@Rob_2811
As it currently stands, the iOS App Store model is still very popular with consumers and there is simply no evidence of widespread developer backlash or uprising.
I guess that is what's missing from all this reporting. It's all "Disgruntled developers vs Apple", and I am especially wary of Epic, whose intentions are clearly less than pure. As a consumer, I am not really seeing what is in it for me, and have also identified a few areas where the user experience would potentially end up being worse for me.
You clearly feel that developers do deserve better treatment and a better deal out of all this, but I maintain that the consumer's voice deserves to be heard as well, because any change to the App Store model also has implications on us as users.
First of all 'makes it possible for an independent developer to reach a billion Apple users' is a false value. This would still be possible without the app store, in fact it would be easier for some services that are basically impossible because of Apples restrictive app store policies.
The App Store makes it way easier for a user to locate an app (I just need to visit the App Store and search for it) and download it. It's a trusted marketplace for users, and the use of biometrics makes it extremely convenient to make purchases.
All of which come together to make people more amenable to buying apps than they otherwise would have.
Expect users to have to visit a separate website in order to download an app and I can guarantee that way fewer people are going to bother to purchase said app.
This is how Apple value-adds to the whole equation. They help grow the overall pie, compared to the old PC model where app developers are on their own. So for many smaller developers, 70% of a lot of app sales would still be preferable to 100% of only a small number of app sales.
It's not unlike how I do most of my shopping on Amazon, vs buying from say, Twelve South where I still have to sign up for an account with them (and deal with the subsequent barrage of newsletters and adverts, something I am already regretting).
Secondly their restrictive policies around gaming and streaming services are very problematic as they can be used to hinder competition as Apple has their own gaming and streaming services.
By this logic, does it mean that Apple is not allowed to have any say or control as to what occurs on its platform regarding app distribution? And that developers should be able to do pretty much whatever they want to do?
Lastly the 'Apples costs to run the App Store' as an argument in favour of Apples current policies is almost funny. Their margins on the App Store are enormous.
As are their costs.
For one, don't forget that free apps (like Facebook) don't earn Apple any money, and that $99 a year doesn't come anywhere close to covering the costs of vetting and supporting all the apps that Facebook releases. According to Apple, 84% of apps don't generate Apple any revenue at all.
There isn't as much wriggle room for Apple to play around with this magic number of 30% as the critics make it out to be. Apple could probably lower it to 30%, 20% would be really stretching it, anything less would be unsustainable.
