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Apple Announces App Store Small Business Program

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Re: Apple Announces App Store Small Business Program

#611

Post by lern_too_spel »

heavyset_go wrote: post #586
neolog wrote: post #573

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not get an Android device?

Android is hobbled, as well. The only way to implement automatic upgrading, background installation or batch upgrading/installation of apps is via the Play Store. Not only that, but most people have no idea how to side load apps, and Android doesn't make it easy. Both Google and Apple have kept a stranglehold on the mobile app distribution market for over a decade now.

Automatic updating is technically possible for any system app, including Samsung's app store on Samsung's devices.

It is still far better than iOS, and it might get better: I have seen Google employees comment on here that the next release of Android could allow the install apps permission to non-system apps.

Re: Apple Announces App Store Small Business Program

#612

Post by forest_dweller »

stale2002 wrote: post #535
forest_dweller wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If I have a link on my site that takes a customer directly to the store page, and they buy it, then Apple did nothing at all to earn an "affiliate" level payout. They didn't drive any traffic. The store provides you visibility through promotion on the store page, being listed in search and taking payment for the purchase. This would be no different than if a boxed piece of software was in a brick and mortar retaile…

The anti-competitive and illegal behavior that Apple is doing is preventing alternative app stores from being on the IPhone. This actions prevents other app stores from undercutting apple's prices. Epic's app store, for example, would take 12%, instead of 30%. This would help consumers if they were allowed to use it.

> The anti-competitive and illegal behavior that Apple is doing is preventing alternative app stores from being on the IPhone.

And that has nothing to do with the revenue share.

> This actions prevents other app stores from undercutting apple's prices.

Sure. But it doesn't mean the revenue share they currently have is unfair.

Other companies have a similar revenue share on their platforms on open platforms. So that suggests to me that it is fair.

> Epic's app store, for example, would take 12%, instead of 30%. This would help consumers if they were allowed to use it.

Would it? It will help developers but it wouldn't necessarily reduce the prices for the games because the market price for a AAA game is still what £50? The devs would make more money per unit sold I would suspect.

Re: Apple Announces App Store Small Business Program

#613

Post by valuearb »

pja wrote: post #467
valuearb wrote: post #409

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Spoken by someone who is clearly not an Apple App Store developer. If you were an App developer like myself, you'd realize what a huge change this was. First, most Apple devs don't care about alternate app stores. Those provide nearly zero additional revenues to devs on every platform they are available. Second, most Apple devs don't want the Apple App Store to lose it's primacy, they realize that it's hugely benefic…

Apple has bought off small App vendors in order to protect the 30% rake they take from the big sellers: That you’re happy with the change is not exactly surprising is it? Who wouldn’t be happy being told they’re getting a 21% revenue increase for nothing! Meanwhile, Apple continues to use their dominant position to extract 30% of the revenue of the most profitable Apps, whilst people like you go out to bat for them.…

They didn’t buy us off. Most of us NEVER agreed with your loony progressive policies.

Re: Apple Announces App Store Small Business Program

#614

Post by lukeschlather »

smachiz wrote: post #610
fbelzile wrote: post #592

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What is stopping us from demanding a legislative solution that requires Apple to open up the iOS platform to allow installation of apps outside its sanctioned ecosystem? Apple is already tying two products together (App Store commissions and iOS). I think the answer is to have a court opinion declare that app store commissions are not naturally related to iOS. It shouldn't be too hard to prove this given that third…

You are not a lawyer I presume. This isn't remotely related to tying - and buying an iPhone doesn't force you to buy anything at all from the app store. And it's completely unrelated to any commissions from the App store. If you read more of the wikipedia article, you'll see Apple and Microsoft come up - but either entirely different issues that are wholly unrelated to their App Store pricing.

The point is that this is analogous to Microsoft shipping Internet Explorer with Windows to try and kill Netscape. Apple does the same thing with their app store. Except this goes a step further: imagine how the Microsoft antitrust suit would have gone if in addition to shipping a free competing product, Microsoft had built something into Windows so that Netscape wouldn't run at all and demanded Netscape only sell their browser through Microsoft Internet Explorer with Microsoft taking a 30% commission.

