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Apple rejecting applications which use Dropbox

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Re: Apple rejecting applications which use Dropbox

#171

Post by ajasmin »

starnix17 wrote: post #42

I had a simliar rejection because of my app's Rdio integration. If the user had Rdio installed, my app would open the song in the Rdio native app. If the user didn't have the app installed, my app would open the song on the Rdio web site in MobileSafari. Apple didn't like this since you could purchase an Rdio subscription on that webpage bypassing the IAP and Apple's 30% cut.

As I understand it Dropbox can work around the issue by presenting a plain login form (without any links) to its iOS users.

Re: Apple rejecting applications which use Dropbox

#172

Post by jsz0 »

I'm usually inclined to believe Apple has some good reasons for doing what they do but this seems like it's crossing the line. The built-in functionality of iOS and the Apple ecosystem is fantastic, and it's understandable they are given precedence, but if they are to so severely limit third party applications access to alternative services it would make iOS practically unusable for anyone outside of the Apple ecosystem. As much as I like iOS I really can't continue using it if I am unable to access DropBox in applications especially since there's no easy way to simply download the file from DropBox and edit it locally. Hopefully someone at Apple realizes this pretty much kills their platform. Cloud storage of different types are only going to become more important. (benefit of the doubt: Perhaps iOS6 has either DropBox integration or some other cloud storage abstraction and Apple wants to start discouraging developers from using a deprecated method of accessing DropBox. If so they should just come out and say it.)

Re: Apple rejecting applications which use Dropbox

#173

Post by nalal »

tptacek wrote: post #158
zaroth wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here, let me help you with that ;-) No tying arrangement can exist here unless there is a sufficient demand for the purchase of cloud storage separate from a smartphone OS to identify a distinct product market in which it is efficient to offer cloud storage separately from the smartphone OS. The fact that the exclusive contract requires purchase of two services that would otherwise be purchased separately does not ma…

Right, but they're not forced to purchase Apple's services; just like the patients at the hospital who have no choice of anasthesiologists, Apple customers can simply select a different vendor.

I'm not a lawyer but I play one on internet message boards.

Re: Apple rejecting applications which use Dropbox

#174

Post by creamyhorror »

cooldeal wrote: post #102
ChuckMcM wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately, Google is probably not capable of exploiting these mini-resentments and I don't think anybody else is either. I'd love to hear more about that. This is my reasoning on why I think there is an opportunity there: Lets say (patent issues not withstanding), you created an exact clone of the iPad and iOS and sold it at the same price but without the 30% 'apple tax' on purchases. It seems reasonable to assum…

>so it would get more apps, and the platform would outsell Apple's iPad with its constraints. Apple has that covered. You cannot make your services cheaper on other platforms. You have to charge atleast what you charge iOS users for the same service. This is to prevent the success of alternative app stores that will take only 20% or 5% cut. The new ecosystem won't take off because the existing developers cannot affor…

So I can't charge less for an Android app equivalent to one that I'm selling for iOS? That boggles the mind, and it seems pretty anticompetitive to me. It's almost a means of strongarming their way to prime network dominance.

Surely in a world where the network effect rules and the stakes (the global marketplace) are so high, we shouldn't allow networks to entrench themselves too easily? Else we'd just have a behemoth in each sector, probably the same few companies even.

Re: Apple rejecting applications which use Dropbox

#175

Post by elithrar »

recoiledsnake wrote: post #94
fufulabs wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But in this case, the town is not 90% of the geography. Last i heard Google's town is bigger and there is also RIM Town (mass exodus happening there), a new WP7 town (lots of airport signs) and a few others around.

Interesting, because the comments on other HN posts read like "There is no tablet market, there is only an iPad market", "Apple makes 80% of the money in the cell phone market, Apple is the only one making any money", "If you want to make money selling apps, the App Store is the best since it has the paying customers, Android is full of cheapskate freeloaders who want your app for free and install adblock". With the…

> Now it's kind of funny to see some of the same people make the argument in comments here that Apple has no significant marketshare or dominance of anything

> "Apple makes 80% of the money in the cell phone market, Apple is the only one making any money"

Making the majority of the profits is not a monopoly in the Microsoft Windows sense, which I assume is what we're talking about here. iOS does not have that in the handset market (esp. if you include Symbian!), and the tablet market is very young.

