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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

#201

Post by scarface74 »

banachtarski wrote: post #193
scarface74 wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So the console isn’t a general purpose computer but the iPhone is? By whose definition?

You typical developer on iOS is targeting a broad spectrum of hardware (even within the iOS line, the software is able to run on various iphone skus dating back possibly 7-9 years). Console? When I ship a PS4 build, it is THE PS4 BUILD. It has optimizations designed to maximize the memory buses that ship with the PS4 and the PS4 only.

Unless you have to optimize for the PS4 and PS4 Pro. But, what does ease of development have to do with one being more of a computer than the other?

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

#202

Post by dwild »

blub wrote: post #6

The mobile app markets are operating at such scales, that there's a literal avalanche of scammers and assholes waiting to take advantage of you. There is zero chance that I would send personal info or payment data to some no-name app and even most of the other well known apps.

> There is zero chance that I would send personal info or payment data to some no-name app and even most of the other well known apps.

Then don't...

It never stopped me from giving my credit card number to Amazon. I gained quite a bit from that and never had to give 30% to Apple to gain from it. I did have to give 2.5% to Visa though, but they did provide a pretty good service to justify that 2.5%.

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

#203

Post by scarface74 »

CaptainMarvel wrote: post #200
scarface74 wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple doesn’t take a cut of a Spotify subscription. Spotify hasn’t allowed in app subscriptions for years. Can I sideload music and integrate it with my Spotify library like I can with Apple Music? Can an artist get included in the Spotify library without giving them a 30% cut? Apple is introducing cellular streaming in WatchOS 5 and music intents with Siri in iOS 13. This problem is the same. How can Spotify compete…

I feel like you missed the point. The choices are: give Apple 30%, or do not even so much as hint to the users that they can subscribe on the website. Either option cripples the service compared to Apple’s service.

No, the parent poster said that Spotify and Netflix had to give Apple a cut. Not only do they not have to, they don’t anymore. The parent post stated something that was factually incorrect.

Seeing that Spotify still grew steadily after not allowing in app subscriptions. It doesn’t seem like their growth was harmed.

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

#204

Post by tonyedgecombe »

auggierose wrote: post #154
tonyedgecombe wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The documentation isn’t great, I’m learning Core Data at the moment and it’s unclear and riddled with mistakes. Google’s must be terrible if it’s worse.

Never understood why anyone would use Core Data for anything. What are you using it for?

Persistence, I might end up abandoning it but I felt I should at least try it first.

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

#205

Post by banachtarski »

scarface74 wrote: post #201
banachtarski wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You typical developer on iOS is targeting a broad spectrum of hardware (even within the iOS line, the software is able to run on various iphone skus dating back possibly 7-9 years). Console? When I ship a PS4 build, it is THE PS4 BUILD. It has optimizations designed to maximize the memory buses that ship with the PS4 and the PS4 only.

Unless you have to optimize for the PS4 and PS4 Pro. But, what does ease of development have to do with one being more of a computer than the other?

I'm telling you the difference between a console (or embedded platform) versus a general computing device. There is a blurry line to be sure, but the smartphone and a gaming console are clearly on opposite sides of the line. Consoles have dedicated hardware for antialiasing, texture streaming, etc.

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

#206

Post by scarface74 »

banachtarski wrote: post #205
scarface74 wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unless you have to optimize for the PS4 and PS4 Pro. But, what does ease of development have to do with one being more of a computer than the other?

I'm telling you the difference between a console (or embedded platform) versus a general computing device. There is a blurry line to be sure, but the smartphone and a gaming console are clearly on opposite sides of the line. Consoles have dedicated hardware for antialiasing, texture streaming, etc.

And iPhones have dedicated hardware for cellular, video decoding, decryption, a dedicated GPU, motion detection, face detection, etc....

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

#207

Post by lancesells »

dwild wrote: post #195
lancesells wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> Besides video games you could add movie rentals and sales, tv show rental and sales, music sales, PPV events, book sales, Steam... Can you be more specific? I know plenty of places to rent 'A' movie for example. I also know plenty of alternative to Steam on PC, yet none on iOS device. If you talked about games on console that can't be 'A' rated. I would agree completely that it's wrong and I'm pretty sure that almo…

Consider if you upload a book to Amazon to sell they are taking anywhere from 30% to 65% of the sale. Or if you rent a movie from YouTube i'm sure they are taking some percentage in that ballpark and sending the rest to the movie studio.

My point is that all of these digital platforms are taking a percentage that is in that range. Apple probably gets called out the most because it's open to anyone, popular and it's fees are transparent but it's really the same across most digital platforms. I'm not saying the percentage isn't high but Apple isn't an outlier when it comes to the fees.

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

#208

Post by zentec »

banachtarski wrote: post #190
mikl wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you use a cross-platform tool like Xamarin or Unity, the only step of the development process that requires macOS is the publishing-to-app-store - and debugging on actual iOS hardware, if need be. So it's not that bad, you can do most of your everyday work on whatever OS you prefer.

It is bad. Macs are expensive relative to how much usable silicon you get, and supporting a studio that needs to support iOS is tens of thousands of dollars to Apple's pocket I'd rather not spend. Contrast to Android which lets you cross compile from any OS and platform. Also, if you think developing in Xamarin or Unity can be done off platform with some last minute debugging and ship... then you're in a reality many…

So develop for a cheaper platform. First it was complaints that Apple takes too much money from the app sales, now it is Apple's hardware requirements are just too expensive.

I get it, Apple takes a 30% hit and it is a lot of money. But managing your own payment platform and sales is going to consume 15% already, so I don't want to hear about how outrageous this is. No one accounts for what they are getting for their 30% when they whine about how Apple is being unfair.

Apple is a boutique brand that has a vast customer base of people who don't mind spending money. Want access to that? Pay! This is not a unique formula, look at an NFL franchise.

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

#209

Post by sbuk »

Carpetsmoker wrote: post #194
reaperducer wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't add my UK CC to my account though as it's not a Dutch one, so I switched to the UK region, and then it errors out with "your account is not valid for use in the UK store. You must switch to the Dutch store before purchasing". Why ...? I don't know. Because content licensed for a particular geographic region. I mix regions, too. It's not rocket surgery. You just have multiple iTunes accounts, which are as easy…

Nothing you said is easy; it's all a massive PITA and incredibly user-hostile. I do appreciate the advice, but I just want to do normal things without jumping through hoops. I don't even use iTunes; do I have an account? Don't know, and frankly don't care either (I've given up on it). Here's how everything else works: I see a price for something, I decide I want it, I fill in my CC number, and I have it. No need to g…

It’s also an edge case.

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

#210

Post by Wowfunhappy »

scarface74 wrote: post #180
Wowfunhappy wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are all sorts of restrictions Apple could place on software compiled "unofficially" with Xcode. For example, they could automatically sign it with testing certs that automatically expire after 7 days. macOS is a more open platform because Apple has decided to leave it that way, not because the property is literally essential for development.

So how would Apple enforce code signing on code that ran on top of a VM like Java or C# or scripting languages?

By not allowing JITs, just like on iOS.
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