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Developer account removed by Apple

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Re: Developer account removed by Apple

#261

Post by rchaud »

rafram wrote: post #99
irrational wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That sounds like the modus operandi of so many companies. Google can’t figure out how to make money without ads, so they punish people (blocking ad blockers on chrome and not allowing access to YouTube if using an ad blocker) because of their own failure.

> Google can’t figure out how to make money without ads They can and they have. YouTube Premium exists! You can pay for it! The two business models that are feasible for YouTube are (1) free and you have to see ads and (2) paid and you don’t have to see ads. They offer both. I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect to be allowed to pick (1) but opt out of the ad side of the bargain. Their ad-blocking shenanigans are o…

> They can and they have. YouTube Premium exists! You can pay for it!

No they haven't. YT Premium price goes up by a significant amount each year, without a corresponding increase in value. That's not a business model, it's an experiment to see what the profitability price point is.

If they knew what it was, they could go Netflix and make it paid-only. But then they'd lose out on all the sweet sweet ad revenue which apparently still doesn't cover the bills.

Since they haven't reached it, and since 95% of their audience still accesses it with ads,

Re: Developer account removed by Apple

#262

Post by hnlmorg »

coredog64 wrote: post #240
hnlmorg wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who’s wanted to run their own mobile OS, I can tell you that doing so it a hell of a lot more challenging than installing Linux in a laptop. The fact is most of the stuff that makes phones what they are, is hidden behind closed hardware and firmware. Even Android, which as you know is Linux, has closed binary blobs in its kernel tree. You can get away with that somewhat for devices like the SoC on the Rasp…

The regulatory requirements around communications equipment (especially cellular modems) pretty much requires closed binary blobs. Eventually folks are able to reverse it, but not in a timely fashion.

I don’t think regulation is the problem (though I wouldn’t be at all surprised if some many used that as an excuse). For example the EU makes it mandatory that patents on standards are licensable to other parties. Granted that’s not exactly the same thing but it does illustrate how governments want competition. Or at least in the EU they do.

The problem with binary blobs is entirely a corporate one. And frankly I don’t blame them for wanting to keep their products closed. I makes complete sense for them to do so. Really this is no different to nvidia keeping their GPU drivers closed. Except you can still have a functional laptop without Cuda, whereas you cannot have a functional phone without the ability to connect to cell networks and make phone calls.

Re: Developer account removed by Apple

#263

Post by Obscurity4340 »

silenced_trope wrote: post #145
judge2020 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This was talked about by Phillip Shoemaker (head of App Store Review 2009-2016) in this talk[0], where some developers figured out that if they hired marketing firms to commit review fraud on a competitor’s app, their competitor would get terminated because there’s no clear way to actually attribute the fraud to the developer. I guess the App Store fraud prevention team hasn’t necessarily found a good solution yet. 0…

pretty clever, it reminds me of the early days of the app store when apps would be taken down for copyright strikes but if you provided proof you'd be given "immunity" from further strikes taking down your app while Apple investigates it became a strategy to copyright strike your own app, have proof ready so that no downtime was necessary, then you have the temporary immunity so that competitors couldn't submit a cop…

I don't get how this sort of short-term thinking to the extremth degree is ever worth it or sustainable...

Re: Developer account removed by Apple

#264

Post by ThatPlayer »

Manuel_D wrote: post #223
quitit wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This sounds like a fair point until remembering that things like Boss-ware exist. An insurer/ health insurer, employer, government, etc will require it, and just like that the "just don't use them" crowd will hold up their hands and pretend that no one could have imagined this disaster. If the problem is truly Apple exhibiting favouritism or limiting competition through their app approval process: then the EU should…

If your company mandates installation of malware, then that's not something an app store can fix. If your company mandates the installation of malware and it's not available on the Apple AppStore, do you think they'd just say, "well okie dokie I guess the policy doesn't apply to you"? No, they'd require you carry a compliant device. If my company is mandating the installation of software on my devices, I'll request a…

It is also already possible through MDM to force install of apps separate from the app store.

Employer installed apps is a use case Apple officially support.

Re: Developer account removed by Apple

#265

Post by mk67 »

sp0rk wrote: post #115
moralestapia wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

> Could you enlighten us? How does one launder money through some iOS apps? You use stolen credit cards to purchase the app. It's a very common method of fraud and does not require a criminal mastermind or a group of people to perform. I have no opinion on what happened in this particular case, but it's crazy to imply that nobody is doing this stuff.

How would you get the money you possess and want to launder on the stolen credit card? That more sounds like a method to extract money from stolen credit cards, but not a valid way to launder money.

Re: Developer account removed by Apple

#266

Post by ghostpepper »

Manuel_D wrote: post #223
quitit wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This sounds like a fair point until remembering that things like Boss-ware exist. An insurer/ health insurer, employer, government, etc will require it, and just like that the "just don't use them" crowd will hold up their hands and pretend that no one could have imagined this disaster. If the problem is truly Apple exhibiting favouritism or limiting competition through their app approval process: then the EU should…

If your company mandates installation of malware, then that's not something an app store can fix. If your company mandates the installation of malware and it's not available on the Apple AppStore, do you think they'd just say, "well okie dokie I guess the policy doesn't apply to you"? No, they'd require you carry a compliant device. If my company is mandating the installation of software on my devices, I'll request a…

People who have plenty of options for switching jobs are generally not the first target for oppressive technology

Re: Developer account removed by Apple

#267

Post by oleg_antonyan »

practice9 wrote: post #204
mm263 wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The company is liquidated, which means he doesn't do business in Russia. Also, I love living in the world where doing business is suspicious because of my nationality.

Choose a better government, then. Preferably, a one without Soviet/death cult/imperialistic tendencies. The nation will be judged by its government's actions, because the gov is supposed to be kept in check by the people.

Will try being born in another place in the next life, thx for the advice (:

Re: Developer account removed by Apple

#268

Post by [deleted] »

moralestapia wrote: post #97
Manuel_D wrote: post #8

If the fake reviews are indeed the reason why the apps were taken off the store, that does strike me as an inappropriate action. Take down the reviews, yes. But closing the developer account creates a big opportunity to eliminate competition by buying fake reviews for your competitors. There's also nothing developers can do to prevent this since they can't curate or reject reviews from what I know. That said, other c…

[flagged]

[deleted]

Re: Developer account removed by Apple

#269

Post by Oras »

kojeovo wrote: post #68

Not that I am arguing in favor for how things currently work re Apple's ecosystem, but from a quick look it seems like these apps bait you into paying and the developer is just completely ignoring that part. I think that's what Apple is not fond of.

The question is, why did Apple approved the app in the first place?

This was an update and the app was making money (according to the article).

Re: Developer account removed by Apple

#270

Post by constantly »

belltaco wrote: post #84
kojeovo wrote: post #68

Not that I am arguing in favor for how things currently work re Apple's ecosystem, but from a quick look it seems like these apps bait you into paying and the developer is just completely ignoring that part. I think that's what Apple is not fond of.

If that's the case, Apple should refund or pay out the $108K before closing the account with that explanation.

Apple should give this developer the benefit of their shady practices? That just encourages more apps like this.
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