51–60 of 65 posts
What's the best way to make noise about this? Sure, I can switch to Android but A) I don't really want to do that and B) losing a handful of Bitcoin enthusiasts to another platform is really not going to dent Apple in any way.
Sadly, Android is not secure enough for Bitcoin apps.
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Care to provide evidence of this ? I led the mobile development effort for a very large international bank which was doing peer-peer payments. We didn't make any special deals and were subject to the same conditions as everyone else.
One only need to make a payment through Fandango's iOS app and see that you can use PayPal to see that Apple's rules aren't the same for everyone.
Apple will not let Fandango (or anyone) sell a real-world item through IAP. That is why PayPal is acceptable. It's clearly stated in the app guidelines that IAP must be for virtual / digital items only.
I worked on an app that let you buy drinks at bars. In-app purchase was clearly out, so we integrated PayPal and Stripe. Apple allowed that and it's been in the store, with periodic updates and their reviews, for years.
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In my opinion anyone that uses apple's products must know that at any moment, apple can decide unilaterally that the user should not use some app / functionality. If you don't like that you probably aren't using apple products already.
Google can and has done the same thing.
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No they wouldn't. Profiting from Bitcoin transfers is a regulatory nightmare. This is because there are no controls to minimise the risk that Bitcoin is being used for money laundering.
There are also no controls to minimise the risk that in-app purchases are being used for money laundering.
What are some examples of in-app purchases that would be good for this kind of thing?
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Care to provide evidence of this ? I led the mobile development effort for a very large international bank which was doing peer-peer payments. We didn't make any special deals and were subject to the same conditions as everyone else.
One only need to make a payment through Fandango's iOS app and see that you can use PayPal to see that Apple's rules aren't the same for everyone.
I can't tell from a casual reading of Blockchain's site if they are doing anything that would require state licensing or not. It seems that they hold a backup copy of their user's Bitcoin wallet. If that is just a backup for the "real" wallet on the mobile devices, or just used for syncing copies of the wallet between the user's multiple devices, my current vague understanding of the rules is that this would not be money transmission. However, if their servers are acting as intermediaries between the user and third parties for the exchange of Bitcoin (for goods, services, or real or virtual currency), then I think that would make them a money transmitter (or even make them a bank, which also opens up a huge regulatory can of worms).
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One only need to make a payment through Fandango's iOS app and see that you can use PayPal to see that Apple's rules aren't the same for everyone.
You're incorrect -- this is an example of the rule, not an exception. Apple will not let Fandango (or anyone) sell a real-world item through IAP. That is why PayPal is acceptable. It's clearly stated in the app guidelines that IAP must be for virtual / digital items only. I worked on an app that let you buy drinks at bars. In-app purchase was clearly out, so we integrated PayPal and Stripe. Apple allowed that and it'…
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> Well, that, and a bunch of media, law enforcement, and legislative attention. Normal currencies and online currencies suffer from these same 3 issues though.
Normal currencies are backed by sovereign governments, are controlled by regulatory regimes, and don't get pitched as a way of anonymizing transactions/avoiding government interference in shady dealings.
There is no rule that says a currency has to be backed by a government, since people have traded without government backed currency since the dawn of man.
What's the best way to make noise about this? Sure, I can switch to Android but A) I don't really want to do that and B) losing a handful of Bitcoin enthusiasts to another platform is really not going to dent Apple in any way.
Don't mistake to maliciousness what can be attributed to naievity. The reason Apple has issues with other payment methods on their App Store is that they can't control them. Meaning, they can't ensure the user experiance they would like to, and when things go wrong, they can't fix it. Apple's userbase is so large and diverse now that users blame things on Apple that shouldnt (e.g. they loose money through bitcoin the…
What's the best way to make noise about this? Sure, I can switch to Android but A) I don't really want to do that and B) losing a handful of Bitcoin enthusiasts to another platform is really not going to dent Apple in any way.
Return your device. Say you bought for this and now it is useless. And maybe sue for punitive damages. And then move to palm, windows, webos.. because moving to android will just make you do the same thing to google in a couple months.