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Lol it's funny how Apple conveniently left out the fact that they used Infinity Blade for their own shameless self promotion of the iPhone's prowess over Samsung Galaxy way back in 2010
That has to be a joke. While Infinity Blade certainly showed off the capabilities of the iPhone, Apple could have easily chosen another app. But this presentation probably played a major role putting Epic on the map as a mobile app developer, as well as showcasing the Unreal Engine on mobile for the first time. Epic was also showcased on at least one other keynote as I remember. They benefited hugely from all this free advertising.
 
But why do you think that you buying a $1200 phone is paying for APIs? Does Samsung sell a $1200 and not make the OS that runs on it? Your $1200s pays for Apple to design, manufacturers, supply you with a phone and make themselves a profit. Same way Samsung does when they sell you a $1200 phone. They then have an additional business called the App Store where they invest money in APIs and the store infrastructure which developers provide Apple 30% of their revenue to pay for it and again make apple a profit. You are not subsidising anything for Apple


What do you think APIs are? The phone wouldn't work without them. You couldn't do a single thing without them writing the OS.
 
Here is the thing people really don't understand. Having a lawsuit ready for both Apple and Google, a video prepared, and all the lawyers were prepped even before Epic violated the terms proves that they knew this would happen. Why why sue Apple saying not being on iOS is hurting their business? They knew it would happen, they have only themselves to blame.

Epic mentions that it's "likely to suffer irreparable harm" if Fortnite is not made available on the ‌App Store‌ and that "the balance of harms tips strongly in Epic’s favor," citing that daily iOS active users have already declined by over 60% since the app's initial removal from the ‌App Store‌.

They did it to themselves. How can they sue Apple for this if they did it themselves? They can prevent the "harm" by following Apple's rules.
 
But why do you think that you buying a $1200 phone is paying for APIs? Does Samsung sell a $1200 and not make the OS that runs on it? Your $1200s pays for Apple to design, manufacturers, supply you with a phone and make themselves a profit. Same way Samsung does when they sell you a $1200 phone. They then have an additional business called the App Store where they invest money in APIs and the store infrastructure which developers provide Apple 30% of their revenue to pay for it and again make apple a profit. You are not subsidising anything for Apple

Well if that is the case, then why don't I have access to put whatever I want on the phone I paid $1200 for? why am I locked into apple store, it's just a side business right? Iphone pays for iOS, it did so since before the store.
 
I see stuff all the time that pops up when I am broswing the app store that I would never go searching for on my own. I am pretty sure I am not the only one that does this. Otherwise the entire advertising industry would be out of a job. Basecamp is full of it. They would reach their existing cusomters, but new customers have to have some way to find them. You think the average person looking for a new email app will search for "Hey" or "basecamp"?
Well Hey was invitation only so yeah I‘m sure they were reaching people outside of the App Store. Probably developers or people who listen to tech podcasts. Just last week a pro-Apple poster here said they use the Macstories website to learn about new/interesting apps. Considering all the apps on the App Store it would be impossible for Apple to market them all.

iOS developer Steve Troughton-Smith says what a lot of people are probably thinking:

 
So you’re saying the $1200 they spent on an iPhone doesn’t go to the development of the OS and APIs? Where does that money go then? Tim Cook’s salary?
I’m saying that nobody forced them into buying an iPhone.
 
You most certainly can. Been there, done it. Been there, had others do it to me. You can't enforce a contract without going to court, its often not worth it.

Yes you actually can. I was in a legal issue getting out of a datacenter when I was in contract with them through 2017. I was expected to pay until 2017 but we needed to get out of the data center mid-2017. Guess what, we still had to pay the rest of the months. We had a client that signed a contract that still had to be met even though they stopped using our software before the contract was up.

I sign up for Adobe's 1-year commitment and if I decide 1 month in I need to cancel, I need to pay the 50% of the rest.

I can't just breach any contract I feel like it depending on how I feel one day. That is not how things work.

