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You’re Paying into a Broken System Whenever You Buy Something on iOS

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Re: You’re Paying into a Broken System Whenever You Buy Something on iOS

#101

Post by gwd »

alunchbox wrote: post #40
gchokov wrote: post #2

I am happy buying stuff from the iOS store. It's convenient, quick and easy. No objection as an end user.

Your views don't change even after learning that most of your purchases that are to support developers are being skimmed by 30% ? (similar situation to Steam but at least their development tools are nearly bug free, and really help development) The problem here is that they also charge 100 or $50 just to start developing on their platform...

> Your views don't change even after learning that most of your purchases that are to support developers are being skimmed by 30% ?

Why would that matter in the slightest? If I'm a developer and I figure I need to make $4 off every sale, I just price my app at $6. It will make apps cost more to the end-user, of course; the end-user can then decide whether they want to pay in cash to Apple (via app purchases) to develop iOS, or pay in lack of privacy to Google to develop Android.

What makes me angry about this sort of post is that _right now I have a choice_ -- if I want to pay with money instead of privacy, I choose Apple; if I want to pay with privacy instead of money, I choose Android. Articles like this are clearly meant to _take away my choice_, leaving "pay by privacy" the only option available to me.

Re: You’re Paying into a Broken System Whenever You Buy Something on iOS

#102

Post by pathartl »

Crinus wrote: post #52
nerdjon wrote: post #9

>On no other platform would we accept a scenario where the owner of that platform dictated not only the tools developers can use, but restricted the ways they talk about their products and pricing. We would call it unfair, monopolistic, and overbearing. But on our smartphones, it’s just a fact of life. I am pretty sure game consoles have been doing this basically since their existence. None of them allow you to make…

It is an issue on game consoles too, just because it has somehow become accepted it doesn't mean it isn't an issue that you cannot run whatever you want on your own hardware. "Others are doing too" isn't much of an excuse. Also note that it isn't all game consoles, there are various open game consoles, though since they are not made by huge companies with huge marketing budgets they are not as popular (perhaps Atari'…

It's almost as if there is a very large hacking scene for game consoles because people want to run whatever they can on the hardware they bought. Let's also not forget the whole Other OS fiasco with the PS3.

I'm sure if the next Xbox had the ability to run Windows 10 it would sell like crazy.

Re: You’re Paying into a Broken System Whenever You Buy Something on iOS

#103

Post by CameronBanga »

Is anyone familiar enough with Medium to know why someone would publish their blog on the platform, and lock users behind a paywall in order to read their blogposts?

Do they get a cut? I'm not even sure of price, but just see a screen that lets me know I've hit the end of my "Member Preview".

Re: You’re Paying into a Broken System Whenever You Buy Something on iOS

#104

Post by wheelerwj »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #87
nerdjon wrote: post #9

>On no other platform would we accept a scenario where the owner of that platform dictated not only the tools developers can use, but restricted the ways they talk about their products and pricing. We would call it unfair, monopolistic, and overbearing. But on our smartphones, it’s just a fact of life. I am pretty sure game consoles have been doing this basically since their existence. None of them allow you to make…

I wish game consoles were open, but I don't care as much because they're single purpose. A PS4 is not designed to be your primary computer. An iPhone, by contrast, will be many people's primary or even they're only computer. What does it mean for our society if a single company has control over what that computer can display? I see this issue as broader than just competition—I think it's analogous to free speech.

> What does it mean for our society if a single company has control over what that computer can display?

this is literally every major OS right now.... Mac, iOS, Android, Chromium, Windows....

> I think it's analogous to free speech.

what? no it isn't. these are proprietary, private sector companies who fiduciary responsibilities to their shareholders, not government entities.

