Epic Wins Appeal to Continue Antitrust Case Against Apple in Australia

[subi257]

I can confidently speak on behalf of every single Macrumors forum member and say we are all absolutely delighted by this news, as we are in no way uncritical of a brand just because it makes some good products, and we hope Epic takes Apple to task.

Really? You can confidently speak on behalf of every single Macrumors forum member ? Wrong....you are not speaking for me....I wish epic an epic loss, because they are sneaky to say the least. First of all, they violated their contractual agreement.... blatantly and willfully. If you have issues with a contract, you have proper conversations with the company first. Second, they had no issues earlier when they were a fledgeling nothing company.....and got to where they are via that Apple app store. so, no you don't speak for me.

 

[falkon-engine]

It would also depend on just what the added development, deployment and customer support requirements for supporting additional app stores would be like for developers. What little I know from the Android side is that separate builds and QA are required for Google Play and the Amazon Appstore for instance.

For some developers the extra work and costs might be an obstacle or a speedbump, and I wouldn't fault them for minimizing both if given the option (I mean, some of that's at the core of the arguments against Apple's App Store to begin with). It's difficult to predict.

If the other app stores don’t charge a high commission fee (or if developers can host apps themselves) the savings gained from not paying Apple’s fees would outweigh the costs.

Also, as I understand it, the iPhone/iPad are essentially like mini macs, in terms of being able to run apps from anywhere, so long as the *.ipa is compiled for the device. Of course our devices are currently limited from being able to run such apps without jumping thru certain hoops, but that restriction could technically be lifted.

 

[iOS Geek]

If epic win , you can still choose not to sideload

It's time to let apple be open

If you want "open"...I'm going to drag out the same tired repetitive statement...you have another option. People are all about having a "choice" but forcing Apple to open...TAKES AWAY THAT CHOICE! Many of us chose Apple because it's closed and we didn't want "open" Android. Force Apple to open and now your choices are "open" or... "open". That's not a choice.

You already have an "open" choice. For **** sake, stop trying to take away the only "closed" one for those of us who want it. The level of irony is astounding. In the hope to provide "choice" you actually want to take it away.

 

[Wildkraut]

Unless the app you are interested in is not distributed through the App Store, of course.

But then it's developers right to chose where he want to offer his App.
Anyway, once courts around the world force Apple to open the platform and offer sideloading, App Developers will simply use multiple distribution channels(AppStore, ThirdpartyAppStore, Own Website) to reach their customers.

One good example is Affinity(Photo,Designer,Publisher) for macOS, their Apps exist on the MacAppStore and they are also directly available/downloadable from their Affinity website.
I've bought all their Apps from their website, because I think Affinity deserves 100% of my money,and Apple deserves 0%. I want to support the App Developer, who is the one that did the work, and not some shady middleman mafia corp.

Oh and that way App Devs will be finally able to offer Demo versions, nice side effect.

 

[Absolute Trainwreck]

Good. I really dont like epic but I like apple’s business handlings even less. I’ll reheat the popcorn

 

[sw1tcher]

What would be the advantage to that, to side loading? Or in other words, why do you want / need that?

1) Competition
2) Developers get to keep more $ from the sale of their app
3) Apps that Apple had to remove from their app store, because certain oppressive governments told them to, can still be obtained by users who want/need them

 

[IamTimCook]

Bad actors can get really sneaky with how things are installed. That's like saying "you can still choose not to download viruses". I guess as long as they have a toggle in settings to disable sideloading then whatever.

It’s not whatever though. Your sister, well she decided to sideload apps and got a really nasty one. Now all your info that was in her phone, your location, your text, your photos, oh yeah don’t forget that 20 dollars you texted her with Apple Pay… welp now that bad app has all your info and broke your Apple Pay security.
And you didn’t even have to side load an app. 😁

 

[Absolute Trainwreck]

If you want "open"...I'm going to drag out the same tired repetitive statement...you have another option. People are all about having a "choice" but forcing Apple to open...TAKES AWAY THAT CHOICE! Many of us chose Apple because it's closed and we didn't want "open" Android. Force Apple to open and now your choices are "open" or... "open". That's not a choice.

