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Decreasing service fees on subscriptions to 15%

android-developers.googleblog.com

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Re: Decreasing service fees on subscriptions to 15%

#231

Post by realusername »

threeseed wrote: post #223
realusername wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That's not actually the truth. You can go to F-Droid, or Cydia, Amazon or one of the dozens of SEA app stores that exist. Is that sarcasm? All of those combined don't even have 0.5% of the market. There's no competition, period.

There is no competiton in countless situations when you narrowly define the scope. For example is there competition in the "operating system for Samsung microwaves" market ?

I'm not narrowing the scope, all of those combined together are at best less than one percent of all the mobile app market.

They are negligible.

Re: Decreasing service fees on subscriptions to 15%

#232

Post by cvlasdkv »

kfprt wrote: post #36
joenathanone wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed, personally I think 3-5% would be fair anything more is rent seeking.

The percentage should be set by the market. The problem is that there exists a rent seeking monopoly at present.

Markets naturally lead towards monopolies.

Re: Decreasing service fees on subscriptions to 15%

#233

Post by WkmYq »

cvlasdkv wrote: post #232
kfprt wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The percentage should be set by the market. The problem is that there exists a rent seeking monopoly at present.

Markets naturally lead towards monopolies.

Citation needed. Can you name a monopoly that lasted 10 years or more without government help?

Re: Decreasing service fees on subscriptions to 15%

#234

Post by [deleted] »

leucineleprec0n wrote: post #145
CountSessine wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t understand? Settings -> AppleID -> Subscriptions? It’s on your phone? You don’t have to use iTunes at all? I wouldn’t have even thought to use iTunes? Unsubscribing is the easiest thing in the world - much easier than PayPal. It’s right there in the Settings app.

Dude it’s like some ancient web UI despite existing in the native settings software, it’s utterly slow as fuck to load and only faintly responsive to touch. It is clearly a deliberate ploy by Cupertino. Or in practice, an update is “not on the agenda this cycle”

[deleted]

Re: Decreasing service fees on subscriptions to 15%

#235

Post by CountSessine »

leucineleprec0n wrote: post #145
CountSessine wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t understand? Settings -> AppleID -> Subscriptions? It’s on your phone? You don’t have to use iTunes at all? I wouldn’t have even thought to use iTunes? Unsubscribing is the easiest thing in the world - much easier than PayPal. It’s right there in the Settings app.

Dude it’s like some ancient web UI despite existing in the native settings software, it’s utterly slow as fuck to load and only faintly responsive to touch. It is clearly a deliberate ploy by Cupertino. Or in practice, an update is “not on the agenda this cycle”

I am so humour-impaired I initially responded seriously to your joke - sorry!

Re: Decreasing service fees on subscriptions to 15%

#237

Post by metagame »

saurik wrote: post #183
metagame wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not actually the truth. You can go to F-Droid, or Cydia, Amazon or one of the dozens of SEA app stores that exist. You have plenty of options. Your argument is basically that Wal-Mart is everywhere, so Wal-Mart should be forced to serve you on your terms.

Epic is suing Google over direct and considered anti-competitive action preventing alternative stores from taking hold, and they might have a case. https://www.theverge.com/2021/8/19/22632804/epic-google-laws... Meanwhile, you reference Cydia (my alternative to the App Store), but I am myself suing Apple for over their efforts to lock us out competing on iOS. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/12/10/cydia…

I know Cydia's your thing (I'd recognize your username anywhere) and I have an infinite amount of respect for you because of it, but I think the status quo is probably fine. iOS is a minority of the market and "Do you know how to jailbreak your cell phone?" serves as a decent deterrent to stop clueless people from butchering themselves with too much freedom.

It sounds really lame to say, but it feels like what you're suggesting is the exact opposite of what the market wants. People want a device they can give to their kid without worrying that they'll mess it up.

And I don't think this is an issue where any side actually cares about freedom; you allow proprietary software on Cydia, which sort of kills the user freedom argument, but even then, people would still be free to just buy a phone that supports them using their phone in a way they want to.

Re: Decreasing service fees on subscriptions to 15%

#238

Post by paxys »

threeseed wrote: post #173
RNCTX wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

15% is highway robbery. The cost via your own account on Stripe is 5% on the high end.

> The cost via your own account on Stripe But it's not the cost for operating the payments gateway. It's the cost for the channel. The real world equivalent is supermarkets, retailers etc charging for products to be stocked on their shelves. Customer acquisition is extremely expensive and difficult and stores expect to be compensated for it.

There are a thousand supermarkets to choose from, and several other retail channels including just selling direct to consumer over the internet. If a single company is charging some % fees, you can easily compare their value add against all your other options. The mobile landscape is a duopoly, so hardly comparable.

Re: Decreasing service fees on subscriptions to 15%

#239

Post by mthoms »

finiteseries wrote: post #79
mthoms wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Citation? This contradicts everything I’ve seen on the matter.

The article linked in the comment they’re replying to. According to Walter Isaacson's biography of Jobs, the tech guru was opposed to allowing third-party to run natively on iPhone… …Others in the know disagree with Isaacson's story and contend third-party apps were always on the iPhone roadmap; Jobs and company were simply not comfortable with releasing an SDK at launch. https://appleinsider.com/articles/18/07/10/th…

Sorry, what I meant was, who are the "others in the know"?

Re: Decreasing service fees on subscriptions to 15%

#240

Post by iknowstuff »

metagame wrote: post #237
saurik wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Epic is suing Google over direct and considered anti-competitive action preventing alternative stores from taking hold, and they might have a case. https://www.theverge.com/2021/8/19/22632804/epic-google-laws... Meanwhile, you reference Cydia (my alternative to the App Store), but I am myself suing Apple for over their efforts to lock us out competing on iOS. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/12/10/cydia…

I know Cydia's your thing (I'd recognize your username anywhere) and I have an infinite amount of respect for you because of it, but I think the status quo is probably fine. iOS is a minority of the market and "Do you know how to jailbreak your cell phone?" serves as a decent deterrent to stop clueless people from butchering themselves with too much freedom. It sounds really lame to say, but it feels like what you're…

The sandbox protects the OS. Apps from different stores could remain sandboxed. In addition, parental controls could easily allow restricting the phone to the App Store.
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