Plenty of services don't cost 30% more (check discord nitro).
And for those that do cost 30% more, you can just go through the web.
Tim Sweeney networth - 5.7 billion
Tim Cook networth - 2.4 billion
Imagine defending a richer billionaire 🤣
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Court Rejects Apple's Emergency Motion to Pause App Store Rule Changes
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Plenty of services don't cost 30% more (check discord nitro).
And for those that do cost 30% more, you can just go through the web.
Tim Cook networth - 2.4 billion
Imagine defending a richer billionaire 🤣
This sums it all up perfectly. I’m not fan of epic and have numerous Apple products but there is no justification for forcing people to pay through Apple; it’s just greed. You can’t blame them for trying. They are a company trying to maximise profits like any other, including Epic.
people have always been able to buy outside of the app store.
fortnite gift cards existed way back in 2019, before they got banned. those gift cards can be redeemed via web for currency used in iOS app.
I’m with Apple on this. App Store is a security stronghold that has thorough app review process. They even have guidelines on maximum heat produced by the application! So Apple doesn’t allow developers to overheat your device to dangerous levels.
And tbh Fortnite was always a scam application. On the AppStore they have basically uploaded only the game launcher which was like 700 megabytes, and when you downloaded a game it CONTINUED to download more than 4 gigabytes of data. How can I be sure they are not downloading something sketchy on my device? I mean, game full size must be mentioned on the AppStore. When I download any other app I don’t expect it to continue downloading when I click on it
And tbh Fortnite was always a scam application. On the AppStore they have basically uploaded only the game launcher which was like 700 megabytes, and when you downloaded a game it CONTINUED to download more than 4 gigabytes of data. How can I be sure they are not downloading something sketchy on my device? I mean, game full size must be mentioned on the AppStore. When I download any other app I don’t expect it to continue downloading when I click on it
So what is the $99 paying for? Free apps are fine using the Apple services like App Store and Push Notifications, but the moment they want to allow purchases they aren't entitled to those services unless they use Apple's IAP system?
Reading through the comments it appears one thing is becoming clear, Apple does not treat every app developer fairly. It appears Amazon, Uber, Netflix and some others have their own rules given to them by Apple where as others do not. I do believe Epic is one of the app developers that is not treated the same like Amazon, Uber and the others are hence why Epic complain a lot.
Apple needs to treat ever app developer equally, no special treatment given to one over the other. If every app developer is treated the same, how are they going to complain of being unfairly treated? they wouldn't be able to because everyone would be treated the same. Apple created the problem by favoring some app developers over others (Amazon and Uber for example). When a company allows such conditions to occur there is always going to be problems when those not being treated favorably complain.
Apple needs to treat ever app developer equally, no special treatment given to one over the other. If every app developer is treated the same, how are they going to complain of being unfairly treated? they wouldn't be able to because everyone would be treated the same. Apple created the problem by favoring some app developers over others (Amazon and Uber for example). When a company allows such conditions to occur there is always going to be problems when those not being treated favorably complain.
It’s almost as if they are using Apple’s published framework for downloading large assets in the background due to file size limits on the App Store.
I take it you are going to discontinue use of your “trusty Apple TV” with immediate effect and won’t be inclined ever again to purchase a next generation one.
Because Apple forces developers to resort to similar “scams” on that platform.
Oh, and also, they had no problem in allowing retro game emulator apps to stop alternative app stores in their tracks, once they had to allow them (in Europe) and it became clear, that they’d be a popular reason to sign up and use alternative stores.
Edit: @verdi1987 beat me to it above
...yes? You are aware that Microsoft does that already, anyways, right?
Given the concern of revenue around games, why doesn't Apple pursue its vertical integration strategy and act more like Nintendo - if it doesn't want to be the shopkeeper for other developers, then launch its own first party games and keep the revenue that way.
So it will be interesting to see if legal reasoning is more accurate than feelings based reasoning.
But my property. Do whatever I want
But my property. Do whatever I want
I wish Apple put the same effort they do in litigation in AI and in software.
If Tim Berners-Lee had put a 30% fee onto all web purchases, he'd be a TRILLIONAIRE!
Greed is Apple’s undoing. While I do believe Apple should be able to collect a commission on apps sold in the app store, setting that commission at 30% was egregious. It could have been as high as 10%. Anything more was just raping app developers, especially small ones, who had no choice but to sell their apps for iOS through Apple’s app store, since it was the only store. Of course, without these developers, iOS would have had no apps other than what Apple developed themselves. And a lot of those early developers were Apple enthusiasts, who wanted to make apps for iOS. They wanted to support Apple (and make a living as best they could). So, you know, hold them hostage and rape them. Tim Crook at his finest, as usual (was he not the CFO at Apple back in the early days of the app store? And did he not steer and help set the agenda for the 30% commission?).
Last edited:
I think this especially applies to games on Appstore and in-app purchases in them. You don’t know developers of every game and I can imagine they will also like to take advantage of “external links”.
The problem is that with this approach, it will be much harder for users to track “accidental” subscriptions, eg. in cases of fake antivirus apps (among others) that have misdirection as their core business model and Apple is more and more pushed to open doors for them too.
Yes, common sense should protect you enough, but sadly, not everyone can use it and/or is tech-savvy enough to see it through.
They don’t have to admit such apps into - or let them stay on - the App Store
And neither alternative stores, as long as Apple reserves the exclusive right to digitally signing them.