You already have an "open" choice. For **** sake, stop trying to take away the only "closed" one for those of us who want it. The level of irony is astounding. In the hope to provide "choice" you actually want to take it away.

Only thing ironic is trying to claim you want people to have a choice by… not offering a choice at all, even though that toggle in settings would completely satisfy both people.

why not just be outright about it and say you want it done your way and nobody else has the right to theirs 🙄

 

[Absolute Trainwreck]

It’s not whatever though. Your sister, well she decided to sideload apps and got a really nasty one. Now all your info that was in her phone, your location, your text, your photos, oh yeah don’t forget that 20 dollars you texted her with Apple Pay… welp now that bad app has all your info and broke your Apple Pay security.
And you didn’t even have to side load an app. 😁

Someone has no idea how software works lmao

 

[IamTimCook]

Bad actors can get really sneaky with how things are installed. That's like saying "you can still choose not to download viruses". I guess as long as they have a toggle in settings to disable sideloading then whatever.

It’s not whatever though. Your sister, well she decided to sideload apps and got a really nasty one. Now all your info that was in her phone, your location, your text, your photos, oh yeah don’t forget that 20 dollars you texted her with Apple Pay… welp now that bad app has all you info and broke your Apple Pay security.
snd you didn’t even have to side load an app.

Someone has no idea how software works lmao

I know right? To think that the other persons phone doesn’t keep a record of the interaction it makes with other devices is crazy. Lol.

 

[Absolute Trainwreck]

It’s not whatever though. Your sister, well she decided to sideload apps and got a really nasty one. Now all your info that was in her phone, your location, your text, your photos, oh yeah don’t forget that 20 dollars you texted her with Apple Pay… welp now that bad app has all you info and broke your Apple Pay security.
snd you didn’t even have to side load an app.

I know right? To think that the other persons phone doesn’t keep a record of the interaction it makes with other devices is crazy. Lol.

I definitely meant you. Apps still run sandboxed without root access

 

[PC_tech]

I wonder where Epic get all their money from to sue Apple in every jurisdiction across the world?

Oh yes, the App Store, that's right.

They made plenty of money before the App Store 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

 

[Absolute Trainwreck]

They made plenty of money before the App Store 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

Thank tim apple for unreal tournament 99 what a game

 

[PC_tech]

If you want "open"...I'm going to drag out the same tired repetitive statement...you have another option. People are all about having a "choice" but forcing Apple to open...TAKES AWAY THAT CHOICE! Many of us chose Apple because it's closed and we didn't want "open" Android. Force Apple to open and now your choices are "open" or... "open". That's not a choice.

You already have an "open" choice. For **** sake, stop trying to take away the only "closed" one for those of us who want it. The level of irony is astounding. In the hope to provide "choice" you actually want to take it away.

Forcing Apple doesn't take that choice away, knock it off with that bs 🙄

 

[sw1tcher]

I wonder where Epic get all their money from to sue Apple in every jurisdiction across the world?

Oh yes, the App Store, that's right.

Right. Because Epic software can only run on Apple devices.

There are way more players of Epic titles on consoles than Apple devices.

This was from before Apple pulled it from their app store. You can see that the PlayStation and XBox made up almost 80 percent of users. Add in computer gamers (most will be running Windows) and you've easily got 90 percent.

Leading devices used to play Fortnite in the U.S. 2018| Statista

This statistic presents the leading devices used to play Fortnite according to the game users in the United States as of June 2018.

www.statista.com

 

[PC_tech]

Thank tim apple for unreal tournament 99 what a game

Thanks Apple!!! 😂😂😂

 

[Absolute Trainwreck]

Right. Because Epic software can only run on Apple devices.

There are way more players of Epic titles on consoles than Apple devices.

This was from before Apple pulled it from their app store. You can see that the PlayStation and XBox made up almost 80 percent of users. Add in computer gamers (most will be running Windows) and you've easily got 90 percent.

