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Apple admits it ranked its Files app ahead of competitor Dropbox

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Re: Apple admits it ranked its Files app ahead of competitor Dropbox

#81
post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We need to re-evaluate what "rights" mean in a digital age. Apple should not have a monopoly on digital stores on iOS. "Apple made it so they can do anything they want. Take it or leave it" - is not an acceptable position (in my opinion). >By that logic costco has no competitors whatsoever that sell kirkland signature products. Can you explain how you came to that conclusion and what 'that logic' is?

Honestly, if I were to make a platform and someone else were to come by and somehow force my hand regarding what should be allowed on it and how they should be ranked in it, I’d just shut it all down, even the company if need be, give their money back to whatever investors there may be, and walk away. Let them have fun building it themselves if they want it to run any other way. But that’s just me, and it probably sp…

I mean, sure, that's fine. Most laws around what things people and corporations are and aren't allowed to do are trade offs. You can build a company and make lots of money, but you have to obey a set of restrictions. If you're not ok with those restrictions, then you don't build a company. That's fine. There are certainly other people who will accept somewhat lower profits (due to these restrictions) in exchange for having the opportunity to make money at all.

The pretty well-known examples of these sorts of restrictions are things like minimum wage laws, child labor laws, anti-discrimination laws, etc. Antitrust law is on there too, and in my opinion it should be expanded to cover some of the stuff we're talking about here. You seem to not agree, and that's fine. But personally I think we should be doing more to protect customers, even from things they may not realize are hurting them. Right now the only serious choices for a smartphone are iPhone or Android, and while they both have a lot of good things going for them, they also both have significant negatives. I don't want the future to be a techno-dystopia where there is only one "choice", and the manufacturer dictates how we use our devices. It really feels like that's where things are going, though, unless we start requiring platforms be more open. Customers won't demand it, because most of them don't understand the issues around it, so it's likely the only solution is legislation.

Re: Apple admits it ranked its Files app ahead of competitor Dropbox

#82
post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We need to re-evaluate what "rights" mean in a digital age. Apple should not have a monopoly on digital stores on iOS. "Apple made it so they can do anything they want. Take it or leave it" - is not an acceptable position (in my opinion). >By that logic costco has no competitors whatsoever that sell kirkland signature products. Can you explain how you came to that conclusion and what 'that logic' is?

Honestly, if I were to make a platform and someone else were to come by and somehow force my hand regarding what should be allowed on it and how they should be ranked in it, I’d just shut it all down, even the company if need be, give their money back to whatever investors there may be, and walk away. Let them have fun building it themselves if they want it to run any other way. But that’s just me, and it probably sp…

As a member of a society there are ground rules you are obliged to abide by in order to participate. The upshot is Apple makes 10s of billions per year while abiding by those standards.

It's a pretty fantastic deal if you can get it and I don't think if regulations on manipulation of the app market is tightened up it would be an undue burden.

You seem to be imagining that a trillion dollar business is just a really big version of a small business so you imagine storming off in a fit of pique but it's really not a bigger version it's a different animal because it's wealth gives it so much power it is in need of greater restraint internal or external and it's massive payroll and base gives it greater obligation to it's customers and staff.

Anyone who would do such a thing would just find themselves looking for a new job after the stockholders fired them.

Re: Apple admits it ranked its Files app ahead of competitor Dropbox

#83
post #60
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because you have both Costco AND Walmart Stores selling their own brand within the same state which allows heavy Store competition within the State along with dozen of others Stores ? The iOS state has 65% of users and 75% of App spending and it has one Store. You can perfectly have your own retail brand when there are plenty of competition within the market. If you argue there is still another state with diverse cho…

> The iOS state has 65% of users 65% may be the shares in devices sold in Q4 2020, in the US. From what I’ve gathered, actual devices market share, in the US, is closer to (and less than) 50%. Doesn’t invalidate your points though.

> From what I’ve gathered, actual devices market share, in the US, is closer to (and less than) 50%.

iOS has 60% of the market in the US[1].

[1] https://www.pcmag.com/news/ios-more-popular-in-japan-and-us-...

Re: Apple admits it ranked its Files app ahead of competitor Dropbox

#84
Does anyone else just…not care? Files is a system app like Windows Explorer. It’s not meant to “compete” with anything. Does anyone think Control Panel competes with Android’s Settings app?

iCloud Drive is a cloud storage competitor that Files works well with, but Files also supports Dropbox and Google Drive and many other storage competitors (anyone who wants to implement the API gets to be in Files). Also, the argument that Files is somehow replacing Dropbox doesn’t even make sense because you need to have the Dropbox app installed in order to connect Files to Dropbox. It’s not a standalone integration, it depends on third party apps providing the correct extension to work correctly.