Haha nice retro comments out there for sure
Well, trusty Apple TV 1080 is still trusty after all, works like a clock. However the only issue is that it feels somewhat just a tiny bit slower with new tvOS update. Can't wait for new model because I need it for my second Samsung TV that magically turned into a pumpkin a year ago (I mean the smart TV feature Samsung loves to brag about).
Apple definitely forces a lot of stuff, and I don't agree with many things they do. I don't even agree that their developer license costs 100$ per year. Ideally it should have been a free for all marketplace so more open source devs could post their apps. Unfortunately given Apple's security obsession (especially on mobiles), I doubt they will ever allow open source applications. On the one hand it really limits the choice and competition, but on the other hand there are barely any useful apps on Android Play Store (I can name only few - read aloud that allows for book voiceover in any language, as well as open camera that allows direct access to camera API and often helps to overcome ugly AI cameras in most Android phones and take more or less decent shots).
Also the issue is App Store nowadays feels very bloated: there are apps but there are no games and almost no apps that wouldn't ask you for subscription, and that btw is another type of scam Apple still didn't vet: you download app and it meets you with nice fancy screen and tells about the features with the only "next" button, you click this button, click again, and again, and again, and bam - there is subscription dial straight into your face, and if you have Face ID it will even automatically scan and pay for you. I remember how I was ripped off exactly like that and had to cancel the subscription (and lost few bucks).
But I am not really sure Apple is the only to blame, they have accelerated the shift to subscription model (tho one-time purchase is slowly coming back as I noticed), developers ate that with pleasure and some (like Epic) have just sliced subscription model into loot crates and skin packs. PUBG is similar - boring loot-based battle royale shooter just without the Minecraft-esque aesthetics like Fortnite. It is allowed because I guess they decided to play by the rules, but I guess its initial popularity has waned and people play it on mobiles literally because it is one of the not-so-many more or less adequate games. Apple just hates Epic due to lawsuits and I guess they are gonna troll them as much as they can.
Oh yeah, a very welcoming thing. I am glad they finally allowed it and decided not to be afraid of Sony and Nitnendo lawsuits, because emulation is technically sketchy (from Nintendo's standpoint) and Apple just decided to play it safe. I guess they could have allowed it back in 2012, the power of the devices was already there, but since Nintendo still was selling their 3DS Apple probably decided not to play with fire. Tho, every emulated game is still a blow into Nintendo's subscription service for Switch, I still can't believe they didn't decide to strike back
ahh, bummer! Didn't know Apple is the one to blameIt’s almost as if they are using Apple’s published framework for downloading large assets in the background due to file size limits on the App Store.
always disliked this behavior, especially if those are not few megabytes but large 4gb plus files like game textures and stuff
Good.
As an emergency addition to WWDC, they should now read the room and come up with a decent settlement globally by applying what they need to do in the USA and push down their charges to match epic et al.
If they don’t I can barely believe that they have the nerve to begin WWDC still wanting to claw this money back from their devs.
As an emergency addition to WWDC, they should now read the room and come up with a decent settlement globally by applying what they need to do in the USA and push down their charges to match epic et al.
If they don’t I can barely believe that they have the nerve to begin WWDC still wanting to claw this money back from their devs.
It's always been like this for Playstation/Xbox/Nintendo, well before iPhone existed. Weird how even to this day, no laws are forcing them to open up the consoles.
It is hardly fair to the customers to be forced to have two phones or switch OS frequently to get their preferred apps due to unreasonable demands (from either side). Some aspects of user protection is needed here.
Oh we're thinking about the user. We're thinking about the users who actually want to be in a cushy walled garden Apple has so nicely set up. For those that grow out of the walled garden, they have Android. Consumer choice at work.
Forcing Apple to open up the walled garden just creates another Android platform. Consumers who love the walled garden have no place to go at that point.
FYI: Tim Sweeney is worth more than Tim Cook. But I guess personal greed doesn't matter huh? It's just corporate greed.
I don’t believe it was ever about being afraid of console makers.
The litigation against Epic clearly shows they’re not.
I believe the ban was rather about
- maintaining Apple’s grip on monetisation of games and purchases
- encouraging developers to publish higher-quality ports of games rather than releasing cheaper emulated ones
- security
Emulators have been legal as long as no proprietary firmware code is shipped.
Everybody seems to focus on the big name apps like spotify, epic and so on, while this applies to all apps. With this, every small game dev, every app, everybody will be able to include a link to external payment gate to get around Apple’s fee. Which - yes - may end up costing Apple hundreds of milions.
Don’t get me wrong, I have no sympathy for greedy corporate companies and/or their shareholders, but being in tech support business I see the case from the other side too. As I mentioned in one of my previous comments, completing the in-app purchases outside of Apple’s ecosystem (inclusion of which Apple will no longer be able to enforce) will result in more confusion for the users, as it will be much harder to track unwanted and accidental transactions / subscriptions. That is literal fuel for dishonest app developers. Not everyone who has an iphone is tech-savvy enough to see this through and the system Apple has now set up provides much more protection for the vulnerable against app-developer “vultures”.
You may see it as a noble win against a baad tech giant, but in reality, it’s a loss for the collective user.
You mean to tell me that game developers have no issues with paying 30% to Sony and Nintendo and Steam, but blanch at the thought of paying Apple a single cent more than they absolutely have to?