I can't breach an apartment complex contract that says no pets when I have a dog and expect to still live there. This is not how contracts work.

I can't breach my work's non-compete contract one day just because I feel like it.
 
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What do you think APIs are? The phone wouldn't work without them. You couldn't do a single thing without them writing the OS.
The point is Samsung get their OS for free and still charge $1200 for their phone, so again my question is if $1200 is the price Samsung can sell their phone at and make a profit, how are you subsidising anything? You are simply paying the going rate for a flag ship phone wouldn’t you agree?
 
That still doesn’t tell me what the “tremendous value” is. If there was something special or better that could only be done on iOS but I’m not aware of anything. But how far do we want to take this? Should my ISP and cell carrier get a cut? Without the internet an iPhone would be pretty worthless.

The "tremendous value" is the customer base that Apple has created through its hardware, software, advertising and philosophy. The lionshare of all mobile app revenue comes in through the Apple app store. Whether you like it or agree with it, you cannot dispute that the people who buy iPhones are far and away the people who spend money on Apps. This success didn't happen overnight or by luck, but by a great deal of effort. Access to that customer base is invaluable to any company that wants to make money. One need not be able to identify one specific killer feature that adds tremendous value to recognize that the combined experience has value to a large number of people willing to spend collectively a large sum of money. I don't understand why this is so difficult for some people to understand.
 
It amazes me how people totally side with Apple. I’ll preface, I’m not a developer and I never played fortnite. But I do understand the utility of the operating system.

#1 -what if Ms windows required any app installed on their platform to go through their MS App Store. And any sales from those apps had to pay 30% cut to MS. This includes Apple iTunes music and apps sales on windows. Would this sound fair? It would never make it far and DOJ would eat them Alive. Why is Apple any different with their operating system iOS? After all it is over 52% of mobile phone OS. It makes apple and Google and duopoly. So choice is limited for a vital utility

I think the Apple fan boys need to understand - like computer operating systems, mobile phone OSes like iOS and Android are a utility, and like many utilities, they are regulated and don’t have free rain.
Maybe 10 years ago they were nominal but not not no more.

what’s the fix? Apple needs to allow apps to be installed outside their App Store. This will create competition and lower prices since now Apple will have to convince app devs to post their programs on their App Store.
 
Well if that is the case, then why don't I have access to put whatever I want on the phone I paid $1200 for? why am I locked into apple store, it's just a side business right? Iphone pays for iOS, it did so since before the store.
You do have access to put whatever you want on the phone. Apple can't sue you for jailbreaking your iPhone. But Apple won't provide you with an easy way to put whatever you want on the phone. You can't force Apple to waste its Engineer's time to come up with a way to do whatever you want on the phone just because you paid $1200. If you want, you can even enable developer mode for free and put your own code to run.
 
Yes you actually can. I was in a legal issue getting out of a datacenter when I was in contract with them through 2017. I was expected to pay until 2017 but we needed to get out of the data center mid-2017. Guess what, we still had to pay the rest of the months. We had a client that signed a contract that still had to be met even though they stopped using our software before the contract was up.

I sign up for Adobe's 1-year commitment and if I decide 1 month in I need to cancel, I need to pay the rest.

I can't just breach any contract I feel like it depending on how I feel one day. That is not how things work.

Yes you can.
Seriously what planet do you live on?

I had a Hitachi Windows smartphones on a Sprint business plan back in 2003.
It never worked properly, I argued with with Sprint who claimed they don't support the phone even though the box had their logo and the phone had their logo on it. I eventually declared they were in breach and stopped paying the bill. They sent me to collections, which harassed me for years but they never got a dime. Why? Because I declared them to be in breach of contract and neither side was ever willing to take it to court to enforce it.

You can't force someone to do something in breach of contract without court order, and even there you can drag things out and never get paid. Its all a balance of what is worth the effort you put into resolving it.

