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Apple's fine will be much larger than $700M and Apple will be force to open up IOS so that it is more likeMacOS in terms of the App Store.

This is very good news for everyone but Apple and Google.


how is that good news for me as a consumer? at the moment i get all my iOS software easily from one app store. all this will do is mean that at some point in the future i will have to use more than one app store. i will still get the same software. it will cost me the same. there is no benefit.
 
Apple's fine will be much larger than $700M and Apple will be force to open up IOS so that it is more likeMacOS in terms of the App Store.

This is very good news for everyone but Apple and Google.
Unlikely. Apple has already successfully argued that the hardware, iOS, and the App Store are one in the same and features of the same product. They have also always acted in this way.

The only way I see the Apple App Store changing is through legislation.
 
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Don’t worry. That’ll come down on appeal. Look forward to your 75 cents coming in 2026.
70mil for the states though 😳


Google will pay $630 million in restitution to customers, and $70 million into a fund that will be used by states should the settlement get final approval from a judge. Customers who purchased an app on Google Play between August 16, 2016 and September 30, 2023 will receive at least $2.
 
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I don't think it will end here either..just like the patent trolls, these types are waiting for right time and slip up to get their payday. Preying on the innovation and success of companies that take the risk.
 
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Unlikely. Apple has already successfully argued that the hardware, iOS, and the App Store are one in the same and features of the same product. They have also always acted in this way.

The only way I see the Apple App Store changing is through legislation.
Remember that time we all wanted to ditch cable for streaming.. all these different platforms now for content and no way to find in place. Same thing coming soon for apps..these lawmakers and lawyers with our “best interests in mind” just want to fill their own pockets
 
Let's say Apple decides to kick Uber off of the app store.
I can see your point, though I can’t envision Apple making a choice like that lightly. If they began kicking apps off the platform, that would most likely put a damper on new apps being developed and would start a downward spiral.

As for other mobile OS systems, you’re right — none of them really caught on. But was that because of monopolies or because they weren’t very good to begin with? IMO the MS mobile OS was visual cacophony. And remember all the other mobile OS systems that held dominance before 2007. Apple simply figured out how to make a mobile OS that was more intuitive (and Google to a large extent copied that). I certainly think there’s room for other OS systems. But they need to give me a compelling reason to switch.
 
How Apple gets away with fundamentally identical behavior but Google ends up on the mat is a total mystery to me. Smart phone market share without considering profits?

It seems the fundamental difference keeps boiling down to the fact that Apple has always been more upfront about this behavior than Google. Apple in the vast majority of cases tells everyone the deal and they can take it or leave it. Google went the Microsoft route of making hundreds or thousands of individual secret deals. Apple does get in trouble for it but it really does seem they do it proportionally less often.

Also apparently Apple is just very disciplined about operational security and leaves very little evidence of anything.
 
I can see your point, though I can’t envision Apple making a choice like that lightly. If they began kicking apps off the platform, that would most likely put a damper on new apps being developed and would start a downward spiral.

As for other mobile OS systems, you’re right — none of them really caught on. But was that because of monopolies or because they weren’t very good to begin with? IMO the MS mobile OS was visual cacophony. And remember all the other mobile OS systems that held dominance before 2007. Apple simply figured out how to make a mobile OS that was more intuitive (and Google to a large extent copied that). I certainly think there’s room for other OS systems. But they need to give me a compelling reason to switch.
Apple would only kick Uber off the App Store if they broke the App Store rules.
 
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How Apple gets away with fundamentally identical behavior but Google ends up on the mat is a total mystery to me. Smart phone market share without considering profits?

As I have heard it explained by people who deal with anti-trust law on professional and academic levels, the difference between Apple and Google was Apple universally charged everyone the same flat 15 or 30% to be in the App Store whereas Google made multiple deals with "important" clients that reduced the amount they had to pay to be in the Google Play Store compared to other clients.

So Google effectively used their monopoly to charge certain clients more or less than peer clients whereas Apple used their monopoly to charge all of their clients the same amount. The former is evidently illegal under US anti-trust laws, whereas the latter is not.
 
