They are not different in any meaningful technical way that is relevant to this topic.
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Apple Protests Call for Third-Party App Stores and Lower Platform Fees in Japan
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They are not different in any meaningful technical way that is relevant to this topic.
This of course refers to the status quo. Sideloading apps does not discipline Apple or Google because a)"Apple does not permit users to sideload apps on iOS devices, and few consumers have the technical savvy to 'jailbreak' an iOS device to sideload apps" and b) "Google has created significant friction for sideloading apps to Android devices." The whole point of any legislation would be to eliminate a) and b). The fact that sideloading does not currently discipline Apple and Google does not mean that it cannot. And I don't expect large swathes of devs to leave the first party stores in any case, but that doesn't mean alternate routes onto devices shouldn't exist. Having that ability will keep Apple and Google honest and we might finally see apps like Xbox Cloud and Google Stadia available on iOS.
So people who want to force companies to add features they want or face fines and/or exclusion from that country support "fair and competitive markets"? ?
A fair and competitive market is one where you and I are free to offer whatever services/products we want and the people decide. You and I have a competition on who can win over enough customers to make our company sustainable and grow.
Having a government force companies out of business or competition in that region for not adding a feature isn't "fair or competitive."
Om sorry but you must pay apple 100$/year to be allowed the privilege to side-load apps. So yes you must pay apple a fee if you don’t to only install apps from the AppStore
You realize it's not the wild west, right, and that most countries have competitiveness and anti-trust laws to regulate the "free market"?
So you don't think phones serve a different purpose than desktop computers?
Ok. ?♂️
And if Apple (or whoever) want to add 3rd party app store support... GREAT. I honestly don't mind. I get why no one has done it yet because there are tons of issues to consider especially when you have so many that rely on their devices for every minute health monitoring, communication, etc... that desktops simply don't do. When you have a locked down system there's much less of a chance of security issues.
And above all... why threaten companies with fines or exclusion from a region because they won't add a feature? Seems extreme.
Oh well. Some people want government to solve every issue and some want the people and markets to decide.
At least I’ll know who to blame when this all goes to sh*t, which it will, but Apple greedy, Tim Cook bad…and the confederacy of dunces of government will apply their sizable “intelligence” to screwing us all over with terrible legislation. While you cheer…SMH.
Not without its problems and faults, the iOS App Store is still the best way for users to get apps for their iPhone and iPad.
Having these alternative app stores isn’t going to make the Apple App Store better or cheaper. This so clearly a ploy to punish Apple, and ostensibly to help consumers and the opposite is going to take place. Alternative app stores are going to create consumer confusion, take away the safety and convenience of obtaining all the apps through a single destination AMD hurt the overall mobile app market.
I fail to see what people think they’re going to be able to do with their iOS device that they can’t do already. This is about money and nothing else, not device autonomy. 99% of consumers don’t want or care about hacking their iOS device. I need a phone with apps that works, I need it to be easy to use, secure with an easy and convenient way to get all the apps I need and use. I have a Mac and various PCs I can tinker with, not my iPhone or iPad. Quit trying to make the iPhone into a Windows PC
I’m hoping these efforts fail utterly and completely. This isn’t going to end the way you and your ilk think it will. It won’t end well at all.
What makes a market "fair" is rules and regulations that are enforced.
Apple themselves, like all these megacorps, are busy trying to "work the refs" with lobbying money and back channel deals -- at all times.
Your utopia of no rules, no government intervention and customers just "decide" is a fantasy that doesn't exist.
The report is obviously glossing over some of the important aspects to the "consumers prefer to install apps from app stores" part. Case in point: privacy/security. They don't really address consumer views of iPhone/iOS when it comes to privacy/security OR why it might be that Android users are put off by security warnings. Could it be that smartphone users are already aware of the security issues that exist on desktops/laptops? Consider that most business employees that get issued a company phone or computer are not going to be allowed to download/install apps from the internet by the company IT department. Employees will typically use some sort of company controlled portal for downloading things approved by IT.
The big reason developers want 3rd-party app stores on iOS is that they think it is a way to escape Apple's 15% or 30% fees.
Is it?
We know that Apple's payment fee is around 3% and the remaining 12% or 27% is the actual platform fee for using all of Apple's APIs, resources, etc. And Apple still expects to collect their platform fee regardless.
