in total since launch in 2007. These days Apple has 1 billion active user and Apple sell about as much iPhone per quarter. Smartphone and Apps went from nice thing to have to near or already a necessity in modern society. Surely you cant apply the same rules in a modern era, not to mention those App Store rules has evolved since Steve Jobs passed away. Many Apps that Apple used to exempt from the 30% cut now has to comply.

I really wish HN folks read the great piece from Benedict Evans ( https://www.ben-evans.com/benedictevans/2020/8/18/app-stores) and Matthew Ball ( https://www.matthewball.vc/all/applemetaverse ). It is by far the best I have seen on this issue. I submitted both a few times but never got on HN Front page. Hopefully after reading both, people will stop using it is Apple Store they could do whatever they want as argument.

I think there are many things Apple could do as a compromise to satisfy vast majority of people and interest.

Break the App Store into Game Store and App Store.

Nearly 80% of App Store Revenue comes from Gaming. As long as all games are still going through Game Store, like console maker are doing which Apple should have a very strong case, they continue to keep the 80% of revenue ( or near raw profits ). Apple could also argue their continue investment into Metal API and the so called Apple's own GPU ( Which is still PowerVR ) as rational. Breaking this case would hurt lots of other interest including Microsoft's Xbox.

Lower the App Store to a flat rate of 10%. And the same apply across all Apps. Software, Services, Subscription or not with an annual Cap of Fixed amount ( minus CC processing fees ) , say $1M per App per year. So Apple isn't rent seeking per se on your revenue. If you sold $100M, instead of $10M to Apple, you now pay $1M max per App. Work load for Apple per App is fixed and doesn't scale with how much revenue an App Generate. And very few Apps ( not games ) make that much money. With Subscription which generate long term revenue benefits the most.

( EU / AUS has ruled both MasterCard and Visa to lower their price. Compare to the ridiculously 2-5% processing fees, they are closer to 1% in both EU and AUS, There are no reason why other countries wont start looking at App Store from Apple and Google in similar fashion. i.e Those 30% from Apps will be gone sooner or later. Better to make some good will than to have no option in court.)

Allow Side-loading of Apps in restricted mode. Where performance and Gaming Related APIs are limited. Access to Camera, Photos and Phonebook or any files requires consent everytime they try to access it with no option to disable or Dont ask again. The reality is 99% of user dont really need or want to side load Apps. And provides enough security and choice for its users. For a lot of Apps, this provide good enough for like News, Email, or other Subscription Apps which really is just a Web App accessing online information without needing the to go though Apple's permission for Apple Store.

And finally, a clear, open, transparent process and pages for developers to App Store rejection. Which makes it much more of a PR problem for Apple that has their interest tied to provide best service.

I really hope Apple do change. Tim Cook is far too focused on Apple's Services Revenue.

Have you looked into PWAs? Sounds like they'd fit your use case.