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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

#181

Post by sp332 »

rogerchucker wrote: post #122
sp332 wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Sorry, I don't know what you mean by "strategic goal". Maybe it's something mushy, like they want to make users feel more confident about what they're getting when they go to the App Store. Or maybe it's just about making metric boatloads of money!

Apple's MacOS runs on a very limited set of hardware. iOS runs on even less hardware. There are very few customization options for the hardware - the iPhone only comes in black or white, for example. And they decide what apps to sell on iPhones. Apple constantly makes decisions that their customers have to live with, sacrificing individuality or personal determination to suit some self-styled tastemakers at Apple.

The result? They have more money than Microsoft and Google combined! I don't buy Apple stuff, I just don't care for it. But to answer your question: yes, it obviously makes "business sense".

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

#182

Post by gte910h »

Inufu wrote: post #116
gte910h wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Instead, the rationale from Apple and defended by you and others is that it is better to make the entire app 17+ Yes, then parents can give the device to children, turn on whatever restrictions based on those ratings, and have it work, even if the kid is trying to get around it by doing all those things. This is not only intended to defeat 5 year olds, but 14 year olds. If 500px would prefer to turn that switch off…

You don't seriously believe that any age restrictions are able to prevent a 14 year from seeing whatever porn he/she wants? Or whatever else. Sure, they might make the process a bit annoying, but in the end it's always possible to simply jailbreak the device. (not to mention that most 14 year olds know more about technology than their parents)

It will prevent a lot of 14 year olds, not all of them for sure.

Either way, Apples goal is to make the stock software prevent it.

Also: iOS6.0 JUST got a JB. 6.1 is about to drop

I am a realist: I think parents will often care. Many others won't.

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

#183

Post by gte910h »

anthonyb wrote: post #115
gte910h wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Instead, the rationale from Apple and defended by you and others is that it is better to make the entire app 17+ Yes, then parents can give the device to children, turn on whatever restrictions based on those ratings, and have it work, even if the kid is trying to get around it by doing all those things. This is not only intended to defeat 5 year olds, but 14 year olds. If 500px would prefer to turn that switch off…

What's the rating on the iOS web browser? 17+? Presumably your hypothetical 4 and 14 year olds would have access to that too? Although I notice that several web browsers in iTunes have 17+ ratings too, so at least they're consistent, maybe. According to https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mercury-browser-fast-web-bro... You must be at least 17 years old to download this app. Frequent/Intense Sexual Content or Nudity Freq…

I did look at the picture, and intentionally picked it for humor and inclusion in my permanent HN comment history. I don't think any 4+ year old would be harmed at it, but I also think the parents of many 4+ year olds wouldn't want them bandying it about, especially in very religious communities.

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

#184

Post by gte910h »

cheald wrote: post #153
jmreid wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You restrict based on age ratings. That's the whole point of his argument. You set the rating restriction, block the communication apps, Safari, and the kid cannot go download another browser and surf. If Apple goes lax on these ratings, then those parental controls stop working.

I just set my age restrictions to "4+", and was still able to open Chrome, Twitter, Flipboard, etc. What I want is to be able to lock down certain apps so I can hand my device to my 4-year-old and know that he's not going to get into anything except the few games I have for him. Is that not possible?

When doing MDM (which is the vast majority of my experience with this), they disappear after a couple minutes or a restart. Did some apps disappear?

They reappear after you up the rating again (and annoying lose folder position, which is why I didn't just turn it back on).

If Restrictions are less powerful than MDM, then you can STILL delete the apps on a child's device.

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

#185

Post by jarek »

chii wrote: post #178
jarek wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An important category is apps which are not sold in the app store, and whose provider makes money in other ways, for example account subscriptions. 500px's is an example of such an app. I'm more than willing to believe Android users on average buy less apps than iOS users. But that just means different business models will succeed there.

i m just backseat driving here, but the fact that paid apps sell less on android is damning evidence for devs to not migrate across (or target it as the primary platform). A subscription based model is more demanding to maintain, vs a pay-once-app. You at least don't need a server to maintain subscriptions. Ditto with In app purchases (which also require you to maintain a server to keep track of who has paid for what…

For selling "just apps", subscription can definitely be not worth it. But a smartphone-app-centered business model is not the only thing that results in smartphone apps being made. My issue is with the general wording in the grandparent post, which seems to me to suggest Android isn't viable for all or most of developers overall.

