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Apple terminates Epic Games developer account, calling it a 'threat' to iOS

techcrunch.com

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Re: Apple terminates Epic Games developer account, calling it a 'threat' to iOS

#451

Post by Zambyte »

yakkityyak wrote: post #430
layer8 wrote: post #334

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The issue is that Epic doesn’t want to be Apple’s customer in the first place. They want to publish iOS apps. The fact that this requires them to be an Apple customer is the core problem. Imagine if everyone wanting to publish a web app would have to be a customer of the respective browser vendors. Everyone complains about Google and Mozilla and Safari and Edge. Luckily, that doesn’t prevent us from having our web ap…

I don’t quite understand why they happily subscribe to this model with Xbox PlayStation and Nintendo, but are adamant about getting their way with Google and Apple.

The arbitrary limitations on computers that are obviously general purpose is more clear than the arbitrary limitations on general purpose computers that are marketed as special purpose computers (gaming machines). In reality they're all equally bad.

Re: Apple terminates Epic Games developer account, calling it a 'threat' to iOS

#452

Post by misnome »

kevingadd wrote: post #86
hizanberg wrote: post #18

If I had a Customer that spent years relentlessly complaining about my Company, I know I wouldn't want to have them as a Customer. It does present an interesting question on whether a Company can be forced to have a bad actor as a Customer, I guess this will be decided in the lawsuits to come.

Criticizing defects in a product or criticizing a vendor's misbehavior doesn't make you automatically a "bad actor". A healthy vendor/customer relationship involves having channels where this criticism can be exchanged without putting the vendor or the customer in a bad position, and the criticism results in a better product. Instead, bug reports go into a black hole because Apple doesn't care, and they especially do…

> Calling them a bad actor is ridiculous.

This is an absurd take. They very deliberately and publicly breached their agreement with apple, sued them when they got kicked out for it, and lost.

If that isn’t a textbook description of a bad actor then what the hell _would_ count for you?

Re: Apple terminates Epic Games developer account, calling it a 'threat' to iOS

#453

Post by onion2k »

hizanberg wrote: post #18

If I had a Customer that spent years relentlessly complaining about my Company, I know I wouldn't want to have them as a Customer. It does present an interesting question on whether a Company can be forced to have a bad actor as a Customer, I guess this will be decided in the lawsuits to come.

If I had a Customer that spent years relentlessly complaining about my Company, I know I wouldn't want to have them as a Customer.

Epic aren't a customer. They're a supplier. They provide Apple with software that Apple's customers buy.

Apple are denying their customers, iPhone users, the option to buy Epic apps through Apple's app store. You should never lose sight of who actually loses here. It's not really Apple or Epic. They're massive corporations that will continue to make billions regardless. The loser is iPhone users who want to use their devices to play a game they enjoy.

Re: Apple terminates Epic Games developer account, calling it a 'threat' to iOS

#454

Post by imglorp »

api wrote: post #425
chongli wrote: post #420

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The issue for Apple is that their hardware business is slowing down due to market saturation. Their recent attempt at growth into a new hardware market (Vision Pro) seems like a huge dud. Their last successful new product was the Watch which at about 100 million sales in total is only half of a single year’s iPhone sales (and likely less profitable). So where do they go from here?

They've tried becoming a bank (or banking reseller at least) with Apple Card which now has savings accounts and such. They're also apparently doing some AI work that could be interesting. But yeah, this is the real issue. Number must always go up and mobile is a saturated market now. They should do more acquisitions. Buy Anthropic for starters. Absolute no brainer. Make Claude the new Siri and roll out powerful on-de…

More acquisitions? Why? They're already a $3 trillion company. As parent comments say, they have saturated the market, maxed out the app store at the expense of good will, and are engaged in a duopoly spiral with Alphabet. How long will "number go up"? Until the planet is piled up to space in paperclips?

