Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Avoid the Apple App Store

heyman.info

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 271 posts

Re: Avoid the Apple App Store

#51

Post by fatnoah »

napolux wrote: post #35

Every time I read something like this I see it as a clue there's a "secret" cult of AppStore reviewers getting paid by scammer to skip validation and just approve everything they're paid for. Prove me wrong, Tim Cook. If I make a clone app I'm banned. If a bunch of people do the very same app they get approved.

I wish it was something as simple as this. The real problem is that it's incredibly arbitrary and capricious. A previous company of mine had an app in the store for a couple years.

A customer paid us to white label it for their private internal use. The only difference between it and our existing app was the logo and color scheme. It was rejected for nonsensical reasons a couple times and then approved after several weeks. When we did the same for another customer, that app was rejected for different reasons and we were never able to overcome those objections. It was incredibly frustrating and cost our small company a ton of money.

Re: Avoid the Apple App Store

#52

Post by pbronez »

openknot wrote: post #40
gjsman-1000 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"on a device I paid more than 1000 EUR" Then why did you pay for it? Buy a Galaxy Tab. They've got similarly-priced high-end models with OLED screens and an App Store model you like. Not every product has to be designed for your wishes and needs. That's what competition is for.

I used to own a Galaxy Tab S3, and it became horribly slow (a Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus released just the next year in 2018 was faster) after barely more than two years of use. This isn't an isolated case, as there are threads on Reddit documenting slowdowns (with more recent models) due to software updates [0][1]. In contrast, users report the iPad reliably lasting at least 5 years without noticeable slowdowns [2]. The…

It's hard to argue with Apple's specific design choices (locked down App Store) while also complaining that the competitor's device fails to deliver the same quality and experience. Apple's design choices around stuff like the app store are part of the package they use to deliver that superior experience. That's the tradeoff.

IMHO, the solution is iOS on mobile, Windows on desktop and Linux on the server.

Re: Avoid the Apple App Store

#54

Post by furyofantares »

The complaints may be valid but it's a bit hard for me to evaluate because I am so hugely put off by the author going out of their way to refer to it as a Lingo-style game over and over, which is true!, but it's also clearly a wordle clone with a swedish dictionary. The author appears to believe that wordle being based on Lingo is some sort of gotcha and it's distracting from the issue to me.

Re: Avoid the Apple App Store

#55

Post by aaomidi »

jamil7 wrote: post #34
seafoam wrote: post #15

Not a bad time to start building an App Store for iOS apps. Related : https://www.macrumors.com/2022/01/28/us-states-back-fortnite... https://www.macrumors.com/2021/11/11/ios-sideloading-questio...

I'm not really excited about the prospect of alternate App Store or sideloading. The thing that irritates me about the whole thing however is I feel like we wouldn't be in this position with imminent regulation incoming if Apple executives had not been so stubborn and greedy with App Store policies and completely deaf to developer and user feedback. With some give and take we could have made it work with the App Stor…

I on the other hand really am excited.

Apple devices turn into expensive ewaste when a country gets sanctioned by the US. There are millions of apple phones in Iran, that can't do anything other than browse the web.

There are millions of talented developers in the world that have to avoid iOS because of the $100 fee.

Anyway I'm really really really excited for being able to use a general computer as a general computer.

Re: Avoid the Apple App Store

#56

Post by viktorcode »

jonatanheyman wrote: post #6
eps wrote: post #5

Well, this does look like a straight Wordle copy. It is also disingenious to say that's a copy of Lingo, when it's bloody obvious it's a Wordle clone. The fact that other clones were approved by Apple points at another issue.

What's your opinion on the Minesweeper clones? Shouldn't they be allowed on the App Store? What about Scrabble? Or Tetris? Also - like the post says - the app is in Swedish with a Swedish dictionary. Wordle is unplayable for anyone who doesn't speak English. Point taken about the wording though, I've updated the blog post to say: "I figured I could make a Swedish Wordle-style game myself"

You are assuming that the original copyright owner is always against the clones. Sometimes they just don't care about it.

