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Apple Pulls 500px’s Mobile Apps From The App Store

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Re: Apple Pulls 500px’s Mobile Apps From The App Store

#121

Post by Steko »

blindhippo wrote: post #87
megablast wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This is good in my opinion. The more the rejection, the more the developers will tend to flee away from arrogant Marketplaces like that of Apple's. It will also, in a way, probably force developers to try out other marketplaces like the Windows Phone Marketplace and the Google Play store. People have been saying this for years, and it convinced me to make my Apps available on the android app store. The result, is a…

Everything I've read to date suggests the Android user base is very different to the iOS user base. From a developer perspective, despite the enormous market share Android offers, it's users are reluctant to spend any money on software. The iOS user base on the other hand seems to attract users willing to spend money. I seriously doubt Android will be a viable platform for developers until this culture changes.

Just because the returns are lower doesn't mean it's not viable. There are plenty of Android success stories. Even Angry Birds makes more money on Android than on iOS last I heard.

One of the big challenges on Android is Google doesn't have many credit cards for Apps so right there non-free apps are in trouble. Android may have double the iOS market share but if they only have half as many credit cards their effective market share for paid apps is 1/4 their true market share. That's before you even look at customer demographics, etc.

Re: Apple Pulls 500px’s Mobile Apps From The App Store

#122

Post by rogerchucker »

sp332 wrote: post #111
rogerchucker wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And what strategic purpose does it serve Apple by "not putting things it doesn't like" in the App Store?

Apple doesn't want an app in the app store. Apple bans the app from the app store. Flawless victory! It's par for the course with Apple: unusual strategy, perfect tactics.

With all due respect, that's some priceless apologist BS. You still didn't outline the fucking strategic goal being served here with this "perfect tactic". If the course is to stay a major dick in the software world, then yes it is par for the course. But that doesn't make much business sense - does it?

Re: Apple Pulls 500px’s Mobile Apps From The App Store

#123

Post by bksenior »

neya wrote: post #30

This is good in my opinion. The more the rejection, the more the developers will tend to flee away from arrogant Marketplaces like that of Apple's. It will also, in a way, probably force developers to try out other marketplaces like the Windows Phone Marketplace and the Google Play store. Now, I do understand 500px is trying to create a uni-platform experience for its users, but now that 500px isn't allowed to publis…

Meh. It sucks that businesses like 500px have to be a marter in a bottle necked distribution environment. Its amazing enough that they built a beautiful product that people want to use, found a way to get adoption and have cultivated such a passionate users base. Now they have to go solve a tangential business that wasn't part of their vision or expertise.

Re: Apple Pulls 500px’s Mobile Apps From The App Store

#124

Post by fauigerzigerk »

ry0ohki wrote: post #76
neya wrote: post #30

This is good in my opinion. The more the rejection, the more the developers will tend to flee away from arrogant Marketplaces like that of Apple's. It will also, in a way, probably force developers to try out other marketplaces like the Windows Phone Marketplace and the Google Play store. Now, I do understand 500px is trying to create a uni-platform experience for its users, but now that 500px isn't allowed to publis…

Developers go where the users go (and pay). Until the Windows and Android stores start bringing devs the same type of money, it's still always worth it to "take the risk" of Apple's store. The only way I see this changing is if users themselves cared about an app being pulled, and this app doesn't seem big enough for people to care (maybe if Instagram was taken down).

Most developers go where users go, most of the time, until some of them have a reason not to. Luckily for those who don't always follow the money, demand sometimes follows supply instead of the other way around.

Re: Apple Pulls 500px’s Mobile Apps From The App Store

#125

Post by joshtynjala »

schoper wrote: post #96
joebadmo wrote: post #42

A few years ago, I was in a big box store and overheard a young (~10y/o) child and his mother picking out a new video game. The kid excitedly picked up a box and asked his mom if he could get that one. She checked out the cover, then started reading the rating. "Rated 'mature' for sexual content? No way!" "Aw, man! Ok, how about this one?" "Rated 'mature' for extreme graphic violence? Well... ok."

The woman was right. Depictions of sex have huge individual and cultural repercussions. Depictions of violence have little to no effect on all but the most borderline of individuals. Porn can really make your life worse. Violence on TV ain't going to.

This sounds more accurate to me: Depictions of sex have little to no effect on all but the most borderline of individuals. Depictions of violence have little to no effect on all but the most borderline of individuals.

