341–350 of 414 posts
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I am curious why would Google be in trouble with antitrust ?
Because they dominate search with their PageRank algorithm, they are a huge email provider, online calendar provider, among other services.
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"It seems like Apple is doing that as a way to kill competition and promote their own watch, which is fair from a business standpoint." It's nowhere near fair. It's extremely anticompetitive. This is the kind of behavior that gets a company in trouble with the FTC.
Exactly. Business isn't a no-holds-barred anything goes anarchy. It's not because we have some free trade that there are no rules what so ever. Abusing a stranglehold or monopoly will eventually draw the ire of regulators. Just ask Microsoft or the EU. What is and isn't OK is something that will probably be decided in court. I hope this kind of anti-competitive measures do get some kind of regulation in the app-store…
> Abusing a stranglehold or monopoly
Apple has a "stranglehold" on what exactly? I think you're just using hyperbolic words.
> I hope this kind of anti-competitive measures do get some kind of regulation
How about a little patience instead? How about not buying Apple products? Let's get the pitchforks out and demand the government punish these companies because they're inconveniencing us, or give it enough time and let consumers sort it out. Look what happened with Internet Explorer. Does it dominate the market anymore?
I am no lawyer, but this sounds like an antitrust lawsuit waiting to happen. Apple, IMO, should not be allowed to monopolize their platform in this way.
Should Walmart, who has 100% market share of people walking in a Walmart right now, have control over what is on their shelves? Should Disney have control over what stores are on Disney Main St.? iPhones are not the only choice, so if you don't like how they work, you can choose not to buy them (because they have significant competition). The reason there are laws that limit monopoly behavior is because you wouldn't…
you can have pebble smartwatch support... you just cant use "support for pebble smartwatch" in your metadata that shows in the app store. you could say "support for various smartwatches"
stop being lying idiots.
Until this happens again I would suspect this is just a mistake by whoever reviewed the app for Apple.
> We noticed that your app or its metadata contains irrelevant platform information in the app. Providing future platform compatibility plans, or other platform references, is not appropriate for the App Store.
> Specifically, your app and app description declare support for the Pebble Smartwatch.
It is pretty clear that the reviewer believed that the App was _also_ available for the Pebble Smartwatch, not that the iPhone app supported the Pebble as a peripheral, usable only if you have the app on your phone[1]. On that basis the app was rejected. I understand that the appeal process may be difficult, etc., but let's not get carried away with the idea that this is some grand plan by Apple to kill off all watch-like peripherals.
[1] The peripheral relationship is quite clear, from the FAQ [2]
> The Pebble Smartwatch and your iPhone and iPad need to be paired over Bluetooth to work together. This connection works over quite a range, 100ft (30m) in our testing but can sometimes drop. If the SeaNav watch face should disappear you will need to re-pair your Pebble with your iPhone/iPad.
[2] https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1eOuyVQ4_VNJ4PKqybr62...
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Apple doesn't have control of the smart phone (or phone) market. Having control of the iPhone market is not considered monopolistic.
In antitrust cases, much of the game is in delineating the bounds of the relevant market. Apple would argue for it being really wide, as you have done. One of the other comments here argues for it being "the market for iOS apps", which is far narrower, and seems way too narrow to me. If Apple built the device, and the OS, and the marketplace, of course they're going to have a monopoly there. Just like Walmart has a m…
I'm not sure that this is as innocent as it might sound. Walmart exercises plenty of market power, unethically if not illegally, to make sure that it has a monopoly on some of the things it sells. (By way of comparison, would you expect that, say, Target of course has a monopoly on things sold there? Maybe you would, and I've misunderstood your language.)
A good reminder of what it would be like if we lived in a world where there is no Android and iOS is a monopoly. Apple's anti competitive behavior puts Microsoft of the 90s to shame.
Nowhere near...
From the forum comments, this is new behavior. It seems connected to Apple entering Pebble's space with their new Apple Watch. The existing Terms of Service about competing platforms is now being interpreted to consider Pebble a competing platform. The developer appealed and Apple told them that they specifically can't mention Pebble anywhere in their app description or metadata. Other developers have confirmed that…
Can you provide links to other cases where Apple has been restrictive about this?
It's a bit tricky. I agree with most comments here that Apple is in the right to control what appear in the description and metadata. Not just from a competitive standpoint but in a way to make the it better for the user experience. That being said, in the Pebble case, I think it makes the user experience worst for the user. I.e. if I have a pebble watch and am looking for an iphone app that play well with it, I'd wa…
I would much rather go to a web site that specialized in covering Pebble apps. The rankings, reviews and comments would be more relevant to my interests. Even simply doing a web search can provide this type of information. Why does the AppStore need to be cluttered with it?
5 years ago the AppStore was like a Walmart or Target -- big store with lots of items for sale but not so big that you can't walk around and find what you want. Today the AppStore is more like a big mega mall. If you know what type of item you want it's a waste of time to just randomly walk around browsing hoping to stumble on to it.
It's a bit tricky. I agree with most comments here that Apple is in the right to control what appear in the description and metadata. Not just from a competitive standpoint but in a way to make the it better for the user experience. That being said, in the Pebble case, I think it makes the user experience worst for the user. I.e. if I have a pebble watch and am looking for an iphone app that play well with it, I'd wa…
"I got tired of that 2 years ago and switched to android, haven't looked back since." And you just made my decision easier.
I think consumers need more choice!