GDP is not an indicator of a country's development, but the purchasing power of a country's currency. How much a citizen pays for a given product or a service. Like buying normal food, sending a child to school, getting medical service, or even producing some commodity.
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Developers Must Share Phone Number and Address on EU App Store to Meet 'Trader' Requirement Starting in October
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You probably call to a random Help Desk that's outsourced and has 70 other applications they support and the agent is just reading the KB while you are in a call with them and knows about the issues even less than you do.
I do not understand what you're trying to say nor do I believe that you have understood me. Try again or ask me if you find what I wrote unclear 🤷🏼
No you cannot and this is why it's so frustrating if you need to deal with them when anything goes wrong. Laws need to be introduced so that there is a direct contact number and a real person answers.
Having a registered email is just more professional.
I know it's not free. But if you choose to trade then I believe you should spend a little money to make the outfit more professional. You can get a deal for £10 a month these days which is very small cost compared to what you're probably paying Apple in fees. If you're only doing it to keep your skills fresh then your heart isn't really in the product you are putting out.
You can register as a company by registering at Companies House. I have friends who register themselves as a company so they can contract out their work for tax efficiency.
Business ethics. It's the right thing to do. If they speak a foreign language then it's out of your hands and understandable that you cannot help them as efficiently. But you could simply state all enquiries must be in English.
No I'm a tough caller. I drill in until I either speak to a manager or someone who actually knows what they are taking about. I always refuse first and second line support. Don't even mention what my issue is to them.
If I feel my issue isn't being dealt with properly by the agent on call I always record names and times spoken so I can raise a complaint and get action taken to get to what I need.
I have won a lot of cases against companies like Amazon, O2 and Apple themselves.
You should learn how this works.
EU commission write the regulations… BUT the parlament and council negotiated and can add things to pass it.
The commission makes laws as is required by the parliament and council.
Well technically the commission doesn’t make laws in a strict sense, our individual countries’ governments have to implement the laws according to the councils decisions but yes, your summary is a good overview
When I say I blame the EC I’m oversimplifying the process for the sake of making a point, it is a stand in for “the EC and all the government bodies responsible for drafting, voting on and passing the directive”
I am aware that the EC can’t just decide whatever and just write the law but when someone gives their opinion on a law or regulation they often blame a single body because it’s simpler than going over all the nuances of drafting, approving, vetoing etc
My point was never that they are single handedly responsible for this regulation/law/directive existing but rather that is in start contrast with their pursuit of privacy as a fundamental human right
Do not mistake simplification for ignorance
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Apples developer program isn't free, and most developers have the added expense of a Mac and one or more iOS devices as well. The cost of a PO Box and a phone answering service is only a minor addition to these costs of being a paid app developer, much less than the cost of a new Mac or iPhone to run the latest dev tools and OS to test against.
There maybe companies, or the normal post office offering such virtual PO Box addresses, but would that work with banks and the tax office? Most customers would distrust a trader who hides behind a PO Box.
By the way, Microsoft had already started sending emails about the changes that would happen from midnight 30th of September with a heading "Your Service Agreement just got clearer." Of course, as it was Microsoft's idea, not that they had been forced to by the EC. With some interesting wording, "If you do not agree, you can stop using the products and services and close your Microsoft account before the new terms go into effect."
Most probably, Apple would send such emails sometime in the near future.
Most probably, Apple would send such emails sometime in the near future.
You miss the point. You cannot call Twitter or Facebook and speak to someone. If it's okay for them, why isn't it okay for an individual developer who doesn't have billions in the bank?
What's a "registered" email? I have my own domain for my app, and the email addresses I use are professional enough.
Let's add it up: £10/m on a phone number, how much on a virtual office address? Someone said €75/m so that's £64/m. Multiply by 12 = £888/y. Apple Dev Program fee = £79. Sales last year of almost £200 - yes, £200 - minus 15% fees = £170 - £79 = £91/y profit, which is put on my Self Assessment and I pay tax on. Where is this mythical £888 coming from?
My heart absolutely is in the apps I create, it's just that no one buys them in enough numbers.
I ran a company for 12 years. I know how a business works, and I know how to be a bit more tax efficient without breaking the law. Once you have a business you also need an accountant to sign off your books every year, which is another cost. (I was paying £1,000/y.)
I agree, but that doesn't stop them calling me. Where do I state all calls must be in English? There's nowhere for that sort of information on the App Store, so once someone sees my phone number and calls it, I pick up and get someone speaking Latvian to me and I say what? "Sorry, all calls to this number must be in English." Yeah, truly professional.
It’s fascinating seeing the pro-EU / DMA crowd now twist themselves into pretzels trying to justify that is latest move by the EU is supposed to be good for both consumers and developers. It’s like they can’t admit that the EU commission may have legitimately screwed up in this regard.
