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

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161–170 of 182 posts

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

#161
post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think Apple was the one who was unreasonable here, not Adobe. I loathe the idea of giving Microsoft credit for anything, but one thing they got right was their focus on backward compatibility. Certainly that has frayed at times here and there, but MS generally doesn't ask their developers to completely rewrite their applications to use a new application framework.

And because of that, even as far back as 2005, there were 10 ways to create a string in C and depending on which Windows API you were using, you had to convert between them constantly. Considering how Microsoft has failed to move past Windows while Apple uses the same OS more or less for watches, phones, tablets, monitors, set top boxes, etc without having to support legacy crap.

> less for watches, phones, tablets, monitors, set top boxes, etc without having to support legacy crap.

That's pretty easy when you have no qualms whatsoever about breaking support for software which is older than 2-3 years and offer very limited support for third party software on all of your platforms except one.

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

#162
post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

it's wechat. you really need it in china. it's practically impossible to stay in touch with most people if you don't have it. a phone that can't run wechat is pretty useless.

The app is obviously incredibly popular, but if it wasn’t back by the Chinese government I imagine apple would have enforced their App Store rules.

I imagine some kind of deal along the lines of “no WeChat no iPhone in China” was done.

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

#163
post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And because of that, even as far back as 2005, there were 10 ways to create a string in C and depending on which Windows API you were using, you had to convert between them constantly. Considering how Microsoft has failed to move past Windows while Apple uses the same OS more or less for watches, phones, tablets, monitors, set top boxes, etc without having to support legacy crap.

> less for watches, phones, tablets, monitors, set top boxes, etc without having to support legacy crap. That's pretty easy when you have no qualms whatsoever about breaking support for software which is older than 2-3 years and offer very limited support for third party software on all of your platforms except one.

Very limited support for third party software? The only device running a variant of iOS that doesn’t have third party software are the displays.

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

#164
post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> less for watches, phones, tablets, monitors, set top boxes, etc without having to support legacy crap. That's pretty easy when you have no qualms whatsoever about breaking support for software which is older than 2-3 years and offer very limited support for third party software on all of your platforms except one.

Very limited support for third party software? The only device running a variant of iOS that doesn’t have third party software are the displays.

Well maybe the "very" part is debatable since it applies some more areas more than other.

> The only device running a variant of iOS that doesn’t have third party software are the displays.

That seems to be the case, yes.

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

#165
post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What aristocracy? And over half the Chinese economy is state-run.

CCP leadership

I feel like there is some difference between the aristocracy and a bunch of dictators and autocrats.

Can't put my finger on it exactly however...

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

#167
post #162
post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it's wechat. you really need it in china. it's practically impossible to stay in touch with most people if you don't have it. a phone that can't run wechat is pretty useless.

The app is obviously incredibly popular, but if it wasn’t back by the Chinese government I imagine apple would have enforced their App Store rules. I imagine some kind of deal along the lines of “no WeChat no iPhone in China” was done.

seriously, you underestimate the popularity of wechat. no deal is needed because it is easy to see that an iphone without wechat just would not sell!

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

#168
post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From what I understand is was more because Tumblr had a much younger user demographic with very ineffective content reporting tools. Allowed NSFW content without a desktop opt-in function. And also being bought by Yahoo who wanted to cash in on Tumblr advertising probably played a huge role in it too. Twitter skews older, requires desktop opt-in for NSFW content, and (before Musk) had decent content reporting functio…

Do you have any information about this? Where did you hear this? I'd always heard it was because some people at Apple used Twitter, but nobody used Tumblr, so Tumblr didn't get a free pass from arbitrary torment.

No sourcable information on it. More so just experience and mumblings around Tumblr since I've been on there since 2011.

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

#169

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?

They're the same thing

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

#170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At the very beginning it likely conformed to all the rules as there likely wasn't much functionality in v1.0. By the time it attracted the attention of Apple decision makers, it was too sticky to ban as another user pointed out. i.e. Wechat users would rather switch to Android than lose the app. I guess the lesson is that exceptions will be made if you can grow an app literally a million fold in a few years and becom…

I agree: this double standard is conscious and intentional, rather than simply an artifact of probability & randomness

Was there something you wanted to say in response to comment?

Reposting the exact same thought again seems a bit odd.

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