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Developers Complain as App Store Feature Promotes Rip-Off Apps

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Re: Developers Complain as App Store Feature Promotes Rip-Off Apps

#11

Post by gfxgirl »

interpol_p wrote: post #7
leppr wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There is no business sense to enabling the current trial mechanism Apple doesn't take their 30% cut on subscriptions?

Why throw away the user trust they have earned in the App Store for the short-term profit of subscription scams? There's no business sense there The trust they have in their brand is worth far more. And they are allowing it to erode by featuring scam apps and by providing a subscription mechanism which is easy to abuse

I suspect the user will not blame Apple, they'll blame the app. So Apple gets its 30% with no repercussions.

A different problem, I'm sad about all the subscription for apps that shouldn't have one. I get Netflix having a subscription, I'm paying for new movies and bandwidth. But, I wanted a DB meter app. Every one the app store promoted was ~$6 a month or $20 a year. Nothing will change on the app, there's zero reason those apps should be a subscription. AFAIK, the ratings system is gamed as I find it hard to believe 1000s of people would rate a DB meter app, nor give it 5 stars for such a ridiculous subscription. This is also Apple's problem AFAICT, allowing fake reviews (same problem Amazon has)

Re: Developers Complain as App Store Feature Promotes Rip-Off Apps

#12

Post by john_moscow »

nodejs_rulez_1 wrote: post #9
pipthepixie wrote: post #4

There is a paradox with app stores in that they play the gatekeeper and can arbitrarily not allow certain apps, remove them, or enforce certain rules on what types of apps are allowed, but then also permit all sorts of shenanigans such as this. The developers of these types of apps are just pushing the envelope of what's allowed until they're called out and formal complaints are made to the app store gatekeepers. The…

Like any unregulated capitalism they will do everything to maximise profit. They get profit regardless of whether the original or the copy is being purchased. They get profit if a user gets scammed through in-app purchases.

Only because they are monopolies for the corresponding platforms. If customers could choose between smaller stores using different moderation strategies, the forces of competition would have found an optimal solution very fast.

Re: Developers Complain as App Store Feature Promotes Rip-Off Apps

#13

Post by dehrmann »

Paid app store promotions border on racketeering. I just searched for "zoom" on my iPhone. Top result is the "YouStar" voice chat app. Google does this, too. It's essentially saying "you wouldn't want someone looking for your app to find your competitor, would you?" It's essentially a protection racket.

Re: Developers Complain as App Store Feature Promotes Rip-Off Apps

#14

Post by pieno »

nodejs_rulez_1 wrote: post #9
pipthepixie wrote: post #4

There is a paradox with app stores in that they play the gatekeeper and can arbitrarily not allow certain apps, remove them, or enforce certain rules on what types of apps are allowed, but then also permit all sorts of shenanigans such as this. The developers of these types of apps are just pushing the envelope of what's allowed until they're called out and formal complaints are made to the app store gatekeepers. The…

Like any unregulated capitalism they will do everything to maximise profit. They get profit regardless of whether the original or the copy is being purchased. They get profit if a user gets scammed through in-app purchases.

I really don’t think Apple is consciously allowing these apps because they get profit either way. They’re very well aware that the long term success and profits of the App Store and the Apple ecosystem are based on users’ trust and frictionless experiences. In fact, Apple guidelines stressed pretty early on in the app store’s life (2010) that “we don’t need any more fart apps” in the App Store. I really don’t believe that they would risk their brand and image being affected by a very short-term focus on 30% commission on some scammy apps.

Also, more generally, even if this was conscious behaviour by Apple, I don’t think this really linked to “unregulated capitalism”. In any economic/political system you will find that some people serve their own interests while harming others or the public interest. Whether those “own interests” are amassing money, assets, power, access to goods/services or anything else deemed “valuable” in that system does not chance the dynamics of that basic conflict of interests which will cause trouble in any system. I’m afraid that’s human nature and there’s no system that can fully align those interests or avoid the negative effects of conflicts of interest.

Re: Developers Complain as App Store Feature Promotes Rip-Off Apps

#15

Post by [deleted] »

john_moscow wrote: post #12
nodejs_rulez_1 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like any unregulated capitalism they will do everything to maximise profit. They get profit regardless of whether the original or the copy is being purchased. They get profit if a user gets scammed through in-app purchases.

Only because they are monopolies for the corresponding platforms. If customers could choose between smaller stores using different moderation strategies, the forces of competition would have found an optimal solution very fast.

[deleted]

Re: Developers Complain as App Store Feature Promotes Rip-Off Apps

#17

Post by leppr »

interpol_p wrote: post #7
leppr wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There is no business sense to enabling the current trial mechanism Apple doesn't take their 30% cut on subscriptions?

Why throw away the user trust they have earned in the App Store for the short-term profit of subscription scams? There's no business sense there The trust they have in their brand is worth far more. And they are allowing it to erode by featuring scam apps and by providing a subscription mechanism which is easy to abuse

Do you really have enough trust in the Apple App Store curation to just pay for random apps?

Last time I tried doing that, the app was bugged and Apple refused to refund.

My personal impression is that it's already overflowing with "soft scams", which has the same end result for users (wasting their money and/or time), whether the apps technically abide by the store rules or not.

Re: Developers Complain as App Store Feature Promotes Rip-Off Apps

#18

Post by nodejs_rulez_1 »

pieno wrote: post #14
nodejs_rulez_1 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like any unregulated capitalism they will do everything to maximise profit. They get profit regardless of whether the original or the copy is being purchased. They get profit if a user gets scammed through in-app purchases.

I really don’t think Apple is consciously allowing these apps because they get profit either way. They’re very well aware that the long term success and profits of the App Store and the Apple ecosystem are based on users’ trust and frictionless experiences. In fact, Apple guidelines stressed pretty early on in the app store’s life (2010) that “we don’t need any more fart apps” in the App Store. I really don’t believe…

They routinely feature games utilising dark psychological patterns for money extraction (e.g. Clash of Clans).

Re: Developers Complain as App Store Feature Promotes Rip-Off Apps

#19

Post by ksaj »

villgax wrote: post #8

Google Play Store has been littered with WHiteHatJr students who "somehow" built their own android apps & paid developer fees, yet publish dead google doc links as privacy policy & link back to the same top level domain of whitehatJr coding classes....such a travesty in the name of getting kids between 6-15 into coding by putting FOMO into their parents.

You should search their Common Lisp apps. There are about 10 apps that are all the same online tutorial website turned into a pager app, and a bunch more that aren't far off from that.

Thankfully there actually is a Lisp REPL. But you have to scroll like mad to find it.

Re: Developers Complain as App Store Feature Promotes Rip-Off Apps

#20

Post by interpol_p »

leppr wrote: post #17
interpol_p wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why throw away the user trust they have earned in the App Store for the short-term profit of subscription scams? There's no business sense there The trust they have in their brand is worth far more. And they are allowing it to erode by featuring scam apps and by providing a subscription mechanism which is easy to abuse

Do you really have enough trust in the Apple App Store curation to just pay for random apps? Last time I tried doing that, the app was bugged and Apple refused to refund. My personal impression is that it's already overflowing with "soft scams", which has the same end result for users (wasting their money and/or time), whether the apps technically abide by the store rules or not.

That's not what I said?

Apple is hurting the App Store more by allowing an automatic free trial to subscription roll over. And in this case, it's a clear cut zero benefit for users

I'm not suggesting the App Store is perfect, but this seems like an obvious fix for a whole class of issues without harming the user one bit. It even helps Apple by making the App Store more profitable in the long term

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