It’s surprising, to me at least, that everyone accepted Files coming packaged with every new iPhone and iPad sold, but for some reason its position in the App Store is a controversial topic? How many people even delete Files and search for it again? Not to mention that installing system apps from the App Store doesn’t even install anything, because the app was never removed, just hidden from Springboard.

Re: Apple admits it ranked its Files app ahead of competitor Dropbox

#85

Apple has made life of small developers hard. Mac software and app industry has died. Even after notarising apps they show malicious popup to users. Same practices has adapted by apple like search ad etc etc. They make competing services and steal ideas of developers and those app dies. For eg screen time for Moments app. They have unfair advantage and small developers could not complete. Only handful of indie develo…

> Mac software and app industry has died And yet for me there are far more apps than there has ever been. > steal ideas of developers Nobody owns an idea. > They killed the industry. This notion that Apple killed the mobile apps industry which it arguably started is ridiculous. We have companies like Instagram, Snap, WhatsApp, Niantic etc who built billion dollar businesses on the back of the iOS platform. And a wide…

You can still kill something that you start.

I think what they’re saying it’s now a lot harder for indie developers. Sure if you’re Instagram or FB you’re OK (though even those companies take issue with the 30%)

They just haven’t looked after smaller developers. The introduction of paid search ads was just so hostile to anyone without a massive budget - or rather anyone without a high lifetime value per user, making initial outlay on acquisition make sense. All it does is incentivise this dumb model of free apps with endless sneaky bullshit in—app purchases.

Or, worse, the new subscription-everything. I don’t want to pay a monthly subscription for a god damn gif editing app! I just want to buy it and that be that. But this is now rife.

The $1 / $2 app model was pretty good by comparison IMHO

Re: Apple admits it ranked its Files app ahead of competitor Dropbox

#86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Their use of ‘advantage’ as a word reminds me of this classic Calvin & Hobbes strip. https://www.languagetrainers.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/201... Looks like the 80s/90s kids that were brought up on these skits are finally taking over!

You can also "noun" verbs. One I hear in SV is "an ask". I find myself a bit peeved by it but I don't know why.

Much as I tend to be in favor of language evolving, I react almost viscerally to 'compute' as a noun. It is a major irk.

Re: Apple admits it ranked its Files app ahead of competitor Dropbox

#87
post #84

Does anyone else just…not care? Files is a system app like Windows Explorer. It’s not meant to “compete” with anything. Does anyone think Control Panel competes with Android’s Settings app? iCloud Drive is a cloud storage competitor that Files works well with, but Files also supports Dropbox and Google Drive and many other storage competitors (anyone who wants to implement the API gets to be in Files). Also, the argu…

Care about the principle not the individual case.

Re: Apple admits it ranked its Files app ahead of competitor Dropbox

#88
post #84

Does anyone else just…not care? Files is a system app like Windows Explorer. It’s not meant to “compete” with anything. Does anyone think Control Panel competes with Android’s Settings app? iCloud Drive is a cloud storage competitor that Files works well with, but Files also supports Dropbox and Google Drive and many other storage competitors (anyone who wants to implement the API gets to be in Files). Also, the argu…

I care that searching for "Dropbox" doesn't give you "Dropbox" in the first page of results, because of some knob Apple is able to turn any time they want.

Re: Apple admits it ranked its Files app ahead of competitor Dropbox

#89
post #84

Does anyone else just…not care? Files is a system app like Windows Explorer. It’s not meant to “compete” with anything. Does anyone think Control Panel competes with Android’s Settings app? iCloud Drive is a cloud storage competitor that Files works well with, but Files also supports Dropbox and Google Drive and many other storage competitors (anyone who wants to implement the API gets to be in Files). Also, the argu…

I don't think you read the article. Apple boosted their generic Files app above Dropbox for the query Dropbox. That is the controversy.

Re: Apple admits it ranked its Files app ahead of competitor Dropbox

#90
post #88
post #84

Does anyone else just…not care? Files is a system app like Windows Explorer. It’s not meant to “compete” with anything. Does anyone think Control Panel competes with Android’s Settings app? iCloud Drive is a cloud storage competitor that Files works well with, but Files also supports Dropbox and Google Drive and many other storage competitors (anyone who wants to implement the API gets to be in Files). Also, the argu…

I care that searching for "Dropbox" doesn't give you "Dropbox" in the first page of results, because of some knob Apple is able to turn any time they want.

When a “page” of search results consists of 1 ad and 1 result, it’s really not very meaningful to talk about “pages”.
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