People keep bringing this up, but its just a unique edge case. Netflix doesn't have thousands of those kind of movies. Its not their entire business model to make movies like that. And Apple would get in SO MUCH HEAT if they took down Netflix because of those edge cases.
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Apple Updates App Store Review Guidelines to Allow Streaming Game Services That Submit Each Game to the App Store [Updated]
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People keep bringing this up, but its just a unique edge case. Netflix doesn't have thousands of those kind of movies. Its not their entire business model to make movies like that. And Apple would get in SO MUCH HEAT if they took down Netflix because of those edge cases.
Except video as well as images have been shown being used to exploit bugs in software going as far as gaining root privileges.
If they are the same why can't you just stream all the games that are now on Netflix or Amazon Prime Video? Why do you need even more providers when they offer thousands of streaming games already?
Of course, we know the answer. Playing a streaming game from streaming game services is a very different experience for you as a human being, than just watching a streaming movie.
Instead of trying to find everything they have in common, try to find out everything that is different between watching a movie and playing a game.
A unique edge case?
It's an entire new category their adding too and developing over time.
Not everyone has good internet. I have 500 Mbps internet. Good on paper right? Its absolutely horrible, goes out all the time. Its Spectrum. I have no other choice. I can't do game streaming do to these things
10 movies/shows out of thousands of content (including each TV episode separately)? That is the definition of edge case.
What are you talking about? Its a freaking video stream of a video game. lol. What else is there to say ? Plain and simple, it seems Apple has a lot of idiots making bad policies.
Yes but they're publicly making/showcasing these kinds of experiences and Apple just seems to conveniently ignore them, not a good look if you're apparently going for this totally fair for everyone narrative.
The question in the comment I quoted was framed as why _Apple_ doesn't use an another established rating system. Apple cares about its control and revenue of its store and as such they probably like a rating system which takes that into account.
They are not just protecting their subscription service for gaming they are protecting their revenue stream. I see no problem with that. Unlike other companies however they are not ignoring markets entirely but rather offering them an opportunity to do business in a way that Apple still makes money. Again, I see not problem with this.
For me it comes down to this: protect your business first. If Microsoft can offer a reason for why Apple will make more money by allowing streaming games on their platform than Apple should consider it. I don't buy this argument that developers should be protected. Most apps and games should fail. It's general market forces at work. Big names don't get an exception to policy to increase their own profits without first supporting Apple.
They could try.
In the end, it's all very telling.
We have come a long way from Apple evidently being doomed every other day.
Today, Apple is pulling away from the competition. These corporations (eg: Microsoft, Facebook, Epic) are ultimately after the same goal – to weaken Apple’s ironclad grip over the App Store, in order to gain power at the expense of Apple. It's not about making things better for consumers or developers, but simply about making more money.
The App Store is considered the best (and perhaps the last) chance for competitors to reshape the mobile industry to their liking.
Hijacking what had been a genuine debate regarding the App Store’s treatment of independent developers in order to prop up their own ambition by Epic. Lack of perspective coming from consumers (it's telling that all the testimonials have come from developers, when it is us, the consumers, who have been supporting these developers financially). And believe me, I have plenty to say about these companies who have no qualms about enriching themselves at the expense of the viability and vitality of the iOS App Store. Increasingly shady tactics such as attempts to paint Apple as the killer of small businesses by Facebook and Airbnb.
They will not have their way with this world. Apple only needs to survive this wave and henceforth, their word shall be the law of the land.
A streaming gaming app will in practise be experienced as a store in a store. You open the app and you can select which games to buy or use which is very similar to how the App Store works. And I am talking generally here, not necessary how Xcloud works.
Also the control of the single game will be under control of the streaming service when it comes to rating as such. You can only limit ScreenTime to the streaming gaming app and not to the individual games within the streaming service.
Most users of those services wouldn't care about this, but for Apple it is very important that everything works the same way.
Also, this is an extremely dangerous Trojan horse which has the potential to reduce Apple's power of its App Store, its ecosystem and its customers.
I still don't get it 100%. I play Thug Life which is a game on Facebook, and Thug Life has in-app purchases that I'm fairly certain are going straight to the game publisher in their entirety (though I'm happy to say I'll never buy any of them). What's different there?
Apple today announced updates to its App Store Review Guidelines to take into account some new features that are coming in iOS 14, such as App Clips, while also introducing new rules surrounding streaming game services and in-app purchases.
According to Apple's updated guidelines, streaming game services like Microsoft's xCloud are allowed, but all of the games included in a streaming game subscription service need to be downloaded directly from the App Store.
