Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Apple splits App Store team in two, introduces new leadership

arstechnica.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 84 posts

Re: Apple splits App Store team in two, introduces new leadership

#21

Post by vanchor3 »

dnag wrote: post #5

Since we're here I have a suggestion to offer. When submitting your mobile app to the App Store there is a checkbox/option somewhere asking you to if you want to distribute the app to Mac as well. DO NOT do that. If enough people do that we'll end up having a Mac app store walled garden powerful enough to extract its 30% tax.

So what's the alternative then? Because when developers uncheck this box I have to go through the trouble of decrypting the IPA and sideloading it, and I usually just end up not bothering to use the app at all.

Re: Apple splits App Store team in two, introduces new leadership

#22

Post by bogwog »

Miraste wrote: post #17
spogbiper wrote: post #2

Interesting that they are creating a separate team just for the EU app store, presumably because the EU is forcing Apple to make some changes. It seems like the investigations in the US, UK, Japan, etc will eventually lead to them being required to make similar changes everywhere.

It's unlikely that the US will force Apple to make EU-style changes. It's been 26 years since the DOJ went after Microsoft and lost, and corporate regulation has only grown weaker.

Have you been following the news on this topic lately? Antitrust enforcement has had a huge resurgence under Biden, and it's actually looking like Google may get broken up soon. See: https://www.theverge.com/2024/8/11/24216760/google-trial-mon...

Re: Apple splits App Store team in two, introduces new leadership

#23

Post by jrochkind1 »

dnag wrote: post #5

Since we're here I have a suggestion to offer. When submitting your mobile app to the App Store there is a checkbox/option somewhere asking you to if you want to distribute the app to Mac as well. DO NOT do that. If enough people do that we'll end up having a Mac app store walled garden powerful enough to extract its 30% tax.

After Authy discontinued their Mac app, there was a several month period where I could install the iOS app on my Mac laptop to keep using it anyway.

It stopped being installable a few weeks ago, presumably because they unchecked this box. (I bit the bullet and started paying for 1password and using it for my TOTP needs, btw)

As a MacOS user, if you have only an iOS app and not a MacOS app, why not allow Macs to run it too? You're suggesting that if enough people allow iOS apps to be installed on Mac, MacOS will stop allowing you install apps from anything but the app store? That seems unlikely to me. If you have a Mac app and choose not to distribute it via app store, that's fine though.

Re: Apple splits App Store team in two, introduces new leadership

#24

Post by solardev »

drexlspivey wrote: post #18
Miraste wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even worse, a lack of software and market penetration on the Mac App Store is the only thing stopping Apple from disabling non-App-Store applications on Macs like they do on iOS. They've already implemented the technical side of it under the guise of "security."

That's the only thing stoping Apple? Not the fact that if they did that every mac out there would become unusable?

I wonder how many people this actually applies to. Is it primarily developers who need non-app store software?

Is there still a sizable number of people using Macs for other work (like school or design) like in the old days?

Re: Apple splits App Store team in two, introduces new leadership

#25

Post by vlovich123 »

dnag wrote: post #5

Since we're here I have a suggestion to offer. When submitting your mobile app to the App Store there is a checkbox/option somewhere asking you to if you want to distribute the app to Mac as well. DO NOT do that. If enough people do that we'll end up having a Mac app store walled garden powerful enough to extract its 30% tax.

Doesn’t the EU’s DMA fix this?

Re: Apple splits App Store team in two, introduces new leadership

#26

Post by dns_snek »

Miraste wrote: post #13
dnag wrote: post #5

Since we're here I have a suggestion to offer. When submitting your mobile app to the App Store there is a checkbox/option somewhere asking you to if you want to distribute the app to Mac as well. DO NOT do that. If enough people do that we'll end up having a Mac app store walled garden powerful enough to extract its 30% tax.

Even worse, a lack of software and market penetration on the Mac App Store is the only thing stopping Apple from disabling non-App-Store applications on Macs like they do on iOS. They've already implemented the technical side of it under the guise of "security."

They've gone further than that, they're now trying to make independent app developers look incompetent and shady by falsely claiming that the app is "damaged" [1][2] and the only way to get around it is to run some scary-looking commands in the terminal [3].

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41306678

[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41310844

[3] https://github.com/zen-browser/desktop/issues/53

Re: Apple splits App Store team in two, introduces new leadership

#27

Post by danaris »

dnag wrote: post #5

Since we're here I have a suggestion to offer. When submitting your mobile app to the App Store there is a checkbox/option somewhere asking you to if you want to distribute the app to Mac as well. DO NOT do that. If enough people do that we'll end up having a Mac app store walled garden powerful enough to extract its 30% tax.

That....really doesn't follow.

If it were "when you submit your app for notarization, there's a checkbox to distribute it through the App Store", then that would be valid. But the Mac App Store doesn't become "more powerful" just for having a crapload of iOS apps you can install from it on your Mac and run through Catalyst. It would become "more powerful" if fewer Mac apps were distributed by other channels.

That checkbox does absolutely nothing for or against that. You are advocating for developers to reduce their own reach, and users to lose a minor piece of utility, for zero gain.

Re: Apple splits App Store team in two, introduces new leadership

#28

Post by nickstinemates »

dnag wrote: post #5

Since we're here I have a suggestion to offer. When submitting your mobile app to the App Store there is a checkbox/option somewhere asking you to if you want to distribute the app to Mac as well. DO NOT do that. If enough people do that we'll end up having a Mac app store walled garden powerful enough to extract its 30% tax.

Or get rid of your iphone and mac's.

Re: Apple splits App Store team in two, introduces new leadership

#29

Post by lolinder »

bogwog wrote: post #22
Miraste wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's unlikely that the US will force Apple to make EU-style changes. It's been 26 years since the DOJ went after Microsoft and lost, and corporate regulation has only grown weaker.

Have you been following the news on this topic lately? Antitrust enforcement has had a huge resurgence under Biden, and it's actually looking like Google may get broken up soon. See: https://www.theverge.com/2024/8/11/24216760/google-trial-mon...

What Google's rivals want and what this judge ends up deciding to do and what actually gets enforced in the end are three entirely different things.

Re: Apple splits App Store team in two, introduces new leadership

#30

Post by peppertree »

lapcat wrote: post #16

The entire App Store is still within the marketing department, which is all you need to know about how the App Store is run. This reorganization is internal to marketing, and the leaders are all part of that team.

Can you site any references to back that up? AppStore came out of iTunes and has always been part of services under Eddy Cue.
Post reply on HN