That's a huge loss in my opinion.
Apple just kicked Fortnite off the App Store
961–970 of 1001 posts
Re: Apple just kicked Fortnite off the App Store
#962Earlier quoted context omitted.
The analogy holds. If I need a replacement part for my Nespresso (app updates) and I order that on Amazon, then Amazon gets their cut for facilitating and fulfilling the delivery of this replacement part. That's reasonable, because you are taking some portion of proceeds from a transaction that you have a hand in . What is not reasonable is for Apple to take a cut from transactions that do not need to involve them. I…
I explicitly stated that I wasn't siding with Apple, because I expected exactly this response. Your analogy can be bad without you being wrong in your opinion.
I didn't say you were siding with Apple. I stand by and fleshed out my analogy. It's not bad.
Re: Apple just kicked Fortnite off the App Store
#963Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Personally, I would argue that consumers should have a legal right to install whatever software they wish on a product they have purchased, including onto the bundled operating system I fundamentally disagree and this is also a misrepresentation of the current situation. If I buy an open operating system which advertises that I can run on it what pleases me then I should have the right to carry out this freedom of…
If a company informs in advance, a job of 12 hours a day paying less then minimum wages, should they be allowed to hire people against it?
That’s not an apt comparison because it’s questionable whether what Apple is doing is illegal or not. OTOH, paying below minimum is explicitly illegal.
A better comparison would be hiring people at a maximum of 10 hours a week, and then the employee getting upset they don’t get 11+ hours.
Re: Apple just kicked Fortnite off the App Store
#964It's not Apple vs. Fortnite. It's actually Apple vs. Users. Apple has been taking us for a ride this whole time. We pay damn much and buy the phone. It is the user's property from then on. What the user install's and uninstall's from his phone should be his decision. Taking a cut of say, 3%, to keep the app store running is forgivable. But 30% digging into users pocket is unpardonable. Apple is no longer the underdog…
I'm fine with Apple taking 30%, 50%, or 90% of revenue on the App Store. Running the App Store isn't free, and Apple is the party best positioned to assess their own costs. However, the App Store should not be the only way to install software on my phone.
Critically, if I was able to sideload apps, Apple wouldn't charge 90%, because then no developer would ever use the store. A central repository of curated, vetted apps is a key selling point for the iPhone. Apple will want to maintain that feature, as they should, but they have to put in the work to compete.
Re: Apple just kicked Fortnite off the App Store
#965Earlier quoted context omitted.
I hope it does. Monopolies lead to stagnation, rising prices, and inferior product quality. Even though Apple is not a monopoly in the strict sense, I think we consumers will benefit from alternative app store - or Apple opening up the platform. I believe one can still have (moderately) secure ecosystem without it being a walled garden.
If you have an iPhone the Appstore is unquestionably a monopoly. At least Google can make the case you can install other app stores so the monopoly claim is weaker.
If you want a Ford then the Ford Motor Company is unquestionably a monopoly
Re: Apple just kicked Fortnite off the App Store
#966Earlier quoted context omitted.
Super easy? There is no way to install an app in your iPhone to export you iMessages or render websites using Gecko short of exploiting it.
If you want a messaging app that’s easier to hack you can always download one. See: Jeff Bezos‘ WhatsApp hacked
I’m having trouble engaging with your comment in good faith when it looks like you’re implying that the ability to access messages I have sent that are sitting locked up in my own device makes it “easier to hack”?
Re: Apple just kicked Fortnite off the App Store
#967Imagine if Microsoft did this on PCs. a) prohibiting the installation of non-windows store software (sideloading) and b) insisting that all purchases done via apps give them a 30% cut. I think this is a ridiculous practice on the behalf of Apple.
Poor analogy. iOS does not have the market dominance that Windows/Microsoft has. In this case, iPhones represent about 15% of the global smartphone sales and I think that the OS (in the US) is a 60/40 iOS vs android split. There is a viable market. Developers, unwilling to pay the Apple fee, can switch to Android. If more apps are available on Android, that will shift the users away from iOS to Android. When I see fo…
A reasonable percentage is the one that Apple would charge if it had competition. Apple obviously cares about user experience, and does not want iOS apps to be split between multiple stores, so if they had to allow alternative install sources they would likely drop their fees by a lot, to make sure that developers have no incentive to promote alternative app stores. That lowered fee is the one developers should have been paying all along.
If you really put the squeeze to them, the "natural" price would probably be a bit below cost for them, because the availability of apps is a selling point for their high-margin phones and tablets. That is why they are willing to host free apps, after all. (Although even then they take the developer fee)
Re: Apple just kicked Fortnite off the App Store
#968Earlier quoted context omitted.
What nonsense. As an Apple customer, the App store is the number one reason I use them - I dont want malware or scummy developers on my phone and I am happy with Apple charging a fee to developers in this manner. It's not like anyone going to switch phones because your app is not on there. Your app is just one of many other apps I use on my phone. Developers are very much looking at this the wrong way - the 30% fee i…
> I dont want malware or scummy developers on my phone Despite what many folks say, the App Store review process doesn't protect from bad developer behavior. See the various controversies surrounding social media apps that used many shady tracking techniques. And those apps are among the most popular... you'd think they would be "reviewed" more thoroughly!
What would a future perfect review system look like?
How well do Apple, Google, Microsoft perform against that perfect system? What resources do they dedicate to the task?
There's apparently some ways for malware to avoid detection. So yet another arms race whackamole.
Frankly, as a noob consumer, it's exhausting. It definitely impacts my spending.
FWIW, one of my besties worked on an audit tool which runs apps in a sandbox, screening for malware and whatnot. My impression was that it was a lot of effort for little reward.
In conclusion, sorry for braindump, thank you for reading this far:
Freemium will be sidelined into its own wasteland. Like that recent piece about journalism: "truth is expensive, lies are free."
Re: Apple just kicked Fortnite off the App Store
#969Most folks on Twitter are siding with apple on this. I think this is mostly thanks to Epics horrible way of explaining this.
I feel they could have gone with this much simpler explanation and everyone would be happy;
"We have no problem giving apple 30% if we use their infrastructure. But if we use our own and save 30%, we want to be able give our customers lower prices"
Btw, the ad mostly confused their (mostly young ) players.
Re: Apple just kicked Fortnite off the App Store
#970Time and time again I wonder how Apple manages to avoid rules/laws which are applicable for all other players in the market.
More than a decade ago the EU forced manufacturers of mobile phones to commit to one standard for power plugs. Everybody used micro USB except Apple.
Microsoft had to pay a huge fine because the didn't let the user choose which browser they wanted to use and simply brought the Internet Explorer as the default with every Windows. Apple still doesn't even allow users to install alternative browsers. Yes, from the outside it looks like you can install a Firefox, but inside it is still a Safari for which Apple denies building critical APIs like e.g. the Push API [1] (which is available for all major browsers except Safari and the use cases go far beyond push notifications, like chat apps and background synchronization of data).
The App Store is yet another example. Many other platform providers allow you to install additional Software through other means than the default source (Android, Windows, Linux, etc.). I am glad a major player like Epic takes the issue head-on and hope, that in the end the eco-system will benefit as a whole.