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I think another reason why a third platform may never occur is because developers simply don't want to support multiple platforms. A company like Facebook would have enough resources, but a single dev or a small team?

There's also the question of whether Google will even bother supporting the new platform with their apps. That was what killed the windows phone, them not having access to apps like gmail and YouTube. It's not about app stores being open or closed. A new platform without even the basic apps is dead in the water.

There's also the question of what a new platform could offer to users. Apple has its ecosystem, Android hits all price points, what's a new competitor to do to stand out?

It’s easier than ever now to make multiple apps for multiple environments with .NET MAUI.
 
You're looking at this all wrong. Let's say Apple decides to kick Uber off of the app store. If you have an iPhone odds are you're not going to go out and buy an Android phone simply to use Uber. Uber would have no other way to get their app to iPhone users and would simply loose that part of their business. That puts Apple in a very monopolistic position and gives them power they simply shouldn't have. I'm surprised you lumped Harmony Tizen in as neither is a competitor to the dominant two. Especially not Tizen. Samsung doesn't even use Tizen in it's own smart watches anymore.
These closed app stores are the exact reason a new third competitor will never happen. The Microsoft Windows Phone was by all accounts an amazing operating system that was ahead of its time in so many ways. The problem is that they couldn't get enough apps on their store fast enough and that killed the platform. If a third party cross platform app store popped up it could take it's time to grow. Once there were enough apps this would finally enable the possibility of a viable third (or 4th or 5th) phone platform. Competition is a good thing.
If Apple decides to kick Uber out of the "App Store" anyone is welcome to go somewhere else to get that Uber service, including the website (even from an iPhone if you want), which is because Uber made the business decision that they didn't want to be an exclusive "App Store" offering, all businesses are welcome to make this same choice. Consumers have to be responsible for their own purchasing choices at some level. I can't (or shouldn't be able to) buy a Tesla and then make them turn that into a combustion vehicle because I want to use petrol sometimes. I suspect you agree with this at some level, you just seem to think that responsibility doesn't come into play until after product selection/purchase. Like, I'm gonna buy an iPhone and then later decide what features I want it to have, if they are not available, then I need Apple to change its product to meet my desires. Oddly enough, that is exactly what would happen if the user-base agreed with me. Apple actually does listen to its customer, they just don't focus as much on what other companies customers say if it doesn't service their own.

The lack of a robust selection of apps was only part of the Windows phone failure. More than anything it was hard to understand as a product. Remember that Windows CE exited back in the 90s, at least a decade before the iPhone was introduced with no "App Store". I think in a way no one ever understood what Windows Mobile was or what it would actually be eventually. Was it Windows CE, Pocket PC, Windows Mobile 2003, Mobile 5, etc, was it actually Windows or did it just have the same name? Those were not revisions of a os like Android Marshmallow to Nougat, they were completely new product offerings that often had no relation to its predecessor. It was mentioned that I could run my Windows app in a future release, but that was understood to be an idea, not a promise.

You mention that "Competition is a good thing." I agree, but that isn't the same as saying that you need a lot of competitors to properly service the consumer demand. Competitors that don't serve consumer interest are destined to fail (and should) or require subsidy (financial or legislative). The reality is that between the major players (Android and iOS) and numerous more niche brands, the consumer demand is being met. Obviously, that demand is driven by innovation, features, and most importantly marketing. That's not a problem for consumers, that is a problem for ****** developers who can't or won't create a product or marketing (or both) that will engage consumer choice.
 
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You're looking at this all wrong. Let's say Apple decides to kick Uber off of the app store. If you have an iPhone odds are you're not going to go out and buy an Android phone simply to use Uber. Uber would have no other way to get their app to iPhone users and would simply loose that part of their business. That puts Apple in a very monopolistic position and gives them power they simply shouldn't have. I'm surprised you lumped Harmony Tizen in as neither is a competitor to the dominant two. Especially not Tizen. Samsung doesn't even use Tizen in it's own smart watches anymore.
These closed app stores are the exact reason a new third competitor will never happen. The Microsoft Windows Phone was by all accounts an amazing operating system that was ahead of its time in so many ways. The problem is that they couldn't get enough apps on their store fast enough and that killed the platform. If a third party cross platform app store popped up it could take it's time to grow. Once there were enough apps this would finally enable the possibility of a viable third (or 4th or 5th) phone platform. Competition is a good thing.