Re: Avoid the Apple App Store

#57

Post by jeffreyrogers »

amelius wrote: post #46
ectospheno wrote: post #13

I love the App Store. If you want my money then you will be on the App Store. I have purchased zero items for use on my phone from places outside the App Store. I am very happy with this. I love my walled garden. I purchase apple products for this as I consider it a feature. I understand why some people don’t like this and don’t participate. I spend very little time discussing it as people should be able to make thei…

The problem is the lack of an alternative. To put it bluntly: you might like your nanny filter but other people might have different preferences.

The alternative is non-Apple phones.

Re: Avoid the Apple App Store

#58

Post by salamandersauce »

gjsman-1000 wrote: post #10
jonatanheyman wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's your opinion on the Minesweeper clones? Shouldn't they be allowed on the App Store? What about Scrabble? Or Tetris? Also - like the post says - the app is in Swedish with a Swedish dictionary. Wordle is unplayable for anyone who doesn't speak English. Point taken about the wording though, I've updated the blog post to say: "I figured I could make a Swedish Wordle-style game myself"

Microsoft does not have an official Minesweeper application for iOS, never has, and probably never will, so clones are more acceptable in that case. Scrabble and Tetris are actually trademarked names and have official applications as far as I know. They can sue any competitor for trademark infringement. There are competitors like "Block Puzzle," but they may predate the official Tetris for presence, but I'm not certa…

Several of those are clearly ripping off assets from Windows minesweeper. Which is worse than mimicking gameplay. There's also no Wordle iOS app either, just a website.

Apple also happily accepted 2048 which is pretty much a straight up clone of the earlier Threes.

Re: Avoid the Apple App Store

#59

Post by vinceguidry »

ectospheno wrote: post #13

I love the App Store. If you want my money then you will be on the App Store. I have purchased zero items for use on my phone from places outside the App Store. I am very happy with this. I love my walled garden. I purchase apple products for this as I consider it a feature. I understand why some people don’t like this and don’t participate. I spend very little time discussing it as people should be able to make thei…

If you think Apple is doing this because they care about you, gentle user, then you will get burned, eventually, probably really badly, and you won't even have any kind of inkling as to why or how you could have avoided it.

Behind the cutesy facade is a rapacious, consumer-hostile monster. The facade is paper-thin, and it's only a matter of time until you rub it the wrong way and it flakes off, then the monster will eat your money and anything you've entrusted to it. Apple products eat people's data, hungrily and mercilessly, then the company blames you when it loses it.

It will get the world hooked on their fashionable products then make them less and less usable. Those little mini-stereo to lightning dongles are the worst-made products imaginable. Guess what you can get a mini-stereo port on? An iPod Touch. Very brave, Apple.

Instead of offering developers a real userland, you get forced onto zsh because Apple would rather die than ship GPL later than v2.

Don't get it twisted, Apple hates you, and loves only money. It's only a matter of time until each and every Apple user is taught that.

Re: Avoid the Apple App Store

#60

Post by champagnois »

ectospheno wrote: post #13

I love the App Store. If you want my money then you will be on the App Store. I have purchased zero items for use on my phone from places outside the App Store. I am very happy with this. I love my walled garden. I purchase apple products for this as I consider it a feature. I understand why some people don’t like this and don’t participate. I spend very little time discussing it as people should be able to make thei…

>>I love the App Store. If you want my money then you will be on the App Store. I have purchased zero items for use on my phone from places outside the App Store. I am very happy with this.

I read this as: I am currently a happy apple customer. I do not buy apps on other app stores because they do not exist.

>>What I don’t get is the angry soap box lectures from the people who disagree. The intense planning on their part to mess up a thing I love just because they couldn’t make their money… Oh. Nevermind.

Apple's practices as a company are things that, historically, have more or less gotten other companies into a lot of legal trouble. The whole world is watching and waiting for a legal system somewhere to step in and say, "Ok, enough is enough."

Post reply on HN