If you're looking to reach users of your non-app-centric service that you're looking to provide a free app for, targetting Android is a no-brainer if your service is aimed at demographic groups in which Android has sizeable or even plurality user adoption. That's most of them, but not all.

Looking through apps on my devices (I'm one of the "cheap" Android users with zero paid apps), Flickr, Evernote, Mint.com, Opera, car2go, Skype, Starbucks, Kobo all stand out as quality apps that pay off for the developers in other ways.

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

#186

Post by nasalgoat »

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.

One key factor people aren't taking into account is that there are non-phone versions of iOS devices, namely iPod Touches, which is a giant market that Android doesn't cover.

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

#187

Post by gte910h »

cheald wrote: post #158
jmreid wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My understanding it's the app store download and install that gets blocked, not the actual running of apps. That's when you see the age-restricted warning, not when you run the app. An imperfect system for your use case, for sure. An example where multi-user iPad would be great. The whole iOS ecosystem is design with one user per device in mind. Apple ID, single user, etc.

I get that, and it's a source of much frustration. The idea of buying an iPhone for your four-year old strikes me as lunacy. These things are marvelous at keeping kids entertained and quiet when you're waiting at a restaurant or checking out at the grocery store, and expecting that there will only be one user of the device ever is annoyingly myopic. It also occurs to me that if you're going to gate it at install time…

My above comment might get you there.

That said: I dislike the single user nature of the devices as well. I understand WHY they do it, but dislike it personally.

Also: iPodTouch costs about $200, which is the same as a handheld gaming handset from the likes of nintendo, etc, especially when looking at the different costs of games.

The password is not good enough, because multiple iTunes accounts can be on one device, and the kid could add a gift card to buy whatever.

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

#188

Post by gte910h »

greendestiny wrote: post #107
FireBeyond wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

4+, but only shows nudity if you go to the website in a browser, create an account, verify your age, then specify that you want to be able to see "mature" images. Instead, the rationale from Apple and defended by you and others is that it is better to make the entire app 17+, and deny a whole raft of people the ability to use it, on the chance that they might do the above to "get around" the Apple rating system. It's…

Ok, but what you're really saying is its an app rated 4+ that has a mature images option. Yes its a little awkward that the settings to turn it on are only available via a website - but so what?

Parents who buy iPodTouches for their children instead of WiiU's want the parental controls to work. When their 6 year old shows their church friends boobies on their iPodTouch, they get mad and instead buy nintendo.

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

#189

Post by [deleted] »

cheald wrote: post #153
jmreid wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You restrict based on age ratings. That's the whole point of his argument. You set the rating restriction, block the communication apps, Safari, and the kid cannot go download another browser and surf. If Apple goes lax on these ratings, then those parental controls stop working.

I just set my age restrictions to "4+", and was still able to open Chrome, Twitter, Flipboard, etc. What I want is to be able to lock down certain apps so I can hand my device to my 4-year-old and know that he's not going to get into anything except the few games I have for him. Is that not possible?

[deleted]

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

#190

Post by gte910h »

anthonyb wrote: post #115
gte910h wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Instead, the rationale from Apple and defended by you and others is that it is better to make the entire app 17+ Yes, then parents can give the device to children, turn on whatever restrictions based on those ratings, and have it work, even if the kid is trying to get around it by doing all those things. This is not only intended to defeat 5 year olds, but 14 year olds. If 500px would prefer to turn that switch off…

What's the rating on the iOS web browser? 17+? Presumably your hypothetical 4 and 14 year olds would have access to that too? Although I notice that several web browsers in iTunes have 17+ ratings too, so at least they're consistent, maybe. According to https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mercury-browser-fast-web-bro... You must be at least 17 years old to download this app. Frequent/Intense Sexual Content or Nudity Freq…

The iOS web browser has it's own on/off switch in restrictions.
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