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Apple announces ability to download apps directly from websites in EU

macrumors.com

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Re: Apple announces ability to download apps directly from websites in EU

#61

Post by overstay8930 »

asdp9iujaspid wrote: post #14
overstay8930 wrote: post #5

The app still has to be notarized, this seems logical to me, I’d only be worried if they ever allowed unsigned apps to run. There are plenty of “free Vbucks” and survey sites that show you how to enable sideloading on Android to download said app that is just pure malware.

> worried if they ever allowed unsigned apps to run I see this stance often - Do you mean worried for the wellbeing of the easily manipulable (e.g. children) on the platform, Or worried for the quality floor more generally? The former has an argument, the latter does not in my opinion. Even then while I welcome a requirement for apple to notarise apps for regular install (particularly as a means to verify the source)…

I worry about my family both young and old who all had adware and malware ridden Android phones before I got them iPhones.

The vast majority of people use smartphones against their will and have no desire to learn anything about the magical Facebook machine in their hands.

They press buttons and things happen, who cares what the dialog box says, they press the button that will get them doing what they want to do the fastest, who cares if it said whatever they were doing is dangerous. This is how most people view their phones, and why there are Android botnets and not iOS botnets.

Re: Apple announces ability to download apps directly from websites in EU

#62

Post by noirscape »

lapcat wrote: post #3

This is just more malicious compliance by Apple. Indie developers are completely locked out of web distribution, and it applies only to developers who are already paying the Apple tax. > To be eligible for Web Distribution, you must: > Be a member of good standing in the Apple Developer Program for two continuous years or more, and have an app that had more than one million first annual installs on iOS in the EU in t…

> and have an app that had more than one million first annual installs on iOS in the EU in the prior calendar year.

In other words the option is still a joke not worth using. "Yes, you can distribute independently... as long as you've already been popular on the iOS App Store in the past year".

Re: Apple announces ability to download apps directly from websites in EU

#63

Post by [deleted] »

klaustopher wrote: post #57
isodev wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m so tired of this, instead of doing the right thing, Apple just keeps trying to brute force the legal framework. You don’t need fancy legal team to know this is not the way.

From a business point, I can totally understand what Apple is doing. Making this as painful and unpredictable (as a developer you never know if your app will be successfull and gain more than 1 million installs) is the way to keep developers using the old contract and keep them on the app store. This makes sense for Apple to find every loophole possible ... As a consumer, and an Apple users, I want them to be slapped…

[deleted]

Re: Apple announces ability to download apps directly from websites in EU

#64

Post by klaustopher »

frizlab wrote: post #59
klaustopher wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From a business point, I can totally understand what Apple is doing. Making this as painful and unpredictable (as a developer you never know if your app will be successfull and gain more than 1 million installs) is the way to keep developers using the old contract and keep them on the app store. This makes sense for Apple to find every loophole possible ... As a consumer, and an Apple users, I want them to be slapped…

Funny how things go. As a consumer especially, but even as a developer I don’t want the DMA to succeed and purposefully want iOS to be a walled garden. It’s literally one of the reasons why I’m on iOS!

That's the nice thing about the DMA ... Nobody forces you to install a 3rd party app store, nobody forces you to install apps from websites, nobody forces you out of the walled garden. For you nothing changes. Those that want to use their 1000€ device differently than you now have the chance to.

Re: Apple announces ability to download apps directly from websites in EU

#65

Post by Hamuko »

procgen wrote: post #24
internetter wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The EU has always been enthusiastic about the spirit of the law, and Apple is not used to this. You can see their temper tantrum unfold every time they find this out.

Disregarding the letter of the law seems arbitrary and capricious.

The situation in the US seems to suggest that trying to finely analyze the exact sequence of words in a law or the consitution still leaves a whole lot of room for arbitrary decisions. Abortion was a constitutional right until it wasn't and the constitution was not changed between.

Re: Apple announces ability to download apps directly from websites in EU

#67

Post by bogwog »

> Alternative app marketplaces. Marketplaces can choose to offer a catalog of apps solely from the developer of the marketplace.

How does that count as a "marketplace"?

> Web Distribution ... will let authorized developers distribute their iOS apps to EU users directly from a website owned by the developer

All of this just makes it crystal clear what Apple's goal is: to prevent competition. It's not about security like they've been lying about; it's all about maintaining their app store monopoly.

Re: Apple announces ability to download apps directly from websites in EU

#68

Post by jwells89 »

fxtentacle wrote: post #12

"The Core Technology Fee (CTF) is an element of the business terms in the EU that reflects the value Apple provides developers through ongoing investments in the tools, technologies, and services that enable them to build and share innovative apps with users around the world." I feel sick. Yet, I am intrigued by what kind of drugs the PR team at Apple is taking... ;) In my opinion, Apple's proprietary APIs provide a…

Having tracked API changes fairly closely on macOS and iOS for many years now, I can’t think of too many that were just pointless furniture shuffling. Nearly all of them were to enable addition of new features or to improve developer QoL in some way — dropping 32-bit support for example allowed them to make long desired improvements in AppKit that were impractical prior due to quirks in the way Objective-C works.

That said I also don’t think it’s a reasonable expectation for old binaries to continue to work indefinitely. Maintenance is a reality of life of a software developer, and personally speaking if I found myself unable or unwilling to do quick spot checks on each platform my apps run at least once a year, I’d just drop support for those platforms or discontinue the app.

That’s not to say that Apple is blameless here, but I think Microsoft has set an unrealistic standard (while also making some things much more difficult for themselves… Windows on ARM for example will never materialize so long as developers expect to be able to toss a binary over the wall and abandon it for a decade, because no matter how good an x86 compat layer is, it’s still significantly worse than native).

Re: Apple announces ability to download apps directly from websites in EU

#69

Post by internetter »

frizlab wrote: post #59
klaustopher wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From a business point, I can totally understand what Apple is doing. Making this as painful and unpredictable (as a developer you never know if your app will be successfull and gain more than 1 million installs) is the way to keep developers using the old contract and keep them on the app store. This makes sense for Apple to find every loophole possible ... As a consumer, and an Apple users, I want them to be slapped…

Funny how things go. As a consumer especially, but even as a developer I don’t want the DMA to succeed and purposefully want iOS to be a walled garden. It’s literally one of the reasons why I’m on iOS!

For years Apple has placed deliberately crafted limitations on 3rd party apps that put theirs at an advantage. They've done anything but treat developers fairly. If they did, maybe this legislation was unneeded, but with the way they've been acting, it feels like a long time coming.

Edit: self plug: https://boehs.org/node/private-apis

Re: Apple announces ability to download apps directly from websites in EU

#70

Post by lutoma »

ano-ther wrote: post #2

> We’re providing more flexibility for developers who distribute apps in the European Union (EU), including introducing a new way to distribute apps directly from a developer’s website.

Important limitation if you click through to the "Getting ready for Web Distribution in the EU" page:

> To be eligible for Web Distribution, you must [...] be a member of good standing in the Apple Developer Program for two continuous years or more, and have an app that had more than one million first annual installs on iOS in the EU in the prior calendar year.

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