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As Darrell brooks would say I don’t understand what’s going on. Is that a lawful law? Just mind boggling.
 
All in all, the App Store is a complete mess, having some unrelated ads does make it only marginal worse. There is way to much garbage and no feature at all to sort through that garbage.

For a long time I have not locked for apps in the store. Iy buy apps of wich I read a review, e.g. in a magazine but the times I scrolled through the store to find anything interesting are long gone.
 
Tim Cook made iPhone 14 lineup stupidly expensive in europe, iPad lineup is a complete mess and they raised prices for them and older iPads. Tim Cook raised prices for their services and now ads in App Store.

I'd say it was the stronger USD that made the iPhone 14 lineup "stupidly expensive" in Europe. At the current exchange rate and using Germany as an example, the pre-sales tax price ($829 USD) of the 128GB iPhone 14 in the U.S. is practically the same as the pre-VAT price (834 € or $833 USD) of the same phone in Germany. Prices went up in Europe because of the stronger USD.
 
I don’t gamble but lots of apps are problematic. Social media apps give teen girls depression, video games are basically gambling apps now, etc etc

As long as the apps are advertised on age appropriate apps I don’t see a problem with this. Every time I watch a sports channel on YouTube I give 5 ads for better apps… big deal. It’s an ad.
 
Also…everyone clamoring for an open App Store and hoping the govt forces it…this is how it has to be paid for so expect more of this as apple has to make adjustments from court battles. Hosting the App Store isn’t free. It has to be paid for.
 
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Try telling apple that when junior runs up 500 dollars in coins or whatever garbage apple allows to be peddled to him. Apple will simply say too bad. We support our garbage app. And if you think about disputing it with cc well ban your Apple ID.
Don’t parental controls allow IAPs to be blocked?
 
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Does Apple pay its contract manufacturers in China in US dollars or in Chinese currency?
What does that have to do with my reply? The commenter I replied to blamed Tim Cook for increased prices in Europe. Inflation over the past year in the EU is almost 11%. The U.S. dollar is up about 16% versus the Euro over the past year.

In any case if we want to talk about China, the U.S. dollar is up against the Yuan by over 14% in the past year. Inflation and currency exchanges influence all aspects of a business. A stronger dollar can go further in overseas purchases but it also means Apple's profits outside the U.S. are worth less. This means that Apple might be able to get more in other countries for the dollar because Apple can buy more other currency with less U.S. dollars (we are holding inflation constant in this situation, which isn't true in real life). However, as already mentioned, it also means that sales outside the U.S. bring in less revenue in U.S. dollars. As a U.S.-based company, Apple measures incomes and profits in U.S. dollars so a strong dollar is usually a problem with a lot of international business. The larger problem are rapidly changing currency exchanges. A strong U.S. dollar is fine as long as it's relatively stable compared to other currencies.

Back to the main topic now. Apple has been eating some inflation over the years though. An example I've given before is this: the iPhone X released at $1000 in the U.S in 2017. The 14 Pro was also $1000 in 2022. Inflation in the U.S. is up about 21% in that time. This means there was an effective price cut of 21% over the past 5 years for the flagship phone. The Pro Max is $1100. That’s still less than the inflation adjusted X price.

What about Germany, which is part of the EU and thus more directly relevant to my reply to the other commenter? The iPhone X released at 1149 Euro in 2017. Factoring in inflation, 1149 Euro in 2017 is 1312 in 2022 in Germany. The iPhone 14 Pro costs 1299 Euro in Germany. That means the newest comparable flagship phone price matches inflation over that time (in fact is slightly cheaper). This doesn't even factor in currency exchange differences, which make the conversion back to U.S. dollars worse right now. This means Apple is in fact, still eating some of the inflation and currency exchange factors instead of passing that on to consumers.
 
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I don't see what the problem is. It's no different than going to the super market and having an employee shove gambling and casino ads in your face. Think of it like how a super market will "place indulgencies next to necessities (eg. candy next to water) and/or place items directly in the line of travel, so that you must look at them."

Looking for an app to help manage your finances (a necessity)? Now you'll see an ad for a gambling app to cater to your indulgencies. This is totally normal, right @vegetassj4 ?

:rolleyes:

I go to the supermarket to buy food and other items. Imagine if after walking down an aisle every few feet/meters/your preferred unit of distance :p a Kroger employee shoved an ad (flyer) in my face. I'd be absolutely livid.

This is basically what Apple is doing.
On a similar note, lots of grocery stores purposely change where products are located, place indulgencies next to necessities (eg. candy next to water) and/or place items directly in the line of travel, so that you must look at them. Has a similar effect to advertising.
 
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Pretty bad, those gambling business has a lot of money. They will keep throwing money as long as they can to push ads up in sight anywhere.

This is pretty much like on the web without adblocker, those of gambling ads.
 
Can someone explain why the App Store needs ads? What is the point? Who benefits? Are developers actually seeing an increase in downloads and purchases because of ads in the App Store? And IF Apple must have ads in the App Store could they be a bit more intelligent about them? I just saw a screenshot of a gambling addiction recovery app that had a casino add at the bottom of its listing. 🤦🏼‍♀

 
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Why stop here, Tim? Go ahead and put ads in Apple TV's interface! Put them on the MacOS desktop! Put them in your iWork apps! It's free money for your shareholders, why not? Nobody will care, they're used to ads everywhere these days.
 
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I don’t say this often, but Steve really wouldn’t have allowed this. I don’t think Apple has the internal sensibility to know how scummy this is anymore.
Of course Steve Jobs wouldn't have allowed this. But Tim Cook isn't running Apple the way Steve Jobs would have because Jobs told Cook to don't second guess himself and to "never ask what I would do. Just do what's right." Jobs didn't want Cook to waste time thinking and talking about what Jobs would do.

Apparently, Cook thinks running these obnoxious ads is what'$ right. :rolleyes:
 
Can someone explain why the App Store needs ads? What is the point? Who benefits?
Apple's profit margins. No Apple customer should defend it or really be happy about it, yet some are. Who likes ads, except those making money off them?
 
I'm kinda frustrated. I switched to a Galaxy S22 Ultra earlier this year because frankly I like the hardware better than any current iPhone. I've been an Apple user my entire life and have had an iPhone since the first gen. But I switched back to iPhone with the 14 Pro Max because Samsung and Google also have a lot of sponsored content all over their 'premium' devices. Now Apple started doing it, adding to the general disappointment of their hardware and software announcements this year.
 
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