Funny thing. The few times I needed support for an app, I was able to reach the developer via email (which is often located inside the support section of the app). A few of the developers are also active in the Macstories discord that I frequent as well.
Not once have I felt like I needed a working address because they likely live half the world away from me anyways.
But I guess this is one solution to there being too much competition in the App Store - force an exodus of developers who can’t / won’t comply. Congrats. Looks like the EU is even more ruthless than Apple when they want to.
Funny thing. The few times I needed support for an app, I was able to reach the developer via email (which is often located inside the support section of the app). A few of the developers are also active in the Macstories discord that I frequent as well.
Not once have I felt like I needed a working address because they likely live half the world away from me anyways.
But I guess this is one solution to there being too much competition in the App Store - force an exodus of developers who can’t / won’t comply. Congrats. Looks like the EU is even more ruthless than Apple when they want to.
That's registered with the tax office, country's, city's business registration office etc...
Normal "headaches" of running a business. 😏
There is nothing to twist really. When you sell an app that barely earns Apple's yearly developer fee, maybe you just don't have a business and should make your pet project free to avoid all the administrative expenses.
Also, in most countries a registered business already has physical address and phone number on file at the relevant authorities. Using that address in the app store is essentially free.
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Americans are very funny about sharing public information, it wasn't long ago that there was a phone book delivered to every house and you could look up anyones, Name, Address and Phone number. Just had a look on BT and I can still get a PDF phonebook for any part of the UK and get anyones number and address.
using those companies as an example to aspire to is not helping your case. their support is so bad and customer hostile it should be illegal.
and buy the sounds of it, in the eu they will need to comply with this
Yeah, but you don't know from that information that A. Andrews wrote An Amazing App that you spent 99p on.
If they are selling me something I want to know who they are and if there is a problem get help… if I use a plumber or electrician i’m not going to use one with a gmail email address and no business address.
Someone in business needs to realise the people buying from you are paying for a service, they are not going to turn up on your doorstep, especially if you are an American developer selling to someone in the EU, nobody is taking a plane to America turning up on your doorstep for an app that cost 99p
Do you think indie developers have time to answer calls from users? Get real! Your call is going straight to voicemail and will get ignored. We barely have time to deal with reviews and emails.
By the way, here's an idea of the kind of reviews I've received in the past:
- some guy calling me stupid because an edge-case feature that no one had requested before was not implemented
- modifying system settings and complaining the app doesn't work as expected
- leaving a rave review but a low rating
- leaving a rave review but complaining about a minor thing that is not a problem and dinging the rating (e.g. "app is perfect but hasn't been updated in a while so cannot rate 5 stars")
- explicitly going against recommendations on how to get the best experience in the app and complaining about not getting the best experience in the app
- leaving insulting reviews and low ratings without explanation
This has nothing to do with the point I was making. The fact that a list of names, addresses and phone numbers exists in a phone directory does not link to the fact they've sold an app on Apple's App Store.
We know what business is. What we're saying is that there should be a way to shield developers from having our information presented to everyone - regardless of whether or not a consumer has actually bought one of our apps.
If my email address, phone number and address are displayed on the App Store, anyone can access it. They don't even have to buy my app to see that information. While I agree this is similar to large developers like Meta, in their case they aren't giving out the personal details of one of their employees; they're using a catch-all email address and phone number. Why should I be forced to accept calls from someone in Germany because they did - or did not - buy my app?
Because that’s business.
I can look up any number of businesses and find their number, address, and have no intention of buying their product or using their service. Just because your address is out there doesn’t mean you are going to have a hoard of people turn up on your doorstep.
If you want to sell your app this is the price, if as you have said in previous posts you don’t make much from it put it up for free or pull it from EU.
In my business my address is out there, and my number and people call me because they want my service, I also need training, insurance I belong to trade bodies, have an accountant, this is the price of me working.
As a middle ground, could they at least make that information only AFTER a sale was made? When the a client and service provider link has been locked?
I guess not, so it is what it is: I’m all for people getting what they wish and vote for times a hundred, at all levels.
“But why is there inflation?!” “But why homes are more expensive?!”, after food price regulations: “Where’s the food!?”, add to that “but why there are less offerings on the App Store?!” Or something will come along those lines.
Let’s just enjoy the decline thinking of “what could have been”
I guess not, so it is what it is: I’m all for people getting what they wish and vote for times a hundred, at all levels.
“But why is there inflation?!” “But why homes are more expensive?!”, after food price regulations: “Where’s the food!?”, add to that “but why there are less offerings on the App Store?!” Or something will come along those lines.
Let’s just enjoy the decline thinking of “what could have been”