Apple Encourages Developers to Get Their Mac Apps Notarized

[thislsmadness]

Amazon, eBay, Newegg, they all allow 3rd party sales for significantly less then what Apple charges. Also, Apple's App Store doesn't give sellers anywhere near as much traffic as you think it does. We're talking about the Mac App Store, not iOS. If it had even HALF of what the iOS store traffic gives, then it wouldn't be as dead as it is today. (this is just my personal opinion of course).
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That's one sure fire way to kill the Pro market beyond Apple's neglect of that segment.

I agree that the Mac App Store is dead and developers are better off not bothering with it. That said, the 30% is pretty just the industry standard for digital store fronts. For instance, Amazon doesn't ask 30% from their warehouse sellers but they do if you want to put an app on their App Store. Amazon, google, Steam, GoG, Microsoft, ect... there's only a handful of small indy centric stores like itch.io that dont.

 

[kalsta]

Figure it's for "advertising" their apps. Though I agree, 30% is an obscene figure for Apple to charge. The App Store is so dead right now, you'd of thought Apple would of dropped that fee long ago. I've literally only paid for ONE app since the Mac Store inception (Pixelmator).

'You'd have thought Apple would have dropped that fee'. (Sorry, one 'of' I could have overlooked, but two in a row… that just brings out the grammar nazi in me.)

 

[mrex]

I still don't get this attitude. Sell your app at Best Buy and see how much they charge you to do that. Most retail items are priced at 50-100% of what they get them for.

Good luck opening your own store to sell you app, or creating your own website and getting anywhere near the same traffic and sales.

Owning a storefront is a BIG thing. There aren't that many. Nobody gives people free or near free access to their stores. It costs a lot of money. Spend hundreds of thousands of dollars and open an app store yourself, and charge people 1%. See how that works for you.

What?? I go to the page of the developer and buy it from there or some other way. You dont need to open a store or a webstore and start marketing them to get the trafic. And i dont think that there is much trafic in mac appstore and visibility. I dont even remember when i used it on the last time... It is internet : When there are good softwares to buy, people finds them all the time - without mac appstore.

 

[Starfia]

You dont need to open a store or a webstore and start marketing them to get the trafic. And i dont think that there is much trafic in mac appstore and visibility.

There's a ton of traffic for some developers who win the popularity contest or get featured – you're probably right that there's work for newer, smaller or niche apps to make it in the Mac App Store.

It has a few hurdles developers and customers find annoying, but there's no question for me; I always buy Mac App Store versions of apps if they're available – the security, ease of installation and redownloadability are all plusses there.

There's some cost to developers to use it, but that cost covers every concern related to hosting, distribution payment processing, and a bunch of hassle with respect to device compatibility. As a developer, I'm pretty certain I'm putting my first Mac app there too.

 

[stephanep]

As said in some comments, security concern from Apple seems to me bullsh*t PR to start to slowly boil the proverbial frog.

It's exactly the same marketing strategy used by the company to introduce that chip intended to check Apple hardware integrity and prevent user to repair their mac themself or by third-party repair shop with third-party hardware.

If it quacks like a duck...

 

[SyneRyder]

Amazon doesn't ask 30% from their warehouse sellers but they do if you want to put an app on their App Store. Amazon, google, Steam, GoG, Microsoft, ect... there's only a handful of small indy centric stores like itch.io that dont.

Microsoft only takes a 5% cut on the Windows Store now: https://www.businessinsider.com.au/microsoft-store-taking-5-cut-of-all-apps-2018-5

 

[Val-kyrie]

The Mac App Store is deader than a dead zombie. Why would any developer pay Apple 30% when they can just have people buy a license from their website/store and keep all the money?

Why? For the same reason retaiers will pay $200 per square foot for pace in a shopping mall. The are buying customers they would otherwise never get.

If you owned shoe store you could save a lot of money by renting space some place cheaper but then how many peoplr would walk in from of your store. At the Mall you have customers who did not even know about your company and foubd out about you because there were there for some other reason. The App Store is very much like that.

I still don't get this attitude. Sell your app at Best Buy and see how much they charge you to do that. Most retail items are priced at 50-100% of what they get them for.