Re: Apple Announces App Store Small Business Program

#615

Post by Andys »

johannes1234321 wrote: post #604
freedomben wrote: post #599

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Not only that, but most people have no idea how to side load apps, and Android doesn't make it easy. I completely disagree. I'm not sure how they could make it much easier without defaulting to allowing it. Download the APK, open it, click install (or if the setting disallows it, follow the prompt to change the setting).

The tour via settings isn't that easy for "Joe Average" and updating isn't easy as well.

This is a good thing! It shouldn't be too easy, just easily possible for someone who knows what they're doing (What we used to call "power users", what happened to those?)

Re: Apple Announces App Store Small Business Program

#616

Post by askvictor »

saagarjha wrote: post #4

This is good for smaller developers, but it doesn't really seem to solve the actual problem? All the people who are willing to go to war with Apple and have teeth are making way more than that…

In a warped sort of way, I can think it would be useful to have it the other way around. A small developer doesn't have the resources to build and maintain their own billing system, promotion, etc, so 30% is probably reasonable. A larger developer, however, can, or already has those things, so to being forced to pay 30% is not reasonable. That's before we consider margins rather than takings.

Re: Apple Announces App Store Small Business Program

#617

Post by mdorazio »

johannes1234321 wrote: post #604
freedomben wrote: post #599

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Not only that, but most people have no idea how to side load apps, and Android doesn't make it easy. I completely disagree. I'm not sure how they could make it much easier without defaulting to allowing it. Download the APK, open it, click install (or if the setting disallows it, follow the prompt to change the setting).

The tour via settings isn't that easy for "Joe Average" and updating isn't easy as well.

Does it still nag you repeatedly about your device settings being insecure as well after you enable it to load from non-Play sources? It's been a while since I was on Android, but remember that being immensely unfriendly to the whole idea.

Re: Apple Announces App Store Small Business Program

#618

Post by stryker7001 »

johannes1234321 wrote: post #604
freedomben wrote: post #599

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Not only that, but most people have no idea how to side load apps, and Android doesn't make it easy. I completely disagree. I'm not sure how they could make it much easier without defaulting to allowing it. Download the APK, open it, click install (or if the setting disallows it, follow the prompt to change the setting).

The tour via settings isn't that easy for "Joe Average" and updating isn't easy as well.

Joe average doesn’t want to sideload apps. That’s what people don’t understand on here.

Re: Apple Announces App Store Small Business Program

#619

Post by mdorazio »

Aissen wrote: post #15

Weird how this is the exact opposite of Valve's strategy: > For all sales between $10 million and $50 million, the split goes to 25 percent. And for every sale after the initial $50 million, Steam will take just a 20 percent cut. https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/30/18120577/valve-steam-gam...

Valve's strategy is actually the norm for the business world in general. The more business you do with a supplier/platform, the cheaper your unit costs get. If you're a small business buying 100 widgets, the price per widget is a lot higher than if you're a big business buying 100,000. Same with normal SaaS - try calling Stripe and asking them for a fee discount on your $100 revenue/month app vs. asking them for the same discount on your $1,000,000 revenue/month app.

The reason Apple doesn't use this normal model is that the mobile app market is completely screwed up - you get exactly two real choices for distribution if you want to make any money at all as a small developer.

Re: Apple Announces App Store Small Business Program

#620

Post by drawkbox »

Great news.

The only concern I have is Apple has incentive to promote higher take apps over lower take, so they benefit more from pushing the 30% take apps over the 15% take.

As long as we don't end up with a tiered App Store like XBOX Arcade or Steam Greenlight back in the day then all good. If the 15% apps become pushed less that is no fun.

There is some benefit to a standard price market, most stores are 30% [1]. Tencent MyApp was even 55% until 2019 [1]. Epic Games is 12% but they said they are profitable around 7%-8% [1][2]. Steam, Sony, Google, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon all 30%[1].

If everyone went to 15-20% across the board it would be better. I am concerned about tiering of the market and down the line lower take apps being less pushed.

[1] https://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/SimonCarless/20200903/369516...

[2] https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/341249/Heres_why_the_Epi...

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