You don't get arrested and hauled to jail the day you walk away from a contract.
 
Not defending Epic but can someone tell us what the “tremendous value” it’s receiving from the App Store is?

"Epic, says Apple, has used more than 400 of Apple's APIs and frameworks, five versions of the Apple SDK, has had its apps reviewed more than 200 times, and has pushed more than 140 updates to Apple customers. Apple says that it also provided advertising each time Epic released a new season for Fortnite, offering "free promotion and favorable tweets" to more than 500 million end users."

I can't say if that was tremendous, but it's a lot more than they do for most other developers.
(Which they really can't do, there is only so much space to promote and lots and lots of apps).

Why has Apple done so much? Because they know it's a huge moneymaker and they get a cut.

Would Epic make money if Apple didn't promote them? Yes. But I bet it'd be a lot fewer people (at least 20% less, as that's the magic number).

I'd guess there are developers that would let Apple take a 50% cut for that much free promotion, and I bet those developers would make a lot more in the long run.

Apple speaks as though any money derived from an app on the App Store belongs to Apple and we should be bowing down and thanking Apple for giving 70% of it to developers. That’s totally unfair considering the only way to distribute an app for iOS is via Apple’s App Store. Developers have no choice.

That's LITERALLY the deal the EPIC agreed to. No one tricked them into it.

What if Apple's AGREED cut had been 15% and then saw how much Epic was making and said, "we're going to up that to 30% now"?

Developers have no choice.

Sure they do. They do not have to develop for Apple devices.
 
It amazes me how people totally side with Apple. I’ll preface, I’m not a developer and I never played fortnite. But I do understand the utility of the operating system.

#1 -what if Ms windows required any app installed on their platform to go through their MS App Store. And any sales from those apps had to pay 30% cut to MS. This includes Apple iTunes music and apps sales on windows. Would this sound fair? It would never make it far and DOJ would eat them Alive. Why is Apple any different with their operating system iOS? After all it is over 52% of mobile phone OS. It makes apple and Google and duopoly. So choice is limited for a vital utility

I think the Apple fan boys need to understand - like computer operating systems, mobile phone OSes like iOS and Android are a utility, and like many utilities, they are regulated and don’t have free rain.
Maybe 10 years ago they were nominal but not not no more.

what’s the fix? Apple needs to allow apps to be installed outside their App Store. This will create competition and lower prices since now Apple will have to convince app devs to post their programs on their App Store.

Ahh but Microsoft charges you one way or another for purchase of Windows 10. Do I get to download Windows 10 for bootcamp for free without a licence?
 
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My comment was **I** subsidize the cost of phone and OS development by purchasing the phone. If the Apple Store is making tens of billions in profit and is paying for OS development, then stop charging me $1200 for a dang phone.

Do you see the humor of this situation? "Stop making me want to pay too much for something I don't need." From Apple's point of view, if the phone sells at $1200, it isn't too expensive. As for the customer, either you think the phone is worth $1200 so you pay it, or you don't and you buy something more affordable. If you made a different decision, well.... draw your own conclusions.
 
It amazes me how people totally side with Apple. I’ll preface, I’m not a developer and I never played fortnite. But I do understand the utility of the operating system.

#1 -what if Ms windows required any app installed on their platform to go through their MS App Store. And any sales from those apps had to pay 30% cut to MS. This includes Apple iTunes music and apps sales on windows. Would this sound fair? It would never make it far and DOJ would eat them Alive. Why is Apple any different with their operating system iOS? After all it is over 52% of mobile phone OS. It makes apple and Google and duopoly. So choice is limited for a vital utility

I think the Apple fan boys need to understand - like computer operating systems, mobile phone OSes like iOS and Android are a utility, and like many utilities, they are regulated and don’t have free rain.
Maybe 10 years ago they were nominal but not not no more.

what’s the fix? Apple needs to allow apps to be installed outside their App Store. This will create competition and lower prices since now Apple will have to convince app devs to post their programs on their App Store.

