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Apple Restricting New Pebble Smartwatches From 'Being Awesome' With iPhone
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This isn't about making things easy as handouts. This is about making things even possible to begin with, because of restrictions in place by Apple (not allowed to sell extra functionality within an app on the AppStore without using their payment system and cut of the payment), as well as there not being an API or SDK available for third party watch makers, which give them a monopoly. It's currently impossible to do these things for iOS, (unless you do a ton of workarounds for a limited functionality), and they are asking publicly for a possibility to do these things to begin with. They'd still have to do the hard work and create the software to interface with these things if they were available.
I for one am glad that my Ford truck only works with my Ford trailer and Ford ski mount. Why should they allow other manufacturers to participate in their ecosystem? Maybe Liberty Trailers should build their own car if they want their trailers to be hauled across the country.
Perhaps that is a question you can ask Sony and Nintendo as well.
the internet today:
"cookie popup"
"cookie popup"
"cookie popup"
"allow notifications"
"cookie popup but on top this time for some reason"
"cookie popup on the bottom right"
"do you want newsletters?" - nope you can't close this until you click accept on the cookie popup
"cookie popup"
"cookie popup"
Many reasons, which is why those of with Android phones can happily reply to messages and deal with notifications on any smartwatch we choose. (Currently a Garmin, in my case.)
I've had a Huawei GT watch for about 6 years now. It's a relatively dumb smart watch - it tells the time, gives me notifications of incoming calls/messages etc (you have to respond on the phone), and very good fitness tracking. It also lasts for a week to 10 days before needing charging.
No frills, but all the useful features covered.
This, a hundred times.
Apple should stop using the power they get by selling iPhones to prevent competition on other products (apps, browsers, maps, accessories, cables...) and the EU has done a lot but not enough yet.
People here are criticizing the Pebble but how about letting people use what they want? It won't sell like an Apple Watch but maybe a minority of people just want a different experience. And maybe having an alternative will force Apple to improve their product and give people what they want instead of forcing the experience on those who are willing to pay.
The video games industry has multiple platforms where a developer can publish their software to a variety of storefronts.
It is not Apple’s fault that there are two platforms in the smartphone market.
Yeah but this is not about your iPhone. You bought your iPhone knowing what it can and can't do and you decided to accept it with your wallet. So you own your iPhone now that you bought it, but now you're unhappy that it won't do something you knew it wouldn't do before you bought it. So buy an Android, or something else instead, don't blame Apple for doing things their way.
To make the analogy perfect, let's say they're whining that their cheap blades won't fit into their filthy rich neighbors own expensive lawnmower. Apple never asked Pebble to make the blades, why the hell would Apple have to make sure Pebble's blades fit into their lawnmowers. Pebble should make their own lawnmower and make is so that the filthy rich neighbor buys it!
Garmin and Amazfit do these things perfectly fine. It’s definitely possible, and has nothing to do with “restrictions” from Apple, it’s just blaming their laziness on Apple…
Perhaps not as directly as Google, but their payments to Google to keep their search monopoly going do make them complicit.
They do purposefully gimp 3rd party smartwatches though.
And they did block the Palm Pre from using iTunes that one time.
And the smartphone industry has multiple platforms where a developer can publish their software to a variety of storefronts…
I use a third party smart watch with my iPhone, it’s a good experience. The app for the watch provides a market for developers to distribute apps for the watch, watch faces, etc. I can receive and initiate phone calls from my watch. I can control the music playing on my iPhone with the watch. I have all the health tracking features, and they all integrate with Apple Health just like the Apple Watch. These claims that Apple doesn’t allow third party smart watches to work well with the iPhone just aren’t true at all. I think most of the differences just boil down to attracting app developers to develop apps for your smart watches. Apple already has a ton of app developers, so it makes sense that the Apple Watch will have an advantage here, but this isn’t due to Apple, nobody’s preventing other smart watches from attracting great app developers. They just need to create a compelling enough smart watch platform to do so. I think the only thing my third party smart watch can’t do is send replies to texts, which is pretty minor, and doesn’t make as much sense as sending a response on the phone itself anyways…
We have a household Switch and can buy games from Nintendo, Amazon, Target, Best-Buy. etc.. Multiple storefronts for a single platform. I can even buy used games.
Apple lets you buy Apps from Apple.
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Yet if I want to put wheels designed for a Chevy on my Ford, they won't fit. And I can't put Chevy's OnStar system into my Ford, nor can I use an air filter designed for a Toyota, or windshield wiper blades made for a Kia. And no matter how much I love the seats in a Ferrari, I can't bolt them into my Ford pickup truck. There are tons of aftermarket accessories available for Jeeps, it's not fair that they don't fit my truck.
Using the same logic that's being applied toward Apple in this situation, every car manufacturer should be forced to build vehicles on which 100% of the parts are interchangeable with any other vehicle, and any aftermarket accessories you can buy should have to fit every vehicle on the market.
And that’s Apple’s prerogative. It’s their platform and their store. Apple doesn’t owe anyone anything. If Apple wanted to make iOS only run apps made by Apple, that would also be their prerogative. It’s Apple’s platform.
Also, games for the Switch have to be licensed with Nintendo, Nintendo makes a percentage of profits off of game sales, it’s actually a higher percentage than what smaller Indy developers pay Apple on Apple’s platform.
Also, the only reason Switch games can be purchased used is because it still supports antiquated cartridges. There’s no concept of “used” digital software. And I don’t think anyone would argue that phones should be using cartridges to install software…
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Came here to see all the Apple fans bend over backwards to defend the very 1990's Microsoft-ish way Apple restricts access to their OS APIs. I would bet a good half of you Apple-pologists who are old enough to remember AARD and all the buck-futtery Microsoft pulled to make competing third-party developers' applications run like crap on Windows were cheering for MS to get raked over the coals for these very same actions during that time.
There is a kernel of truth to Apple's reasoning of wanting to provide "a better customer experience" - however the end part of that sentence that is required to make that true is "..than any competitor." They can't do it by actually building a better customer experience, so they just make sure everyone else builds a lousy customer experience.
As a 1990's Mac user, I really hoped Apple would see the kind of success that 1990's Microsoft had. As an early 2000's Mac user, I was excited to see Apple starting to achieve that goal. Now in 2020, it is clear Apple has become 1990's Microsoft. Only a far more predatory version of it.
There is a kernel of truth to Apple's reasoning of wanting to provide "a better customer experience" - however the end part of that sentence that is required to make that true is "..than any competitor." They can't do it by actually building a better customer experience, so they just make sure everyone else builds a lousy customer experience.
As a 1990's Mac user, I really hoped Apple would see the kind of success that 1990's Microsoft had. As an early 2000's Mac user, I was excited to see Apple starting to achieve that goal. Now in 2020, it is clear Apple has become 1990's Microsoft. Only a far more predatory version of it.
I have a digital PlayStation 5 that only lets me buy games from Sony. I knew that going into buying it. You don't see me buying one, then after the fact screaming that it's unfair I can only buy games from Sony when there were alternatives I could have purchased that let me buy games from anywhere.
Also the internet today: I work from the comfort of my desk at home and have all the same connectivity and access to clients, co-workers, and systems that I had when I worked in an office, regardless of the fact that many of those people and things are thousands of kilometres away.