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Fear of Apple

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Re: Fear of Apple

#171

Post by bduerst »

bandushrew wrote: post #162
bduerst wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's the point? Customer service is lacking this basic functionality, so this developer is providing it on the side at an increased cost.

Its not lacking. it is easily possible for users to get refunds from apple. I have no idea why the developer isn't just asking them to go to apple for a refund.

It is very lacking, and I would not spin it as "easy" - unless you're talking about some other process than the "report a problem" path.

I'm not this developer, but if so many users are reaching out to them for refunds, then there is a definitive gap in store functionality.

Re: Fear of Apple

#172

Post by fr0styMatt2 »

itistoday2 wrote: post #100
engendered wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have had this happen numerous times, and the rapidity of the downvotes really makes me think it's an automated system -- that now that slowbans and hellbans are pretty widely known and rightly reviled, the mods just flag you and periodically you get a rapid downvote barrage. I guess it is supposed to make me feel insecure about my opinion or something.

I've been much happier with lobste.rs' voting system than HN's. On Lobsters: 1. All moderation is public information. 2. Who invited who is public information. 3. You need to pick a reason for downvoting something. 4. You can undo a downvote or an upvote. Perhaps because of these properties (or something else), I also enjoy the conversations and community there better. Frankly, I am annoyed that I can't read what you…

Yeah it's fking annoying having the comments go to light gray, ESPECIALLY when downvotes are commonly used as a sign of disagreement rather than "this comment is a troll / abusive". I don't understand the rationale for this at all - just make the title of the comment red or something. I'm an adult and mature enough to actually want to read things I might disagree with.

Re: Fear of Apple

#173

Post by djrogers »

drcube wrote: post #128

I'm not going to pay $10 for an app I can't transfer to another device. As long as our phones are disposable so too are our apps. And I don't pay top dollar for garbage.

Wait, what??? iOS apps aren't hardware locked you know...

Re: Fear of Apple

#174

Post by madeofpalk »

lozf wrote: post #158
FordPrefectAO wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is different because in the case of Commodore 64/Windows/$thirdParty, the developer can do releases, pricing, refunds, etc outside of Apple's control.

... and without giving them a third of the profit (or is it revenue?)

Apple takes 30% of revenue.

To be fair, Apple handles a lot for that 30%. Accounting/Tax records, payment, bandwidth and storage etc.

They could probably afford to take less, but they do take care of a fare bit of hassle from app distribution and selling.

Re: Fear of Apple

#175

Post by madeofpalk »

FireBeyond wrote: post #53
jasode wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Still, it makes sense that Apple would continue to deprioritize developer relations (either implicitly or explicitly.) Yes. I think it also makes sense to remind ourselves of how Apple and Microsoft started in the 1970s. They have very different origin stories. When Bill Gates and Paul Allen were burning the midnight oil for their first successful Microsoft product, it was a BASIC interpreter for the Altair computer…

"Contrast with Apple. Steve Woz and Steve Jobs were burning the midnight oil assembling the Apple I to sell to consumers. Steve Woz was a programmer but the coding was incidental to making the Apple computer work. (E.g. his triumphant story of programming the floppy disk controller to work correctly.) They were selling end-user hardware and not a programmer's product like Microsoft. In 2011, none the top 3 guys (Stev…

> You would have to assume that Ive would get the call-up

I would believe they would get a new CEO externally before they put/Ive accepts CEO.

Re: Fear of Apple

#176

Post by Crito »

Nemcue wrote: post #157
Alphasite_ wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly steam as much a social network as a games platform at this point and that's what gives them the data, and we've see. How Apple and googles multiple attempts at social platforms have panned out.

I barely use Steam as a social platform, and still I have a thousand times better experience when it comes to discoverability. I understand what you're saying — people spend more time using Steam than they do the app stores (and they also have access to social graphs and what-not, although you could argue Apple & Google have this as well via messages). I would argue that point is kind of moot, since many of the ways…

I bet the average Steam user also spends orders of magnitude more than the average Android/Apple user as well.

