Apple needs to be heavily taxed and regulated into operating their devices like general computers free of their authoritarianism
Apple okays Epic Games marketplace app in Europe
11–20 of 285 posts
Re: Apple okays Epic Games marketplace app in Europe
#12Although this is good news, Epic will still have to pay Apples Core Technology Fee. For most developers this will be a deal breaker, because it also applies to free software which most of the time is only supported by donations.
Unity got raked over the coals for this. Real shame Apple more or less got away with it with its ransom bekng to stay inside the walled garden.
> Unity got raked over the coals for this.
It's kind of crazy, because all of the super high numbers and companies that said they'd go bankrupt were looking at the Personal tier, which basically acted as a sales funnel towards the Pro tier, where the prices would not be as outrageous, even in the original version of the Runtime Fee: https://blog.kronis.dev/articles/unity-runtime-fee-a-look-at... (under "How bad is it, really?")
Of course, they since revised it so my article isn't relevant anymore, but if you look at the platform fee cost per install, then it becomes quite obvious and the initial pushback didn't seem to take this into account: https://blog.kronis.dev/images/1/6/-/f/e/16-fee-per-install-...
Aside from that, though, I guess companies will always try to take a part of the profits that anything offered through their platforms generates (Apple's App Store, Google's Play Store, Valve's Steam etc.). It's good to see things improving at least somewhat, though, since we can't express a lot of progress overnight.
Re: Apple okays Epic Games marketplace app in Europe
#13Although this is good news, Epic will still have to pay Apples Core Technology Fee. For most developers this will be a deal breaker, because it also applies to free software which most of the time is only supported by donations.
Unity got raked over the coals for this. Real shame Apple more or less got away with it with its ransom bekng to stay inside the walled garden.
Unity got raked over the coals for *retroactively* changing the licensing fees for developers in a way that negatively impacted a common existing business model amongst their customers.
It’s fair to not like the Apple fees but the scenario isn’t equivalent.
One was a rug pull. If they did that all along it wouldn’t have been as big an issue.
Re: Apple okays Epic Games marketplace app in Europe
#14Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Real shame Apple more or less got away with it with its ransom bekng to stay inside the walled garden. Given with how much Apple got away for years, I am not surprised. Either many people don’t have particularly much insight or a severe case of Stockholm syndrome. What bothers me the most is apples double dipping. You as the consumer basically pay a fee for apples technology. And then they expect the developers to…
That's what infuriates me about this discourse. "Do you want Apple to continue to develop stuff and just provide it to developers for free?". iPhone sales alone are 3x Apple's entire R&D spend. And developers pay more than fair share of that because they need at least two devices (an iPhone and a Mac) if they want to develop anything, and a yearly fee. Apple doesn't just double dip. It triple dips, and wants to quadr…
Why can’t a business be built solely without giving Apple a dime? The web is free — as in freedom and as in gratis. It has a developer tools system funded by hundreds of companies, developers and community members.
There’s hardly any order of dipping, if any.
Why doesn’t the web compete away Apple’s “dips”?
Re: Apple okays Epic Games marketplace app in Europe
#15Although this is good news, Epic will still have to pay Apples Core Technology Fee. For most developers this will be a deal breaker, because it also applies to free software which most of the time is only supported by donations.
For now, Apple has been found non-compliant with DMA and will probably have to remove it.
Re: Apple okays Epic Games marketplace app in Europe
#16Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's what infuriates me about this discourse. "Do you want Apple to continue to develop stuff and just provide it to developers for free?". iPhone sales alone are 3x Apple's entire R&D spend. And developers pay more than fair share of that because they need at least two devices (an iPhone and a Mac) if they want to develop anything, and a yearly fee. Apple doesn't just double dip. It triple dips, and wants to quadr…
Why can’t a business be built solely without giving Apple a dime? The web is free — as in freedom and as in gratis. It has a developer tools system funded by hundreds of companies, developers and community members. There’s hardly any order of dipping, if any. Why doesn’t the web compete away Apple’s “dips”?
> Why doesn’t the web compete away Apple’s “dips”?
Because the web sucks at building apps? Because the web can barely render a few lines of text and several images without lag and jank? Because the web lacks useful and powerful primitives and controls to build anything but the most primitive UIs? Because...
Re: Apple okays Epic Games marketplace app in Europe
#17Although this is good news, Epic will still have to pay Apples Core Technology Fee. For most developers this will be a deal breaker, because it also applies to free software which most of the time is only supported by donations.
> For most developers this will be a deal breaker, because it also applies to free software which most of the time is only supported by donations
If the app is taking donations or any sort of payment, then the Core Technology Fee applies after 1 million first installs in a year. If it’s a completely free app, this fee does not apply. This fee also does not apply for educational institutions, nonprofits, and government agencies (with a fee waiver).
Quoting from “ Understanding the Core Technology Fee for iOS apps in the European Union” [1]:
> Developers whose apps do not surpass one million first annual installs per year and nonprofits, educational institutions, and government entities with an Apple Developer Program fee waiver do not pay the CTF. The CTF is also not required for developers with a no revenue business that offer free apps without monetization.
[1]: https://developer.apple.com/support/core-technology-fee/
Re: Apple okays Epic Games marketplace app in Europe
#18That third party app stores are subject to review by apple is a problem in itself.
one step at a time. Bureaucracies and regulators move slow but it seems pretty evident that the wind is at least blowing into the correct direction this time. Might take another five years or so but in a lot of regions it seems like the control over devices and software is slowly breaking down. India, Japan, SK all have similar regulation passed or on the way.
> similar regulation passed or on the way.
With exclusions that suit them. As you say, the wind is blowing the right way, it would be nice to see but console games get the same treatment.
Re: Apple okays Epic Games marketplace app in Europe
#19That third party app stores are subject to review by apple is a problem in itself.
It's Apple blatantly violating the Digital Markets Act, because it thinks it is above the law (and to be fair, in the USA, it is). The EU has acknowledged this and is currently preparing a truly massive punishment for Apple. Apple, being unaccustomed to having rules apply to it, seems to be ignoring this.
Re: Apple okays Epic Games marketplace app in Europe
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's what infuriates me about this discourse. "Do you want Apple to continue to develop stuff and just provide it to developers for free?". iPhone sales alone are 3x Apple's entire R&D spend. And developers pay more than fair share of that because they need at least two devices (an iPhone and a Mac) if they want to develop anything, and a yearly fee. Apple doesn't just double dip. It triple dips, and wants to quadr…
Why can’t a business be built solely without giving Apple a dime? The web is free — as in freedom and as in gratis. It has a developer tools system funded by hundreds of companies, developers and community members. There’s hardly any order of dipping, if any. Why doesn’t the web compete away Apple’s “dips”?
Because Apple limits the viability of non-native apps on its mobile devices? Same reason it refused to allow Flash. It wants you to stay in the walled garden with the expensive fees.