Re: Apple Pulls 500px’s Mobile Apps From The App Store

#126

Post by analog »

sp332 wrote: post #63
analog wrote: post #25

This is beyond ridiculous. And I know that what Apple is doing doesn't breach any laws, but imo it should be illegal in the same way that MS bundling IE breached anti-trust laws. Personally I'm going to try Android when it comes time to replace my iPhone.

You can't get angry at someone else for not letting you sell stuff in their store. https://xkcd.com/1150/

I don't sell apps. I own a piece of hardware. Apple restricts the software I can run on the hardware that I own.

We would all be better off if Apple did not do this.

Re: Apple Pulls 500px’s Mobile Apps From The App Store

#127

Post by IheartApplesDix »

megablast wrote: post #61
neya wrote: post #30

This is good in my opinion. The more the rejection, the more the developers will tend to flee away from arrogant Marketplaces like that of Apple's. It will also, in a way, probably force developers to try out other marketplaces like the Windows Phone Marketplace and the Google Play store. Now, I do understand 500px is trying to create a uni-platform experience for its users, but now that 500px isn't allowed to publis…

> This is good in my opinion. The more the rejection, the more the developers will tend to flee away from arrogant Marketplaces like that of Apple's. It will also, in a way, probably force developers to try out other marketplaces like the Windows Phone Marketplace and the Google Play store. People have been saying this for years, and it convinced me to make my Apps available on the android app store. The result, is a…

Why get an education and work hard, stand up for my principles and all that garbage when I can just go work the corner?

Re: Apple Pulls 500px’s Mobile Apps From The App Store

#128

Post by anthonyb »

Steko wrote: post #112
anthonyb wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a fair question, and not downvotable imo, especially considering that john/megablast's profile is out of date. There's a history of people who produce Android versions of their software which aren't anywhere near as polished as the iOS one. If that's the case, then of course nobody's going to pay for it. If you have two versions which are more or less identical, that's different.

As you've framed it, it's a loaded question that assumes the author is a moron who somehow expects a half-assed port to produce equal returns. Reasonable people can presume he has an idea of the quality of his own Android app and managed his expectations accordingly and yet he was disappointed. This is not a new story nor does is contradict the vast majority of data points we have.

You're exaggerating my position, but yes, I've seen quite a few cases where developers have produced an Android app late and/or as an afterthought and, surprise, it hasn't done as well as the iOS version.

Here's one from 6 days ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5066305

Re: Apple Pulls 500px’s Mobile Apps From The App Store

#129

Post by mikeash »

taligent wrote: post #110
mikeash wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And then you do something as seemingly innocent as querying the NSComputer image on a Mac, sending it over the network, and showing it on an iPhone, and Apple rejects you. It's great that you've had no trouble, but please don't extrapolate that into a belief that there is no trouble.

At what point did I ever say there was no trouble ? There will always be people who try and get around the rules. Including using Apple's artwork without permission.

It's not "using Apple's artwork without permission." There's a public API for obtaining this stuff, and all we did is send the result across the network. Note that Apple agreed with us... eventually.

You did essentially say that Apple's review process is not a problem as long as you actually follow the rules, which is simply not true.

Re: Apple Pulls 500px’s Mobile Apps From The App Store

#130

Post by interpol_p »

w1ntermute wrote: post #36
neya wrote: post #30

This is good in my opinion. The more the rejection, the more the developers will tend to flee away from arrogant Marketplaces like that of Apple's. It will also, in a way, probably force developers to try out other marketplaces like the Windows Phone Marketplace and the Google Play store. Now, I do understand 500px is trying to create a uni-platform experience for its users, but now that 500px isn't allowed to publis…

> More and more developers will start (slowly, but surely) to neglect Apple's Appstore by default due to the fear of the ridiculous approval process and the uncertainty that their development efforts for the iOS platform may go a waste, because they have seen the history of popular apps like 500px and others. I really hope this happens, but it seems so far that people are more than happy to put up with Apple's dracon…

I like Apple's draconian policy. Not all of their policy, but sometimes it's just appropriate for them to keep developers in line.

For example, about two years ago we released an app for a running event in our state. It used background GPS events to record the runners' locations on a map. Gave them stats and all that.

Apple rejected it because we didn't prominently warn users that background GPS could affect their battery life. This was a good change, that we would not have made, had Apple not reviewed our app.

Sometimes it feels like developers think they have an inherent right to pollute whatever platform they want with their apps, just because they can write code.

If anything, I think Apple is not strict enough. There's a lot of crap on the App Store. And I say this as someone who has had apps rejected a ton of times, and would seriously benefit from being able to include downloadable code and a JIT interpreter in my app (both disallowed).

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