Leading devices used to play Fortnite in the U.S. 2018| Statista

This statistic presents the leading devices used to play Fortnite according to the game users in the United States as of June 2018.

www.statista.com

Apple folks sure love to think the universe revolves around them. Epic pulled Fortnite out of the AppStore and did this whole thing because they could easily afford to, because iOS users make up a tiny minority of their user base

 

[jmgregory1]

This whole red herring of Apple needing to “open up” their products to allow for other app stores is just such crap. Epic simply wants to make more money, riding on the back of Apple‘s customers, Apple’s marketing, Apple’s product development, instead of paying Apple their percentage. And for consumers to jump on board, not realizing this will do nothing to improve the product or experience is par for the course, especially given the time we live in.

If courts don’t recognize this and make Apple change, it’s going to set precedent for other online retailers, not to mention brick and mortar businesses, all of which currently make their own decisions about what products they sell, what they’ll pay manufacturers for said products and how much profit they’ll make / what they’ll charge for the products. Forget about the free market economy, because it will be replaced with government mandated and court approved sales of every product.

 

[macintoshmac]

It’s just a matter of time before the hammer drops. Apple has already made many billions of dollars from the App Store. They should get out in front of all of this legal trouble and open up under terms they can control vs what a court or a government might force them to do. But I guess they’ll fight this to the bitter end.

This. They should hold back on the greed to squeeze the last possible dime and come out on terms they can control, not what the collective frustration then mandates them to do.

 

[Kirkster]

Unless the app you are interested in is not distributed through the App Store, of course.

I have an android tablet for one app for auto racing telemetry, but it is the only game in town for racing. And of course the OS on the tablet is four revs behind and can’t be updated because Android is a fractured h*ll hole of crap hardware that is only supported for a year and then tossed aside, but then that is the business model for most manufacturers….

For every good app out there it seems that there are 15 “clones” knockoffs for “free”. I would rather pay a fair value for a good app than play the free ”game” where you have to then buy 15 add on pieces to make the free app functional.


Everyone says that you will have more choices but …. I will choose quality of quantity 97% of the time and not have to wade through 15 apps that copied a good app.

 

[iOS Geek]

Only thing ironic is trying to claim you want people to have a choice by… not offering a choice at all, even though that toggle in settings would completely satisfy both people.

why not just be outright about it and say you want it done your way and nobody else has the right to theirs 🙄

Except that's not how it'll work and you know it. Quite a few apps that people use...will pull out of the App Store, taking away that choice because you won't be able to toggle it off if you need those apps.

And I bolded the last part of your comment because that's exactly what you're saying as well. You want it done YOUR way and no one else has the right to theirs. You know what you're buying into with Apple. It's been this way since day 1. You want to take away the ONLY closed option there is out there for the people who want it. For people who want "open" options...those exist. For those who want the "closed" one...there is ONLY ONE, and you want to take it away. That's actually not creating more choice. It's taking it away.

 

[IamTimCook]

I definitely meant you. Apps still run sandboxed without root access

Yeah, I got that. It was sarcasm to point out the silliness of your reply.

You're acting like a malicious party distributing an unvetted app from a random App Store couldn't find the loop hole to become the middle man on a users phone.
Lol, you guys... one post it's "Apple App Store is plagued with spyware" right to the next post with "Apple is sandboxed you got nothing to worry about bro. Bring on side loading it's only a positive" You guys are jokes. As long as it fits the trolly post y'all are writing.... lol

 

[Krizoitz]

Loving it! 🤣 Governments are finally waking up, and will beat the hell out of these shady companies like Apple and Google.
I’m looking forward to side loading.

What exactly is shady about it?
1. Apple has been upfront from day one about the iOS approach to apps. For those who prefer an alternative they have a more than viable option in Android.
2. Apples feed are lesser than most brick and mortar retail stores and in line with what other digital stores charge.
3. Epic does the same thing with its own web store
4. No one is forced to use an iPhone

There’s nothing shady about this at all. You may not like it, but that doesn’t make it shady.

 

[Krizoitz]

Courts are independent of government

No, they are not. They are inherently part of the government. If they weren’t part of the government they would have no authority to enforce the law.

 

[JMO1]

In Australia indeed iOS is the most installed OS on mobile devices. I didn't know that there is a country in which Apple has the biggest marketshare except for us of a. Here in Spain for example Android is installed on 80% of all devices.

Bummer for Spain