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

Apple’s strict on App Store rules but gives WeChat a free pass (2020)

reclaimthenet.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 182 posts

Re: Apple’s strict on App Store rules but gives WeChat a free pass (2020)

#11

Post by threeseed »

spenvo wrote: post #7

This rules inconsistency (alongside unpredictable (dis-)approvals and double standards for WeChat, Roblox, and (at times) Amazon and others) came up as one of a dozen reasons that, as a solo casual game developer, _launching_ in the App Store is not necessarily the no-brainer decision it seemed to be a decade ago (despite its enormous market power) I lay out in a separate post here https://keydiscussions.com/2023/07/…

There are about ~2m apps on the iOS App Store.

And if we assume on average 10 updates to each app then we have ~20m approvals/rejections.

Given that the process involves real people it is only normal for there to be many inconsistencies and double standards at this scale. Especially when the rules have evolved over the last 15 years and you have app developers who like to push the limits of what's allowed.

Re: Apple’s strict on App Store rules but gives WeChat a free pass (2020)

#13

Post by summerlight »

joshstrange wrote: post #5

I'm not sure this article has the slam dunk it thinks it does. Those aren't "apps" they are at best "web apps". They use a JS framework and some special markup from what I can tell. In this sense WeChat is more akin to a web browser than having multiple "apps" inside it. > Since these are “apps within an app”, many of these mini-programs are flouting the App Store rules since they were not downloaded from the App Sto…

Regardless of its implementation, everything in the app is subject to the rule as long as it's distributed in the App Store. In fact, Apple tried to enforce the same rule on WeChat multiple times but gave up since it practically means giving up the entire China market.

Re: Apple’s strict on App Store rules but gives WeChat a free pass (2020)

#14

Post by stefan_ »

sn_master wrote: post #3

Interesting how they'll react to X. WeChat seems to be the closest thing to an "Everything App" that Elon wants to create.

WeChat is the "everything app" because it has a government monopoly. I'm sure there was and is some organic competition but it's also obvious they picked a winner and ran with it.

Re: Apple’s strict on App Store rules but gives WeChat a free pass (2020)

#15

Post by ImPostingOnHN »

threeseed wrote: post #11
spenvo wrote: post #7

This rules inconsistency (alongside unpredictable (dis-)approvals and double standards for WeChat, Roblox, and (at times) Amazon and others) came up as one of a dozen reasons that, as a solo casual game developer, _launching_ in the App Store is not necessarily the no-brainer decision it seemed to be a decade ago (despite its enormous market power) I lay out in a separate post here https://keydiscussions.com/2023/07/…

There are about ~2m apps on the iOS App Store. And if we assume on average 10 updates to each app then we have ~20m approvals/rejections. Given that the process involves real people it is only normal for there to be many inconsistencies and double standards at this scale. Especially when the rules have evolved over the last 15 years and you have app developers who like to push the limits of what's allowed.

the issue is that this double standard is conscious and intentional, rather than simply an artifact of probability

Re: Apple’s strict on App Store rules but gives WeChat a free pass (2020)

#16

Post by lessname »

spacebanana7 wrote: post #4

Much like Adobe did to Macs in the 1990s, WeChat has become so powerful they control the platform. Apple can’t remove WeChat because most consumers would rather change device hardware than lose access to WeChat.

Is it really the power of WeChat or the chinese government though?

Re: Apple’s strict on App Store rules but gives WeChat a free pass (2020)

#17

Post by sourcecodeplz »

sdfghswe wrote: post #9
sn_master wrote: post #3

Interesting how they'll react to X. WeChat seems to be the closest thing to an "Everything App" that Elon wants to create.

It's still twitter. I love that your previous comment was that "people use twitter because of free speech", and now I can't even look at it without logging in. Proof that on the internet anyone can sound confident.

What does logging-in have to do with free speech?

Re: Apple’s strict on App Store rules but gives WeChat a free pass (2020)

#18

Post by rat9988 »

stefan_ wrote: post #14
sn_master wrote: post #3

Interesting how they'll react to X. WeChat seems to be the closest thing to an "Everything App" that Elon wants to create.

WeChat is the "everything app" because it has a government monopoly. I'm sure there was and is some organic competition but it's also obvious they picked a winner and ran with it.

Can you tell us more about how the government picked the winner?

Re: Apple’s strict on App Store rules but gives WeChat a free pass (2020)

#20

Post by ecedeno »

thefounder wrote: post #10
joshstrange wrote: post #5

I'm not sure this article has the slam dunk it thinks it does. Those aren't "apps" they are at best "web apps". They use a JS framework and some special markup from what I can tell. In this sense WeChat is more akin to a web browser than having multiple "apps" inside it. > Since these are “apps within an app”, many of these mini-programs are flouting the App Store rules since they were not downloaded from the App Sto…

>> I mean Drafts has the ability to download actions (not sure if that is the right term) which are JS that run inside the app. I think this is fine and doesn't skirt any rules, I'm not familiar with that particular app but if that happens it's not fine and it seems to get a pass from Apple. The apps are not allowed to download executable code. You have to bundle it all in the app.

That's not exclusive to that app. Being able to update the app without going through the App Store was one of the big selling points of React Native a few years back. Apps are not allowed to download native code, however.
Post reply on HN