Re: Apple terminates Epic Games developer account, calling it a 'threat' to iOS

#455

Post by favorited »

kccqzy wrote: post #406
davely wrote: post #394

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find that Gruber occasionally has some interesting insight but it’s often hard to take him seriously these days — he’s effectively an unofficial PR outlet for Apple. (Fun fact: he co-created Markdown with Aaron Swartz) Edit: Swartz not Schwartz

It's a sad evolution. Gruber's blog is entitled Daring Fireball and in his early blogging days in the '00s he was in fact pretty daring and posted a lot of criticisms of Apple. Over time he had so thoroughly assimilated himself into the Apple way of thinking that he seldom notices whatever Apple is doing wrong.

> posted a lot of criticisms of Apple

His criticisms were all about how the NeXT folks were ruining Apple with their mach-o binaries, file paths & extensions, etc. You'd have thought that Avie Tevanian ran over his dog or something.

Re: Apple terminates Epic Games developer account, calling it a 'threat' to iOS

#456

Post by abhinavk »

meindnoch wrote: post #421
jessekv wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the EU, the EU owns the platform and makes the rules (controls and regulates markets). The question is: which platform needs the other more?

As an EU citizen, I would choose Apple without hesitation.

Are you in Stockholm?

Re: Apple terminates Epic Games developer account, calling it a 'threat' to iOS

#457

Post by xtracto »

FirmwareBurner wrote: post #101
zshrc wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We own this platform, (we built this platform), we make the rules I don't see the issue with this... it's not like they're exploiting an inherited platform like Oracle with (everything), IBM with Red Hat or Broadcom with VMware.

Would you also defend Microsoft of the 90's with the same argument for the similar issue? At least Microsoft had no way of stopping you selling apps for Windows but Apple is a next level of nefarious.

I think what Apple is doing is more similar to Nintendo I the 80s with their "seal of quality".

There where a couple of companies that circumvented their security mechanisms and went to court. Was that wrong of Nintendo?

My opinion is that, as long as people keep buying and using it, Apple can do whatever they want in their platforms.

They will change when most app devs coordinately delete their apps from the store, in a mass "strike" or when customers stop paying for their shitty phones.

Re: Apple terminates Epic Games developer account, calling it a 'threat' to iOS

#458

Post by dilap »

CatWChainsaw wrote: post #412

Seems like the message is, sure we lost our case against the EU so we have be more open on the platform/store, but we're just going to ban any developers who even try to take advantage of that. I suppose they're leveraging their duopoly/luxury positions to give everyone the finger. And once again I'm glad I have nothing to do with the Apple ecosystem.

They really seem to be making a mockery of the EU regs here. Will the EU respond quickly and forcefully, or (essentially) admit that Apple is too big to regulate?

Re: Apple terminates Epic Games developer account, calling it a 'threat' to iOS

#459

Post by cheeze »

charcircuit wrote: post #56

Apple should avoid destroying developer trust as developers aren't forced to write ios apps. Apple needs developers.

Developers aren't forced to write any apps. They write apps where the revenue makes sense.

And the revenue makes the most sense on ios for a large share of developers.

95%+ of developers don't care if Apple doesn't allow Epic on their store. That's just reality.

If my boss tells me "we're launching an ios app" I'm not going to tell him about how I disagree with Apples principles and refuse to build it.

Re: Apple terminates Epic Games developer account, calling it a 'threat' to iOS

#460

Post by misnome »

Brian_K_White wrote: post #69
mrtksn wrote: post #45

I wonder why Apple doesn't open up their platforms to have everything best on their devices instead of fighting and agonising developers and governments. Yes yes, the commission is nice but they might be killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. I mean, Apple is amazingly good in some areas but in some other areas their products are used only because they don't give a choice and they intent to keep it this way. Th…

Steve hated industry standards. The only time he ever said anything else was when every web site in the world ran on flash and iphone couldn't do flash. Every iphone user was reminded daily about how kneecapped it is when they can't pull up the web site for the restaursnt to check hours or call up for a reservation. That kind of life experience was his entire focus and his showpiece product failed utterly at it. And…

> That kind of life experience was his entire focus and his showpiece product failed utterly at it

As did every other phone and tablet ecosystem, even the ones that tried to add flash. Turns out it was bloated, slow, insecure and battery hungry - all the reasons he stated!

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