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Apple just kicked Fortnite off the App Store

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Re: Apple just kicked Fortnite off the App Store

#441

Post by onepointsixC »

mullingitover wrote: post #121
Jellyd wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who else is apple competing with to put apps on iphones? Compared to android where you have indy devs, samsung store, play store, or any other store; it's a clear monopoly.

There isn't an iPhone industry, there's a smartphone industry, and Apple (despite all their profits) only controls a small portion of that business. Their strategy also adds a lot of consumer value. I use an iPhone specifically because I understand the tradeoffs between freedom and reliability/security, and I go for the reliability/security. Not everyone wants a second job playing sysadmin on their smartphone.

The smartphone industry is a duopoly between iOS and Android, however iOS accounts for a majority of app spending. Their actions are overwhelmingly impactful to developers. If you want to maximize your profits as a developer you design for iOS first.

Re: Apple just kicked Fortnite off the App Store

#442

Post by bishalb »

rvz wrote: post #15
lordleft wrote: post #6

Imagine if Microsoft did this on PCs. a) prohibiting the installation of non-windows store software (sideloading) and b) insisting that all purchases done via apps give them a 30% cut. I think this is a ridiculous practice on the behalf of Apple.

Even worse. Imagine if the World Wide Web was not open and you had to go through a closed WWW like AOL and websites were "under review" by the providers and would take a 30% cut of your revenues or clicks on your web app or subscription service and websites require going only through that provider. Thank goodness that wasn't the case.

You are trying to divert the topic to something that's likely never going to happen from something that gets HNers triggered all the time, even if it's just remotely related to Microsoft.

Re: Apple just kicked Fortnite off the App Store

#443

Post by davidjade »

spanhandler wrote: post #242
mullingitover wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Epic effectively pulled it themselves when they unilaterally broke their agreement. I think Apple's cut is egregious but at the same time, they're not a monopoly. My main gripe is that they're behaving as if they're bringing value that the developers are riding on, when in reality nobody would buy iPhones if it weren't for the value that many developers are bringing to the platform, often at no cost to Apple.

> My main gripe is that they're behaving as if they're bringing value that the developers are riding on, when in reality nobody would buy iPhones if it weren't for the value that many developers are bringing to the platform, often at no cost to Apple. Counterpoint: the consistency, convenience, and safety of the App Store and broader iOS platform is part of why so much money is spent there. [EDIT] but yes I think the…

> Counterpoint: the consistency, convenience, and safety of the App Store and broader iOS platform is part of why so much money is spent there.

This is a really interesting point. Whether this is the reason or not for me, but I make and sell apps on both platforms and the identical app, identical price sells 4 or 5 to 1 on iOS vs. Android.

Re: Apple just kicked Fortnite off the App Store

#444

Post by tommymachine »

harikb wrote: post #436
tommymachine wrote: post #431

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Beyond the obvious difference that Microsoft has a monopoly marketshare on PCs, and Apple has a minority marketshare of mobile devices, mobile devices are categorically different because they are always with you. This generates a whole different slew of concerns around privacy and apps being able to access your information with or without your consent. By maintaining control over which apps can be sold to end users v…

That is the same argument that could have been applied to any one of the controversial tech monopoly issue before Wouldn’t MS want to secure its laptops by bundling a browser? Wouldn’t I have equally private and financial documents on a PC? location/gps can’t be that much of a differentiator. It is monopoly bullying whoever they can. They just happen to not directly affect us, unless we happen to be a developer makin…

Kids take their phones with them everywhere. Location tracking is a huge differentiator between mobile/pc. Front & rear facing cameras are another.

I am an app developer for iOS. It does directly affect me.

Re: Apple just kicked Fortnite off the App Store

#445

Post by hannibalhorn »

If I were Epic, I wouldn't even pick up the phone tonight. Let Apple sweat, and soon enough it'll be before a Congressional panel.

The app store certainly adds value by screening out abusive behaviors that can't be simply sandboxed; but 30% of revenue? That's just too much. At a minimum, we need to allow for competing app stores that can also earn the right to be trusted by consumers.

Re: Apple just kicked Fortnite off the App Store

#446

Post by tommymachine »

dexen wrote: post #151
lordleft wrote: post #6

Imagine if Microsoft did this on PCs. a) prohibiting the installation of non-windows store software (sideloading) and b) insisting that all purchases done via apps give them a 30% cut. I think this is a ridiculous practice on the behalf of Apple.

This is also a security vulnerability: one decision by Apple, or by a court of law in a far-away country, and an app is gone from your phone. You lose access to the data held by this app. Easy, reliably DoS -- and the user has no means of fixing this vulnerability, other than rooting the phone and hacking around. Which is made ever less feasible.

You are confused. Apple never removes apps from users' devices simply because the new version did not pass review.

Removing an app from the App Store, and removing it from user's devices are two very different things. When any app is removed in this fashion, all users who already have the app still have access to everything they had access to before. The app just isn't listed on the App Store for new downloads.

Re: Apple just kicked Fortnite off the App Store

#447

Post by tommymachine »

addled wrote: post #330
lordleft wrote: post #6

Imagine if Microsoft did this on PCs. a) prohibiting the installation of non-windows store software (sideloading) and b) insisting that all purchases done via apps give them a 30% cut. I think this is a ridiculous practice on the behalf of Apple.

This got me wondering... What happens when the price of an in-app purchase is negative? Does Apple pay the developer 30%?

they don't have a price tier that goes negative

Re: Apple just kicked Fortnite off the App Store

#448

Post by m4rtink »

a-p-o wrote: post #400
lordleft wrote: post #6

Imagine if Microsoft did this on PCs. a) prohibiting the installation of non-windows store software (sideloading) and b) insisting that all purchases done via apps give them a 30% cut. I think this is a ridiculous practice on the behalf of Apple.

I recently learned Google Chrome does something similar with browser extensions[1]. You cannot[2] install .crx files that have not been published to the Chrome Web Store. [1] https://blog.chromium.org/2015/05/continuing-to-protect-chro... [2] Unless you're using Linux or the enterprise version of the browser.

Sadly Mozilla seems to do something similar with Firefox, likely as another round of copying the most stupid Chrome decisions.

The recently released new "stable" version of Firefox for Android that supports just 9 specific extensions at the moment might be actually even worse than Chrome.

Re: Apple just kicked Fortnite off the App Store

#449

Post by NorwegianDude »

nouveaux wrote: post #357
throwaway927282 wrote: post #352

Earlier quoted context omitted.

eBay and PayPal both have third party alternatives: simply going to a different website/app. On iOS your only option is paying Apple $100/yr to do something similar. A similar thing would be Google Chrome blocking access to PayPal servers because they didn’t get a 10% cut of all transactions.

The browser is the same exact thing. Apple does not prevent you from using the same banking, shopping, email services through the web.

Ofc they do. They have full control over the browser and severely limits functionality compared to every other browser.

But users can just install another browser, right? No, wrong again, cause Apple doesn't allow that. Every browser on iOS is basically safari with a different UI.

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