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Apple blocked the FlickType Watch keyboard then announced a clone of it

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Re: Apple blocked the FlickType Watch keyboard then announced a clone of it

#251

Post by Bud »

hughrr wrote: post #146
Bud wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In favor of which comparable ecosystem that does a better overall job for you on privacy issues, as a whole?

I’m removing myself from the concept of an ecosystem and choosing software based on individual merit at the moment.

Yeah, except that's not a real choice. That's pretending the issue does not exist and pretending that you can avoid privacy issues with a piecemeal choice. But you can't, of course. Cobbling together your own solution doesn't obscure the fact that you will almost inevitably end up with something that respects your privacy much less, which was my original point.

Re: Apple blocked the FlickType Watch keyboard then announced a clone of it

#252

Post by amiantos »

Someone wrote: post #127
throwthere wrote: post #98

Meh. The problem is FlickType requires network access during use. The App store licensing is ok with keyboards, it's not ok with keyboards that get network access. This, Apple perceives as a major privacy issue-- one for the possibility of keylogging, but also for the broader possibility of the always-on logging that the weather apps are infamous for. edit: Sorry, I didn't include the source, the Developer License Ag…

The weird thing is: it only required network access if you used it while VoiceOver is off ( https://www.theverge.com/2021/8/16/22627515/flicktype-ios-ke... ) I can’t think of a technical reason for that.

As with all things on the internet, and especially people complaining loudly about something, there's obviously more to the story. The guy complaining isn't going to tell us the entire unfettered truth and explain why his app needs this network access, and Apple isn't going to say anything because they literally do not care what a bunch of techie people think. The whole story stank of BS from the beginning, but people online love supporting the person who portrays themselves as an underdog battling the big evil company, so they set their critical thinking skills aside and jump on the bandwagon.

Re: Apple blocked the FlickType Watch keyboard then announced a clone of it

#253

Post by mdoms »

croon wrote: post #117

So they do this right after winning over Epic in court? Way to drum up support for anti-trust regulation there, Tim.

Why should Apple be concerned about anti trust in USA when they just won a case they should very obviously have lost and it's clear American regulators have been asleep at the wheel for decades?

Re: Apple blocked the FlickType Watch keyboard then announced a clone of it

#254

Post by skygazer »

I paid for and use FlickType on the watch. It’s clever, but it always sucked it was a stand-alone app. It was a very limited and cumbersome workaround for an obviously missing OS feature. Copy and paste isn’t even a thing on the watch, so text was mostly trapped in the app. Everyone that used the app knew it would vastly better if a keyboard were supported natively by Apple across the whole OS. It was mostly a tantalizing proof of concept. I feel sorry for the Sherlocked developer, but this is a huge improvement.

I recall Apple had previously said they tested and abandoned an on-screen watch keyboard for the Series 0, as the screen was too small. And yesterday they said the screen was finally large enough for a keyboard. I think Flicktype proved it was viable on a smaller screen, and Apple is being crappy limiting availability to the new watch.

I don’t know if Apple legally or morally owes the developer anything. I doubt it, but I’m all for them sorting it out in court.

Re: Apple blocked the FlickType Watch keyboard then announced a clone of it

#255

Post by amiantos »

criley2 wrote: post #163

There is no way to have a fair App Store where the organization approving your app is the same organization creating apps to compete with you. This is a fundamental, existential problem with the App Store model. You can't compete with Apple; they simply will not let you.

So... what are you saying? Apple shouldn't be allowed to improve the software for their own products? There should be a law that prevents Apple from building a keyboard for Apple Watch and consumers have to buy a third party keyboard made by a guy who still won't explain why the keyboard needed "network access OR VoiceOver to be turned on"? Seems fishy to me. I think I'd prefer the keyboard Apple makes.