Apple has clashed with Microsoft over streaming gaming services in recent weeks, with Apple preventing xCloud, Microsoft's latest gaming service, from being released in the App Store because Apple has no oversight when it comes to the games included in the service. It's not clear if Microsoft will want to upload all xCloud games to the App Store separately, but that appears to be an option for getting xCloud onto iOS.Streaming game services are, however, allowed to offer a catalog app on the App Store to help users sign up for the service and to find the games that have been uploaded to the App Store, so long as the app adheres to all of Apple's guidelines. Apps must provide users with an option to pay for a subscription with in-app purchase and use Sign in with Apple. All games must link to an individual App Store product page.
Other rules state that apps classified as "Reader apps" such as Netflix can offer account creation for free tiers and are able to provide account management functionality for existing customers while not offering payment options.
Relating to Fortnite, a new App Store clarification says that apps are not allowed to include hidden, dormant, or undocumented features in apps, with all app functionality clear to end users and Apple's App Review team. Epic Games snuck a direct payment option into Fortnite that Apple did not approve, which led to the whole legal battle between Apple and Epic.
All new features, functionality, and product changes are required to be described with specificity in the Notes for Review section when developers are submitting updates, and Apple says that generic descriptions will be rejected.
Apps that offer purchase options for realtime person-to-person experiences between two individuals (such as tutoring) can now use purchase methods other than in-app purchase to collect payments. One-to-a-few and one-to-many experiences that involve more than two people have to use Apple's in-app purchase system. There has been controversy over in-app purchases for services that have been forced to go digital due to the ongoing health crisis, with apps like ClassPass complaining about Apple's purchase requirements. Apple's new rule will allow one-to-one classes to skirt in-app purchases with direct payment options, but that won't work for multi-person classes.
Free standalone apps that are companions to paid web-based tools do not need to use Apple's in-app purchase system so long as there is no purchasing inside the app or calls to action for purchasing outside of the app, which appears to be a new rule related to the snafu over the WordPress app.
Apps can't require users to rate the app, review the app, watch videos, download other apps, tap on advertisements, enable tracking, or take other similar actions to access functionality, content, use the app, or receive monetary compensation.
App Clips, widgets, extensions, and notifications must be related to the functionality of an app, and Apple says that App Clips are not allowed to contain advertising. Widgets, notifications, keyboards, and watchOS apps are also not allowed to include advertising.
Apple's full list of App Store Guideline changes can be found on the Apple Developer site and through the complete App Store Guidelines.
Update: In a statement to CNET, Microsoft said that Apple's new guidelines don't offer an ideal experience for customers. From Microsoft: "This remains a bad experience for customers. Gamers want to jump directly into a game from their curated catalog within one app just like they do with movies or songs, and not be forced to download over 100 apps to play individual games from the cloud. We're committed to putting gamers at the center of everything we do, and providing a great experience is core to that mission."
Article Link: Apple Updates App Store Review Guidelines to Allow Streaming Game Services That Submit Each Game to the App Store [Updated]
Let's be real. Microsoft is not in a position to say what people want. They are the poster child for market manipulation and customer abuse. Remember Netscape? Remember Return Window's Day? Remember changing Xbox home screen to add more ads? Remember Kinnect? And I don't see how forcing separate apps is any different than having me download each app on XBox live. I don't want every game you sign a contract with on my home screen. I want just the ones I think are good. Customer control would be giving us the option to only see the games we want directly on our homescreen without having to navigate whatever UX flavor you are testing this season. I don't want to see any ads for any other games, and that includes links to download them.
Facebook is getting data. That's payment. Let us not forget that not all payments are in the form of USD.
Lets be real, Microsoft isn't even ran by an executive who was at Microsoft when all the anti-trust issues happened.
So? I don't trust a criminal syndicate just because the Godfather was arrested. They are still doing many of these things.
I think what he meant was the person (and others) that were involved with making those decisions are no longer at Microsoft. CEOs change and things change. Xbox was not doing so well until Phil Spencer took over.
play a multiplayer first person shooter. i tried destiny on stadia and i gave up. there's always that small lag that's going to bug me.
i tried overwatch on nvidia geforce now when they had the beta, it was annoying to play widow on that.
input lag is fine when you don't need instant feedback from what you're doing (like jumping). but when you want to nail that headshot from a sniper gun? good luck.
I have, for quite a bit and I've never had trouble competing in the Iron Banner or doing Raids. 🤷♀️
That is indeed what I meant... .though looking it up, I guess the CEO was technically there during all of that, but had nothing to do with it... looks like he was running MSN of all things