This is a really good point and one of the reasons I hope Apple locks down the Mac next. Wouldn’t it be great if we could only get apps from the Mac App Store? Think of how much more secure and streamlined that would be! Oh I get chills just wishing for it.
Are you serious, or did you forget to add a /s mark?
In any case, you’ve been able to configure macOS to behave just like that for years, but you’re not forced to, that’s the beauty of it.
As for the iPhone, maybe Apple could come up with a fully unlocked iPhone Ultimate (or whatever) for the PC Master Race crowd, complete with third-party app stores and IAP, as well as side-loading, sold at an absurd premium to offset lost revenue and support costs triggered by inevitable bouts of malware and scams that would ensue.
Apple could, but they won’t, because their brand would be tarnished and devalued in ways that no premium would be able to offset. And, in any case, if Apple’s current iPhones Pro are any indication, such a device would be so stupidly expensive that it would only cater to a niche of a niche. No parent would buy such a phone for their kid, and I suspect that once they realize the implications of Epic’s cavalier attitude towards parental controls (by the way, I didn’t even know about that, I just learned of it on this thread) and overall probity – or, better yet, lack thereof –, and are forced by their kids to weigh in a switch to an Android device just because of a game – no matter how popular; I’d venture a guess and say that most parents won’t care –, they may in fact tell the young ’uns to stick to their consoles or PCs or switch games altogether.
Look, I won’t argue against a reduction in some ways of the 30% cut, or defend Apple’s other special, bespoke deals; what I’m saying is that Epic comes across as really juvenile, whining, two-faced and outright dishonest. The fact that there is a paper trail further proves just how premeditated and deliberate their infraction of the App Store’s rules was.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Epic could’ve gone with the exact same outcome in practice by unilaterally withdrawing Fortnite in protest, which would preserve their moral high ground, their developer account
and UE’s integrity on iOS and, by extension, that of all the developers who trusted them to keep it up-to-date. Now, in exchange for some support in the court of public opinion by mostly, you know, kids, they are throwing those developers under the bus. I’d be crying bloody murder and suing Epic for dereliction of duty (or whatever legal term is applicable in this context; you get my point) and damages if I was a developer and relied on UE for an iOS game right now; even if they are trying to portray themselves as the good guy, and end up opening the floodgates, it’s not those third-party developers’ fight to pick, they shouldn’t have been needlessly dragged into this.
As for Apple, you may argue all you want about their policies and strategy, but you’ll have to admit that they are at least fairly open about their reasoning and motivation when it comes to
this particular issue of IAPs (which is commendable in context, considering the secrecy that has always defined them as a company and the relative opacity of some App Store review processes).
At the end of the day, no matter what
YOU, the power user at MacRumors, thinks of Apple or Epic, the latter will still get royally fscked because they very much consciously and deliberately trampled on an agreement they signed, and it’s still the parents, most of them regular Joes, Janes and everyone in between, who – usually – pay for their kids’ phones, App Store games, IAPs and subscriptions. Call them boomers, scream and shout all you want, but they won’t side with the scruffy “upstart” (they’re anything but, except common folk don’t even know what UE is, and those who do will be mad as hell… at Epic, not Apple) with the weird characters and – stolen – dance moves. Guess what: Apple knows this, because they obviously know their customers better than anyone else. That’s why they are willing to take a gamble, and that’s why letting Fortnite linger on all those kids’ devices in a semi- or altogether non-functional state instead of pulling the remote kill-switch is pure – evil, even? Yeah, I’ll give you that – genius; it’s not heavy-handed or intrusive on their part, and it makes it look like it was Epic which let a good part of their customers behind (and, in fact, that’s precisely what they did; they just chose the most obnoxious and destructive way to go about it, for good measure). It exposes Epic for what they are and leaves them on display, on digital stocks.
Considering all of this, I, for one, won’t shed a tear for Epic; they aren’t any better than Adobe or Microsoft (or, yes, Apple) at their worst. As a matter of fact, they remind me of those stupid Hackintosh sellers that pop up every now and then (by the way, if you peruse my posting history you’ll realize that the only reason I never ventured into making my own Hackintoshes was the fact that I depend on my Macs for my income and am not much of a gamer nor need any work-related Windows software at native speeds, but otherwise love upgrading and fixing my own Macs, as well as updating them waaay past the last officially supported version of macOS, because screw planned obsolescence and hooray for Right to Repair, so don’t even try to go there).
Sheesh, this place has devolved into a freaking echo chamber of rather questionable Apple users (are you, really, or are you just paid trolls?). And if you are real people and hate Apple that much, what the hell are you doing here, really? Look, I’ve been following Apple since 2003, and while it’s probably one of the most reputable companies I know of, I’ve seen them make a fair share of pig-headed, heavy-handed, tone-deaf and even outright petty moves; and this, I can assure you, is NOT one of them. Epic and Sweeney are the complete bastards here. They rank even below Samsung (at least those are great component manufacturers) and Google. And that’s quite the statement, as you may recall their shameless copying from insider, privileged knowledge. Espionage, shoplifting, potayto, potahto.
As a parting thought, consider this: Epic is actually doing customers and developers a disservice when it comes to IAP cuts (which, mind you, are also 30% on Google’s Play Store) and market freedom on iOS. Had they gone the civilized, strictly legal route, they might’ve garnered universal (even if not as widespread) support (possibly me included, even) and be at least respectful and respected in court; as such, not only will they be utterly destroyed in that legal setting, they also garnered active animosity from regular bystanders like myself, third-party developers and an extra layer of well-deserved wrath from Apple (which, yes, often keeps conducting business with companies with which they are embroiled in litigation). All for, maybe, a quick buck. And the only chance those cuts and restrictions will ever be revisited will likely now be if regulators step in. So, Epic may also be in it for the long game and counting on that after bringing it to light… However, the fact that they are partially owned by Chinese capital and the entire UE situation may put them in a precarious position until then, so… I really don’t get it. If I had to bet, this will end up just being one of those “cutting the nose to spite the face” stories.