Re: You’re Paying into a Broken System Whenever You Buy Something on iOS

#105

Post by 693471 »

yepthatsreality wrote: post #58
eeeeeeeeeeeee wrote: post #11

Disagree. Every system has problems. Look at what happened with Zoom — unrestricted access to your entire user account on MacOS, for them to do whatever they want. Normal people should not have to even think about a virus or malware scanner on their system. I like where Apple is going and I like the iOS model. Most of all, I know that people like my parents will be better protected from malware and spyware and crypto…

Except this ignores the fact that there has been spyware and malware on Apple's store. Which perhaps gets removed eventually, but what about services that sell your data to the highest bidder without Apple's knowledge? Apple's offered security is relative to their definition of security. All it takes is your parents to install a malicious app that passed the app review. Deferring to Apple as some sort of security bab…

When Apple is alerted to the problem they remove the app from all devices so I don't have the visit my parents and audit their devices or clean it up for them.

Re: You’re Paying into a Broken System Whenever You Buy Something on iOS

#106

Post by yepthatsreality »

mikl wrote: post #91
yepthatsreality wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except this ignores the fact that there has been spyware and malware on Apple's store. Which perhaps gets removed eventually, but what about services that sell your data to the highest bidder without Apple's knowledge? Apple's offered security is relative to their definition of security. All it takes is your parents to install a malicious app that passed the app review. Deferring to Apple as some sort of security bab…

The spy/malware problem on the App Store is tiny in comparison to what you see on almost any other platform. Even if something nasty slips through review, it's access to the iOS device is very limited and gated through permission pop-ups.

Sure it's gated through permission pop-ups but I guess anecdotally my family members usually just try to tap as quickly as possible to get through prompts/pop-ups, regardless of what said prompt is asking, in order to accomplish their original goal in the app, not consider security requests.

Re: You’re Paying into a Broken System Whenever You Buy Something on iOS

#107

Post by fetus8 »

_ph_ wrote: post #61
alunchbox wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your views don't change even after learning that most of your purchases that are to support developers are being skimmed by 30% ? (similar situation to Steam but at least their development tools are nearly bug free, and really help development) The problem here is that they also charge 100 or $50 just to start developing on their platform...

There is no charge to start development for iOS. The tools are available for any Mac owner.

You're right, you can download and get started for free. But it costs $99/year to distribute on the App Store...

Re: You’re Paying into a Broken System Whenever You Buy Something on iOS

#108

Post by IOT_Apprentice »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #64
jordanpg wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are competing in the free market. Users are free to not use their software and there are many other choices. You seem to be objecting to the manner in which they compete.

> You seem to be objecting to the manner in which they compete. I absolutely am! There is such a thing as unfair competition. As I see it, Apple is using their existing dominance to create barriers to entry for new players. I'm free to avoid Amazon too, but as increasing amounts of society move to Amazon as the de-facto web store for everything, how reasonable is it to fully boycott them? Sure it's possible , but it…

Both Samsung and Huawei build more phones than Apple does. There are more Android phones than iOS phones, so exactly who has market dominance? No one is forcing you to buy Apple products. I'll take a more secure and privacy focused platform.

Re: You’re Paying into a Broken System Whenever You Buy Something on iOS

#109

Post by 693471 »

CaptainMarvel wrote: post #25
gchokov wrote: post #2

I am happy buying stuff from the iOS store. It's convenient, quick and easy. No objection as an end user.

I’m unhappy because Apple has prevented me from using my phone how I want to. I recognised Spotify’s published complaints against Apple 2-3 years before they spoke out. I vowed to never use or buy Apple Music, Apple Watch, HomePod, and even a new iPhone because Apple were degrading my experience with Spotify compared to their own services. They deliberately created an unfair playing field on their platform in order t…

Spotify can write their own OS and build their own hardware if they don't want to be second class.

Re: You’re Paying into a Broken System Whenever You Buy Something on iOS

#110

Post by lancesells »

nerdjon wrote: post #9

>On no other platform would we accept a scenario where the owner of that platform dictated not only the tools developers can use, but restricted the ways they talk about their products and pricing. We would call it unfair, monopolistic, and overbearing. But on our smartphones, it’s just a fact of life. I am pretty sure game consoles have been doing this basically since their existence. None of them allow you to make…

Besides video games you could add movie rentals and sales, tv show rental and sales, music sales, PPV events, book sales, Steam...

While I do think it's high for recurring revenue every retailer is in that 30% range or higher.

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