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The App Store is a monopoly: Here's why the EU is correct to investigate Apple

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Re: The App Store is a monopoly: Here's why the EU is correct to investigate Apple

#121
post #50
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you think that fee is unfair?

Because, I guarantee, if iOS app distribution market was competitive, fee would be lower than 30%. 30% fee is a monopolistic rent.

Suppose you make the argument that developers, not consumers, pay for the dev kits, language, development, improvement, apis of the os. 30% might appropriately reflect the amount of work in an app that is apples work.

30% of subscriptions on the other hand might not.

Re: The App Store is a monopoly: Here's why the EU is correct to investigate Apple

#122
post #9

As a consumer, I am 100% in favor of the way run the app store. I don't want to give random apps my credit card. I don't want to have 18 accounts to keep track of. I don't want to have to call telephone support to cancel my account. I don't want malware in my apps. I don't want apps to have my email if they don't need it. I don't need another middleman for content companies license and distribute. Everything Apple is…

It's not like someone will force you paying without your consent. If you don't want to give random apps your credit card, don't give it to them. Why do you oppose other people's right to do that, if they need it?

Many apps, if not a large majority, would start doing this. That destroys the convenience and user experience. If every app does this there isn't any consumer choice about it.

Re: The App Store is a monopoly: Here's why the EU is correct to investigate Apple

#123
Some of the arguments here reminds me of "Unauthorized Bread" (https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/01/unauthorized-bread-a-...) where, take a fridge. Why would any fridge be allowed to not accept certain brands of milk? But, it is the manufacturer's product and right to do so right?

Re: The App Store is a monopoly: Here's why the EU is correct to investigate Apple

#125
post #9

As a consumer, I am 100% in favor of the way run the app store. I don't want to give random apps my credit card. I don't want to have 18 accounts to keep track of. I don't want to have to call telephone support to cancel my account. I don't want malware in my apps. I don't want apps to have my email if they don't need it. I don't need another middleman for content companies license and distribute. Everything Apple is…

Sorry, but I don't understand the point.

No one is talking about taking away your choice of keep using the Apple appstore. It is ok to keep using Apple, if you prefer so. We wan't choices, we don't want to remove your choice.

Re: The App Store is a monopoly: Here's why the EU is correct to investigate Apple

#126
post #108
post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because, I guarantee, if iOS app distribution market was competitive, fee would be lower than 30%. 30% fee is a monopolistic rent.

Google Play store is also 30%. > For apps and in-app products offered through Google Play, the service fee is equivalent to 30% of the price. You receive 70% of the payment. The remaining 30% goes to the distribution partner and operating fees. [ https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answ... ]

OneStore fee is 20%.

Re: The App Store is a monopoly: Here's why the EU is correct to investigate Apple

#127

Genuine question: Why does this matter? I see 0 problems with Apple having a "walled garden." It's their product and their platform so they should be able to decide what gets supported and developed for it. I personally don't like how Apple conducts their business so I just don't use Apple products and that's that.

I think the article explained that reasonably well. One example is that they also make their own apps, so you potentially have to pay your competitor 30% of your income which is more than your own margins. And then they surface their own app and hide your's. Cannot compete against that.

Re: The App Store is a monopoly: Here's why the EU is correct to investigate Apple

#128
post #9

As a consumer, I am 100% in favor of the way run the app store. I don't want to give random apps my credit card. I don't want to have 18 accounts to keep track of. I don't want to have to call telephone support to cancel my account. I don't want malware in my apps. I don't want apps to have my email if they don't need it. I don't need another middleman for content companies license and distribute. Everything Apple is…

> I am 100% in favor of the way run the app store

You want Apple to prohibit the apps you use from being allowed to tell you about alternative payment options?

Re: The App Store is a monopoly: Here's why the EU is correct to investigate Apple

#129
Apple doesn't just own the only app store on their platform: They also prevent apps that don't meet their personal moral standards on the store, arbitrarily. As a result, Instagram, tumblr, and many other sites are forced to censor and curtail content on their platforms because of apples perpetual moral consternation.

Apple should be able to do this - but they shouldn't be able to do it without those companies being able to represent themselves independently, through another app store.

Re: The App Store is a monopoly: Here's why the EU is correct to investigate Apple

#130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's my phone, and I can do whatever I want with it. If Apple doesn't like that, they can easily maintain ownership by not selling the device. I don't force Apple to sell iPhones instead of leaving them in a warehouse. Once I've bought it, it is mine. The entire idea that Apple can do whatever they want on a device that they have already sold is ludicrous.

I'm curious, if you didn't like the way it is, why did you buy one? None of these things are new. They've basically been the same since they came out. You largely had a choice of two products. It sounds like one did what you wanted, and one didn't. You bought the one that didn't and now you're unhappy about it. I don't quite understand that.

We shouldn’t have to choose between one of two products, each of which is controlled by a giant, unaccountable entity which has its own type of anti-competitive stranglehold on consumers and engages in harmful behavior.

It’s pretty clear the only path out of this situation is to rethink antitrust laws in a society where companies have evolved to evade them, and to legislate.

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