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Apple’s strict on App Store rules but gives WeChat a free pass (2020)

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Re: Apple’s strict on App Store rules but gives WeChat a free pass (2020)

#61

Post by [deleted] »

TillE wrote: post #56
game_the0ry wrote: post #25

When the west opened trade to China, policy experts assumed China would become more liberal like the west. Instead, the west is becoming more like China. [1, 2, 3] [1] https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/07/googles-web-integrit... [2] https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/07/ready-for-your-e... [3] (countless more examples, especially recently...)

> policy experts assumed China would become more liberal No one actually thinks that, it's just the line they use to justify themselves to the public. Like how Saudi Arabia has been promising amazing "reforms" for the better part of a decade.

[deleted]

Re: Apple’s strict on App Store rules but gives WeChat a free pass (2020)

#62

Post by OfSanguineFire »

MichaelZuo wrote: post #51
OfSanguineFire wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Under COVID, when being able to board public transport, enter venues, etc. required showing one’s health status from one’s phone, the Chinese state facilitated that through two apps in particular: WeChat and Alipay.

That sounds like a duopoly, but it's still surprising that there was no third option at all. Are you sure they couldn't even bring printed out forms?

> Are you sure they couldn't even bring printed out forms?

In China your health status (green/yellow/red) was automatically calculated based on what neighborhoods of the city you had been in, what other people you passed by in the street or on public transportation, etc. So, it could change in an instant, and that is why it was shown from phone apps that constantly updated. It wasn’t a fixed thing like vaccination status, where a printed form would make sense.

Re: Apple’s strict on App Store rules but gives WeChat a free pass (2020)

#63

Post by tumult »

notaustinpowers wrote: post #33
annexrichmond wrote: post #21

Just like how Apple killed Tumblr for porn problems but gave Twitter a pass

From what I understand is was more because Tumblr had a much younger user demographic with very ineffective content reporting tools. Allowed NSFW content without a desktop opt-in function. And also being bought by Yahoo who wanted to cash in on Tumblr advertising probably played a huge role in it too. Twitter skews older, requires desktop opt-in for NSFW content, and (before Musk) had decent content reporting functio…

Do you have any information about this? Where did you hear this? I'd always heard it was because some people at Apple used Twitter, but nobody used Tumblr, so Tumblr didn't get a free pass from arbitrary torment.

Re: Apple’s strict on App Store rules but gives WeChat a free pass (2020)

#64

Post by nextworddev »

lessname wrote: post #16
spacebanana7 wrote: post #4

Much like Adobe did to Macs in the 1990s, WeChat has become so powerful they control the platform. Apple can’t remove WeChat because most consumers would rather change device hardware than lose access to WeChat.

Is it really the power of WeChat or the chinese government though?

They are basically the same

Re: Apple’s strict on App Store rules but gives WeChat a free pass (2020)

#65

Post by xadhominemx »

game_the0ry wrote: post #25

When the west opened trade to China, policy experts assumed China would become more liberal like the west. Instead, the west is becoming more like China. [1, 2, 3] [1] https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/07/googles-web-integrit... [2] https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/07/ready-for-your-e... [3] (countless more examples, especially recently...)

Your example for how the US is becoming more like China is… a crackdown on copyrights? Haha

Re: Apple’s strict on App Store rules but gives WeChat a free pass (2020)

#66

Post by nathansherburn »

woooooo wrote: post #59
derefr wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

China is becoming more liberal in the classical sense (more money accruing to regular "new money" entrepreneurs instead of to oligarchs); they just haven't hit the "borgeoisie-funded revolt against the aristocracy" phase of liberalization yet. Give them 50 years.

They boiled the frog with the bourgeoisie. For a long time, there were workarounds if you're generally smart and educated. Nowadays its a hacker level operation to get on a VPN.

And even if you do get a VPN, the inconvenience and network effects push everyone towards censored Chinese alternatives like Weibo and Youku anyway. One thing I've seen working is western countries investing in high-quality media that caters to Chinese audiences. It's an uphill battle but it seems like a promising way for us to bridge the divide.

Re: Apple’s strict on App Store rules but gives WeChat a free pass (2020)

#67

Post by wkat4242 »

meowtimemania wrote: post #39

I don't totally understand the concept of having an everything app. Isn't the OS the "everything app"? Do people like the wechat experience because you have one login and don't have to go through an onboarding process in every mini-app?

I think they 'like' it more because it's the Chinese communist party control and surveillance tool. So they make it ubiquitous in China. Whether they like it or not doesn't matter. Choice is not really free there.

I mean, there are some other choices but they also answer to the party. It's more for show.

Re: Apple’s strict on App Store rules but gives WeChat a free pass (2020)

#68

Post by em-bee »

meowtimemania wrote: post #39

I don't totally understand the concept of having an everything app. Isn't the OS the "everything app"? Do people like the wechat experience because you have one login and don't have to go through an onboarding process in every mini-app?

the concept is that the primary feature that wechat provides is your identity with your wechat account. you connect to other people and you have verified their identity as well. from there it is most logical that you then want to use that identity to share work, make appointments, pay for things, etc.

the miniapp that we used the most was a voting tool. you could see who in the group had voted for what and it was very useful to have it all integrated, as opposed to an external website where none of the voters were verified to be the same people from the group.

sending money is also a no brainer once you can trust that the person you are sending money to is really the same one. and external payment system means that you would have to verify that the person you are sending money to is the same person you were talking to on wechat. that's just extra steps. if happens of course otherwise alipay would not exist, but part of that is because alibaba has other features (like the market) that people want to use, and they do not support wechat pay. i wuld suspect that if they had supported wechat pay, then alipay would not have been able to gain any significant market share at all.

Re: Apple’s strict on App Store rules but gives WeChat a free pass (2020)

#69

Post by em-bee »

wkat4242 wrote: post #67
meowtimemania wrote: post #39

I don't totally understand the concept of having an everything app. Isn't the OS the "everything app"? Do people like the wechat experience because you have one login and don't have to go through an onboarding process in every mini-app?

I think they 'like' it more because it's the Chinese communist party control and surveillance tool. So they make it ubiquitous in China. Whether they like it or not doesn't matter. Choice is not really free there. I mean, there are some other choices but they also answer to the party. It's more for show.

wechat got popular all on its own. nobody is forced to install wechat. there are also no government services that you might want to use that would "encourage" you to install it.

Re: Apple’s strict on App Store rules but gives WeChat a free pass (2020)

#70

Post by wkat4242 »

em-bee wrote: post #69
wkat4242 wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think they 'like' it more because it's the Chinese communist party control and surveillance tool. So they make it ubiquitous in China. Whether they like it or not doesn't matter. Choice is not really free there. I mean, there are some other choices but they also answer to the party. It's more for show.

wechat got popular all on its own. nobody is forced to install wechat. there are also no government services that you might want to use that would "encourage" you to install it.

No but they make their society depend on it. People don't install it because it's so great, but because without it you can't do anything.

They don't push it on the user side but on the vendor side.

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