But developers think the platform fee is too high. Developers want lower fees. Alright.
So if Apple lowered their platform fees... I bet many developers would just stay in the App Store because it's easy. They wouldn't need to run away to another store.
I don't think there are many small developers who want the hassle of updating and maintaining their apps across two, three, or four different app stores if Apple's fees were a little more manageable.
Big developers? They'll probably want to run their own stores. Microsoft, Epic, Adobe, whatever.
But again... there will still be some sort of platform fee. And I hope it's lower.
Is it?
We know that Apple's payment fee is around 3% and the remaining 12% or 27% is the actual platform fee for using all of Apple's APIs, resources, etc. And Apple still expects to collect their platform fee regardless.
But developers think the platform fee is too high. Developers want lower fees. Alright.
So if Apple lowered their platform fees... I bet many developers would just stay in the App Store because it's easy. They wouldn't need to run away to another store.
I don't think there are many small developers who want the hassle of updating and maintaining their apps across two, three, or four different app stores if Apple's fees were a little more manageable.
Big developers? They'll probably want to run their own stores. Microsoft, Epic, Adobe, whatever.
But again... there will still be some sort of platform fee. And I hope it's lower.
Glad you went through that. ?
That last sentence, in particular to Google, you see one of the major reasons why? That is why these "regulations" need to apply to Apple and Google. Both have things to fix. Not to mention embedded apps.
That is also one of the reasons I said Android sideloading is "worst case".
From page 220:
"Although Google doesn’t block off all alternative channels for accessing apps—allowing, for example, both some app stores and sideloading—in practice, these options do not provide meaningful alternatives to the Google Play Store. In contrast, the dual dominance of the Play Store and the Android ecosystem enables Google to exert control and engage in conduct that harms competition by exploiting, excluding, and discriminating against rivals."
and later on the same page:
"Google ensures that the Android process is technically complex, confusing and threatening, filled with dire warnings that scare most consumers into abandoning the lengthy process. For example, depending on the version of Android running on a mobile device, downloading and installing Fortnite on an Android device could take as many as 16 steps or more, including requiring the user to make changes to the device’s default settings and manually granting various permissions while being warned that doing so is dangerous"
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I see lot's of fire and brimstone in this post, yet when I look at Android which offers sideloading, I don't see any of the FUD you describe.
It is a revenue lock down approach, not security
Security has nary a lick to do with it
Why not do it this way: Google says that Android is "open" so the government would pass regulations to ensure that Android does actually function as an "open" system AND Apple says that iOS is a "level playing field" so the government would pass regulations to ensure that iOS is actually providing a "level playing field".
Honestly that was just a stupid marketing take.According to who?
Apple really wants you to think the iPad Pro is a computer
It’s new to see Apple take this angle in its marketing materialswww.theverge.com
Bingo. That's why it's the billion/trillion dollar software companies doing all the lawsuits and testifying for each other.
I can still buy PlayStation games from hundreds of stores at hundred different prices.
and Xbox can run Windows the same way iPhone can run android. They aren’t compatible.
Microsoft doesn’t prevent you from installing windows, there just doesn’t exist any drivers or compatible hardware unless you want to invent ut
Correct.
But Apple is still entitled to some sort of platform fee even if those companies sell their apps on their own store or another store, right?
Of course the fee should be lower. But not 0%... which is what people think will happen with 3rd-party app stores.
Why would they be entitled to a platform fee for third-party distributed apps? Does MS get one for Windows? Does Apple get one for macOS? Does Google get one for Android? Of course if devs are on Apple's App Store, they should be free to collect a fee. Any fees for third-party distributed apps should be collected upfront by Apple in their developer program pricing.
adding @gnipgnop
So I pay my dev fee and develop an app that the App Store would not allow and I have to sell it via a 3rd party app store or from my web page.
Why on Earth would Apple be entitled to anything from this?
I wouldn't disagree with that and most of the potential governmental actions don't appear to have much focus on pricing/fees at all.
I am not asking the Apple to remove the App Store but rather give users thr choice to get apps outside of the Store.
It won’t be the same as today. Apps WILL be pulled from the Apple App Store. Unless there will be a clause in the law or regulations to prevent this. It’s forcing us to side load. Leaving it up to the developer and NOT me.
It’s all software after all, and the App Store carries a significant chunk of games.