#1 - Windows 10 S

Things would be much better received if Epic FOLLOWED THE RULES but began their campaign against the App Store. But the fact is that they KNEW what would happen when they broke the rules, had lawyers, lawsuits and videos prepared beforehand. Yet they approach the court saying not being on iOS will cause harm to the business. Its a child throwing a tantrum. Epic is not acting properly here.

Even Steve Jobs talking about this YEARS ago fits in this situation nicely.

 
Epic make billions of $ from the app store. Apple makes billions of $ from Epic. If Epic stays off the app store, yes they will lose billions of $ every month BUT they will still be making billions of $ from other revenues, PC, Consoles and android. Where is Apple going to make up the billions of $ it's going to lose? they can't unless they increase prices to compensate what they going to lose.

It's common knowledge in the tech world that the app store is a cash cow for Apple. Software designers, program coders, server admins will tell you that it does not cost Apple millions upon millions to run the app store. One can only speculate how much of the billions of $ Apple made off Epic went into R&D of the Apple Watch or R&D of the latest airpods or R&D towards the next iphone or some other project.

In the bigger picture, Apple has more to lose than Epic does in my opinion. Watch price rises in apple products if Epic stays away from the app store.
 
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Lol it's funny how Apple conveniently left out the fact that they used Infinity Blade for their own shameless self promotion of the iPhone's prowess over Samsung Galaxy way back in 2010

I think they reference providing marketing support and customer reach for Infinity Blade on page three.


Except there is no other App Store on iOS and you must go through Apple to distribute apps. You can't even use open source SDKs without Apple being in the mix for distribution. That is a monopoly. This is very similar to IE and anti-competition back in the day.

I don't think you can build an iOS app without leveraging an Apple's intellectual property either directly or indirectly. Sooner or later any call you make is going to hit an Apple provided API.

Commission, no. But there's no mention of the $100 yearly fee ... Which I feel like is omitted to make Apple look better.

If you're referring to the document Apple filed, check out page 44, line 10. You did read the document?

Like, iOS is the ONLY platform that doesn't let you install apps that Apple hasn't vetted. Even Apple lets you install non-vetted apps on MacOS.

I don't think it'd make sense for Apple to be able to approve what goes onto the Nintendo Switch nor Nintendo approve what goes onto the iPhone. However both companies require approval before publishing for their respective platforms (as does Playstation and Xbox).

I would love to be able to easily sideload apps like you can on Android. But I feel like Epic is more focused on money rather than the rights of developers.

Then why did you buy an iPhone?



But why do you think that you buying a $1200 phone is paying for APIs? Does Samsung sell a $1200 and not make the OS that runs on it? Your $1200s pays for Apple to design, manufacturers, supply you with a phone and make themselves a profit. Same way Samsung does when they sell you a $1200 phone. They then have an additional business called the App Store where they invest money in APIs and the store infrastructure which developers provide Apple 30% of their revenue to pay for it and again make apple a profit. You are not subsidising anything for Apple

Samsung does indeed not make the OS that runs on it, the OS that runs on their devices is called Android and it's made by Google. Google also bundles in their mobile services as well that OEMs are charged a fee if they want to install them on the phones they sell. Samsung also sells their phones for $1200 as well and I think the Flip phones are around $1500.
 
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Well if that is the case, then why don't I have access to put whatever I want on the phone I paid $1200 for? why am I locked into apple store, it's just a side business right? Iphone pays for iOS, it did so since before the store.
When you buy the Samsung phone you get a license for the Android OS and you agree to the terms of using that OS and that will have some positives and negatives. When you buy an iPhone you get a license for iOS and again this has some positives and negatives. Before you buy your $1200 phone you research all the available phones and you assess which one has the features you require most. If wanting to install apps for any source other than the Apple App Store is a feature that is most important then the iPhone wasn’t the right choice for you
 
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