Good luck opening your own store to sell you app, or creating your own website and getting anywhere near the same traffic and sales.

Owning a storefront is a BIG thing. There aren't that many. Nobody gives people free or near free access to their stores. It costs a lot of money. Spend hundreds of thousands of dollars and open an app store yourself, and charge people 1%. See how that works for you.

App developers currently have the option to own their own store space (e.g. website) in which to sell their software. Not all developers want or need space in Apple's (App) store. Not all developers need exposure from Apple. Why would a developer pay 30% of their income to Apple for something which they neither need nor want?

In fact, all of the apps I purchased are direct from the developer. I don't need Apple to regulate my computer and developers don't need Apple to sell their software.

Given the amount of malware and the many mechanisms being used to deliver it, I think this a good step for the vast majority of users. It doesn’t say Apple is going to approve of the content just scan it for malware and sign it.

Notarisation would only focus on absence of malware. It's not a functional approval process by Apple - and also doesn't mean your software must go through the Mac App Store. They specifically stated that during WWDC.

Does Apple guarantee that they won't eventually require all apps to be approved?

There's no escaping the Apple Tax.
If you read the details on Apple's site that was linked, notorization will be required in future versions of MacOS.
The MacApp store may he dead but Apple will still require developers to pay a tax to play on their platform.

Unfortunately Apple seems to be [in] a slow [march] to totally locking down macOS like iOS is locked down. This is my primary fear of the Mac line switching to ARM-based CPUs. I bet that change would come bundled with a version of macOS that can only run apps downloaded through the app store and no web downloads period.

This is exactly where Apple is going. Microsoft and Google too. We are moving toward walled gardens and now the major tech companies--MS, Google, and Apple--all want their piece of the streaming revenue pie. Apple and Google are already preparing consumers to purchase software through their respective mobile app stores and MS is trying this with Windows S. When the industry moves to ARM-based CPUs, the user's freedom will be restricted and removed all in the name of security.

 

[oneMadRssn]

This is exactly where Apple is going. Microsoft and Google too. We are moving toward walled gardens and now the major tech companies--MS, Google, and Apple--all want their piece of the streaming revenue pie. Apple and Google are already preparing consumers to purchase software through their respective mobile app stores and MS is trying this with Windows S. When the industry moves to ARM-based CPUs, the user's freedom will be restricted and removed all in the name of security.

If/when they do, I will go all-in on Linux for my desktop/laptop computer needs.

 

[mrex]

always buy Mac App Store versions of apps if they're available – the security, ease of installation and redownloadability are all plusses there.

you know that the app in mac appstore and on the page of the developer may differ in the functionality while the mac appstore app may lack of some feature and being more restricted? and for that reason some apps can not even be sold in mac appstore.

 

[stephanep]

F*ck...

I'm only a 2 year osx fan. I love my macbook 12 and prefer by far OSX to Linux. Linux desktops interface are like dusty computers from the '90 compared to the possibilities offered by osx and the desktop additions made by third parties developer. For example, the trackpad gestures have not evolved in years. It's still stuck to basic 1/2 finger(s) movements and that's it. They don't seem to look for inspirations from other ecosystems.

But if Apple close the software ecosystem, I will either stay in Mojave or switch back to Linux.
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Microsoft only takes a 5% cut on the Windows Store now: https://www.businessinsider.com.au/microsoft-store-taking-5-cut-of-all-apps-2018-5

But how long will it last ?

 

[Starfia]

you know that the app in mac appstore and on the page of the developer may differ in the functionality while the mac appstore app may lack of some feature and being more restricted? and for that reason some apps can not even be sold in mac appstore.

Yes, I know that. I've bought some apps that aren't available on the Mac App Store if they can't work with its restrictions – example: CodeKit, which runs its own server and relies on direct manipulation of the file system. I'm saying that if apps are sufficiently unencumbered to be available both on and off the store, I always go with the store version.

 

[techwhiz]

Apple should not be using the term "notarized".
Using the term implies Notary Public or a notarial act.
They should call if certified or something else.