Re: Apple blocked the FlickType Watch keyboard then announced a clone of it

#256

Post by jdavis703 »

OldHand2018 wrote: post #228
jdavis703 wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Legally I’m not sure the small developer has a chance. Not because the courts are unjust, it’s just hard to say whether Apple broke any laws here. It’s not to say they didn’t, it just doesn’t seem like there’s any slam dunk legal argument about wrongdoing (despite who this might feel morally).

A lawsuit will result in the "discovery" process, and very well might show that Apple had wanted to do this thing for a very long time and at some point they realized that a 3rd party had just introduced something similar to what they wanted to do. And people inside Apple proposed buying the company to save time and money. But when he said no, Apple just decided to continue on their plan. Or the discovery may uncover…

I’d be surprised if it was that nefarious. Apple is releasing a free OS update that has this feature. What do they stand to gain by removing a third-party app users need to learn about and install? Absent some explanation about an advantage Apple gains I’m willing to believe this has something to do with app store policies than something else.

Re: Apple blocked the FlickType Watch keyboard then announced a clone of it

#257

Post by EMIRELADERO »

Terretta wrote: post #216
jacquesm wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not so much about copycat games per-se but about the ability to run whatever software you want on a device that you own, and in that respect those games consoles are quite good representations of the walled garden concept. In fact, the 'general purpose computer' will historically be seen as some kind of very stupid aberration, who ever thought that giving end users that kind of power was a good idea? /s

Software is not different from hardware. Digital parts aren't magic, bring no magic rights, it's still just boring old parts someone invested in engineering into a product. Even in digital, beige box server, IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, FaaS, applications, devices, apps, screens... different waterlines, none of them magic. Which waterline do you have the right to "run whatever you want"? Which waterline is a business ok to say,…

I don't see this as a "features" problem. I think the correct way to approach this is in terms of "control". By designing their devices that way (non-unlockable bootloaders, signature verification on every app or executable with hardcoded public keys etc) companies have essentially introduced a new paradigm in which the legal owner of the device has less control over it than its manufacturer. That is the issue here.

Re: Apple blocked the FlickType Watch keyboard then announced a clone of it

#258

Post by amiantos »

Has no one noticed that this app in question is still on the App Store? First result on google when you search for "Apple Watch keyboards". This makes me even more suspicious of the guy creating all this outrage. It's also not very well reviewed.

Re: Apple blocked the FlickType Watch keyboard then announced a clone of it

#259

Post by minusSeven »

jdavis703 wrote: post #111
ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does the author stand a chance against the army of ivy league lawyers of a trillion dollar megacorp? I guess it would help if he's also American (don't know where he's from) so he could fight Apple on home turf and use the jury system on his side like "Evil megacorp steals from the little guy" (does it even work like this in the US or did I watch too many movies?), but I'm more curious how a lawsuit would go if he'd…

Legally I’m not sure the small developer has a chance. Not because the courts are unjust, it’s just hard to say whether Apple broke any laws here. It’s not to say they didn’t, it just doesn’t seem like there’s any slam dunk legal argument about wrongdoing (despite who this might feel morally).

If Apple writes the laws in the Apple ecosystem does it even matter?

Re: Apple blocked the FlickType Watch keyboard then announced a clone of it

#260

Post by Someone »

kelvin0 wrote: post #151

They've come a long way from building personal computers in Wozniak's garage. In the process they've transformed into the 'big brother' from their 1984 T.V. ad campaign. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R706isyDrqI

It was the garage of Jobs’ parents, and not even that. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/dec/05/steve-woz...:

The commonly shared tale is that Apple was not only founded in the garage of 2066 Crist Drive in Los Altos, California – Jobs’s family home – but that the first Macs were designed and built in the garage as the company was bootstrapped.

“The garage is a bit of a myth,” Wozniak told Businessweek. “We did no designs there, no breadboarding, no prototyping, no planning of products. We did no manufacturing there.”

[…]

“The garage didn’t serve much purpose, except it was something for us to feel was our home,” said Wozniak. “We had no money. You have to work out of your home when you have no money.”

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