> This is insane (because there are no alternatives to Play Market). This is not true? Huawei uses android but is banned from the US so Google can't take their money. Guess what... you don't need Google Play to distribute apps.
Name a popular Android app that's not distributed through Google Play outside of China. Of course that could also just mean that the market agrees that Google's store is just the absolute best, and paying Google 30% (or 0% if you're really cool) is a steal – we just don't know since we haven't ran that particular experiment anywhere in the world. We are probably about to, in the EU, though.
Ask HN: How is this legal that you must use Google Billing for Android apps?
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Re: Ask HN: How is this legal that you must use Google Billing for Android apps?
#22> This is insane (because there are no alternatives to Play Market). This is not true? Huawei uses android but is banned from the US so Google can't take their money. Guess what... you don't need Google Play to distribute apps.
Name a popular Android app that's not distributed through Google Play outside of China. Of course that could also just mean that the market agrees that Google's store is just the absolute best, and paying Google 30% (or 0% if you're really cool) is a steal – we just don't know since we haven't ran that particular experiment anywhere in the world. We are probably about to, in the EU, though.
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Re: Ask HN: How is this legal that you must use Google Billing for Android apps?
#23> How is this legal that if I want to publish an Android app on Play Market and charge for subscriptions, I must use Google Play Billing and pay 30% to Google? This is insane It's bad for the developer, sure, but what exactly is "insane" or "illegal" about it? They have created a product marketplace, and they let you sell there, and you must abide by their rules. If you want to sell on Gumroad or similar services you…
They created a phone and bully users into only using their one officially blessed store. Apple is the worst offender, Google is a little better in that they only warn you a million times when side-loading. But that is still far, far too much fear mongering. And it's obvious they do it so they can get that juicy 30%. It's just a shitty form of rent seeking.
Re: Ask HN: How is this legal that you must use Google Billing for Android apps?
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Re: Ask HN: How is this legal that you must use Google Billing for Android apps?
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
Name a popular Android app that's not distributed through Google Play outside of China. Of course that could also just mean that the market agrees that Google's store is just the absolute best, and paying Google 30% (or 0% if you're really cool) is a steal – we just don't know since we haven't ran that particular experiment anywhere in the world. We are probably about to, in the EU, though.
Fortnite? https://www.fortnite.com/mobile/android/new-device?lang=en
I doubt many people can follow the Fortnite playbook of making a multi billion dollar game just to avoid the Play store...
Re: Ask HN: How is this legal that you must use Google Billing for Android apps?
#26Why not raise your price to cover the cost?
Raising prices usually feels happier than reducing costs and half the customers at twice the price will probably reduce support costs as a side effect.
Good luck.
Re: Ask HN: How is this legal that you must use Google Billing for Android apps?
#27Re: Ask HN: How is this legal that you must use Google Billing for Android apps?
#28> This is insane (because there are no alternatives to Play Market). This is not true? Huawei uses android but is banned from the US so Google can't take their money. Guess what... you don't need Google Play to distribute apps.
Name a popular Android app that's not distributed through Google Play outside of China. Of course that could also just mean that the market agrees that Google's store is just the absolute best, and paying Google 30% (or 0% if you're really cool) is a steal – we just don't know since we haven't ran that particular experiment anywhere in the world. We are probably about to, in the EU, though.
Fortnite - alright that one may be stirring the pot a little... but it is honestly a good example. Installs are in the tens (hundreds total?) of millions and the revenue is regularly over 5 billion per year. Honestly it's not "what popular app" that's the problem, it's "what are unpopular apps supposed to do".
I still think it'd be good to de-bundle distribution fees from payment channels though.
Re: Ask HN: How is this legal that you must use Google Billing for Android apps?
#29Re: Ask HN: How is this legal that you must use Google Billing for Android apps?
#30It really sucks that we ended up with only two mobile OS's.