Re: Apple rejecting applications which use Dropbox

#176

Post by cageface »

nupark2 wrote: post #170
davepeck wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's awful, and it's painful for everyone -- not just those using the DropBox APIs. The origins of these clauses are with iBooks and the Kindle app for iOS. I wrote about it in a recent blog post: http://davepeck.org/2011/11/04/kindle-clauses/

In terms of UX and as a consumer, I'd rather the Dropbox API not open a browser or even another app. That is not the best UX, it doesn't provide a security advantage, and it's simply not being done to benefit the consumer. This may not be Apple's primary rational for rejecting these apps, but I'm glad they're doing it. As for the payment question, simply in terms of UX and as a consumer, I want only one payment provi…

I'd rather Apple give developers the choice and let user preference sort it out.

In the long run the open market always wins.

Re: Apple rejecting applications which use Dropbox

#177

Post by clarky07 »

politician wrote: post #165
Retric wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no contradiction, Apple 'owns' the high end market where people actually pay for apps. But, as a percentage of overall phone / tablet OS there well under 40% so it's hard to call them a monopoly.

So... they have a monopoly on the end of the market where there is money? Why is this a distinction?

because if linux had 60% marketshare and ms had "all the paying customers" nobody would have had a problem with the things they did. just because Apple's competitors don't know how to make money doesn't mean they don't have competition.

Re: Apple rejecting applications which use Dropbox

#178

Post by nupark2 »

cageface wrote: post #176
nupark2 wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In terms of UX and as a consumer, I'd rather the Dropbox API not open a browser or even another app. That is not the best UX, it doesn't provide a security advantage, and it's simply not being done to benefit the consumer. This may not be Apple's primary rational for rejecting these apps, but I'm glad they're doing it. As for the payment question, simply in terms of UX and as a consumer, I want only one payment provi…

I'd rather Apple give developers the choice and let user preference sort it out. In the long run the open market always wins.

In the long run the open market doesn't behave independently rational and doesn't 'win' anything -- it simply is.

If Apple wasn't forcing the larger industry to learn how to turn a profit by putting users first, the market would simply saturate the app store with whatever existent concepts are popular today.

Remember, prior to iOS, the Mac OS X market was both cry user friendly and very insular. Now, iOS has gone mainstream, but Apple's user-friendly focus hasn't (yet?).

Of course, your open market does still exist -- users can choose Android, which thrives on the notion of 'user choice'.

Re: Apple rejecting applications which use Dropbox

#179

Post by wanion »

cooldeal wrote: post #102
ChuckMcM wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately, Google is probably not capable of exploiting these mini-resentments and I don't think anybody else is either. I'd love to hear more about that. This is my reasoning on why I think there is an opportunity there: Lets say (patent issues not withstanding), you created an exact clone of the iPad and iOS and sold it at the same price but without the 30% 'apple tax' on purchases. It seems reasonable to assum…

>so it would get more apps, and the platform would outsell Apple's iPad with its constraints. Apple has that covered. You cannot make your services cheaper on other platforms. You have to charge atleast what you charge iOS users for the same service. This is to prevent the success of alternative app stores that will take only 20% or 5% cut. The new ecosystem won't take off because the existing developers cannot affor…

It's nothing so sinister as that. It's actually more simple: they're protecting their own users from being ripped off, by being charged a premium because they're iOS users. It has some negative effects but as a user it makes you feel safer buying something through an app if you know you're not being charged more than you would if you did it through the same supplier's website.

Re: Apple rejecting applications which use Dropbox

#180

Post by zzleeper »

Retric wrote: post #125
recoiledsnake wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting, because the comments on other HN posts read like "There is no tablet market, there is only an iPad market", "Apple makes 80% of the money in the cell phone market, Apple is the only one making any money", "If you want to make money selling apps, the App Store is the best since it has the paying customers, Android is full of cheapskate freeloaders who want your app for free and install adblock". With the…

There is no contradiction, Apple 'owns' the high end market where people actually pay for apps. But, as a percentage of overall phone / tablet OS there well under 40% so it's hard to call them a monopoly.

BTW, in antitrust terms, they do have a monopoly in that segment, and could be charged for abusive practices.
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