I'm not sure what exactly that would suggest if true, but I think it would be interesting.

Re: Fear of Apple

#177

Post by Crito »

madeofpalk wrote: post #174
lozf wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

... and without giving them a third of the profit (or is it revenue?)

Apple takes 30% of revenue. To be fair, Apple handles a lot for that 30%. Accounting/Tax records, payment, bandwidth and storage etc. They could probably afford to take less, but they do take care of a fare bit of hassle from app distribution and selling.

> "To be fair, Apple handles a lot for that 30%. Accounting/Tax records, payment, bandwidth and storage etc."

I think people would have a better opinion on that deal if it were optional.

Apple offers to take care of billing/bandwidth/storage on iOS for 30% of revenue? Neat!

Apple demands to take care of billing/bandwidth/storage on iOS for 30% of revenue? Lame.

Re: Fear of Apple

#178

Post by fragmede »

threeseed wrote: post #168
chrramirez wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could also publish on Android or the web and have access to a "the global audience". Comparing the App Store with 20 years old methods is a fallacy. To be realistic you should compare using the Android/Mozilla/Windows/Web distribution methods.

The Android model i.e. the Google model is now the same as Apple's. Only it has the ability to sideload applications which let's be honest as primarily been used for installing pirated applications.

Pirating iPhone apps is easy, and Apple's signature checking that locks down iOS doesn't actually prevent piracy. A pirated iOS app passes the signature check same as the legitimately bought version - it's the same .ipa file, after all. You don't need to jailbreak your iPhone in order to install apps you haven't paid for.

The signature check makes sure 'the developer has paid Apple', and not 'the user has paid for this app'.

Sideloading of apps allows for apps that Google may not care for, and that Apple actively prohibits (eg bitcoin), the difference being that you can still run them on Android if you really want to.

Re: Fear of Apple

#179

Post by rmidthun »

Nemcue wrote: post #154
alexashka wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nobody's really disputing that the App Store needs revision in a number of areas (discovery, refunds, trials, etc) It's a hard problem because curation is a hard problem. It is not unique to the app store - take a look at android's store or frankly, any online store that offers a wide array of products - curation is hard. I'm sure they're working on it. A time of fewer but higher quality apps may be coming - but then…

> Curation is hard. Oh please. They just don't care . Take Steam for instance, I have a thousand times better experience finding new games on there than I have on any mobile app store. I get recommendations from my friends, according to what Steam thinks I would enjoy playing, and they even have curators for apps so people whose reviews I can enjoy can list games with a short review. And those are just a few ways of…

Scale matters. Steam has less than 4000 games total. The App store has 1400 applications every day.

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/steam-reaches-100-million-u... http://www.pocketgamer.biz/metrics/app-store/

Re: Fear of Apple

#180

Post by ghshephard »

Spooky23 wrote: post #103
firloop wrote: post #56

This article summarizes the epitome of my experience as an Apple developer. I'm 17 years old and a developer on the app store. The App Store feels opaque and like a black box where I submit builds with little to no feedback or control. I get paid when Apple decides, and could be eradicated from the App Store at a moment's notice. I realized early on that being featured by Apple was unlikely, and have adopted a sustai…

Your experience is the price of admission to gain access to a global audience. The low barrier to entry is why you're fighting for pennies. Twenty years ago when I was in high school, I worked at CompUSA. They sold a lot of software in their day... in my region of the country, 40% of software sold passed through our store's door. To sell software at CompUSA or similar retailers, you needed to interface with a publish…

Good point - but one correction, there aren't thousands but millions of developers, 6mm+ to be precise. http://www.phonearena.com/news/6M-developers-in-Apple-ecosys...

Paradoxically, I think the power of the tools, resulting in the ease of development, and the democracy of the Apple Store is a major contributor to the difficulty of competing for user mindshare, and the resulting low prices.

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