You’re right, I won’t go to Android to use an Uber app, but I will go to Safari to use their web site.
 
There are rules, but the rules don't apply to everybody. Starbucks also doesn't have to pay the Apple Tax.

The rules applies to all members of the Apple Developer programs. The rules treats different types of apps differently, but the rules Apple sets for it's developers is the same for each program.
 
As I have heard it explained by people who deal with anti-trust law on professional and academic levels, the difference between Apple and Google was Apple universally charged everyone the same flat 15 or 30% to be in the App Store whereas Google made multiple deals with "important" clients that reduced the amount they had to pay to be in the Google Play Store compared to other clients.

So Google effectively used their monopoly to charge certain clients more or less than peer clients whereas Apple used their monopoly to charge all of their clients the same amount. The former is evidently illegal under US anti-trust laws, whereas the latter is not.

An email from July of 2018 showed Apple employees had created a presentation in favor of in-app purchases. It included reminders of the things Apple has done for Netflix and floated new deals, like offering subscriber discounts (Apple would eventually launch something like that in 2020) and letting Netflix determine what Netflix shows and movies Apple writes about it in the App Store.
Apple also highlighted all of the promotion it did for Netflix in the editorial section of the App Store. Specifically, Apple also calls out that Netflix was featured more than any partner, and content written about the streaming service’s shows had boosted its downloads by six to seven percent.
 
how is that good news for me as a consumer? at the moment i get all my iOS software easily from one app store. all this will do is mean that at some point in the future i will have to use more than one app store. i will still get the same software. it will cost me the same. there is no benefit.
Correction: "at the moment i get all my iOS software, that Apple decide I am worthy to get, easily from one app store."

And no, there is no guaranteed privacy and security provided to you just because Apple decided to allow an app in the AppStore, the abundance of scam apps in the top 10 lists have proven that time and time again.

If you were a true consumer, you would immediately see the benefit for us with the MacOS approach, download from the source the apps that YOU want to have on your device.
 
What’s interesting here is the constant drone of techie wannabes about side loading and third party app stores. Like iOS user,s Android users apparently prefer Google’s own app store over all the third party side loading. So is all this bellowing about side loading just a wet dream for nerds? I think it is.
If people prefer a particular store, then great for them, the "nerds" have no issues with that.

All the "nerds" want, is choice.

Why would you even care if us "nerds" have the choice to download from other sources? It's no skin off your back.

And talking of the choice to download from anywhere, this is, um, you know, what always has, and still does, exist on macOS.

As a "nerd", I almost never download apps from the macOS Apple App Store, and the only time I do is if the company producing the app actually points me to it as the only place to download it. Most don't bother though, why would they?

As a software dev, oops, I mean, as a "nerd", I am regularly downloading dev tools and libraries direct via the "Linux" terminal, using tools such as npm, or brew. I wouldn't even be able to do my work with a Mac if not for this ability.

Besides, the official Apple and Google app stores are annoying junk, full of scammy, annoying crapware.
 
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Why would you even care if us "nerds" have the choice to download from other sources? It's no skin off your back.
These people would disagree.


I simply don't agree that having the option to sideload is a lossless proposition, or that it's enough to brush aside legitimate user concerns with a flippant "You don't have to use download apps from outside the app store if you don't want to".

I want the people calling for sideloading to be made accessible on iOS to not only admit that yes, they do want more choice, but also to acknowledge the risks involved in opening up iOS and the possible perils this poses to its users. It's easy to say "not my business" when you are not the one who will be held accountable anyways. At least be honest and transparent about your intentions.
 
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How Apple gets away with fundamentally identical behavior but Google ends up on the mat is a total mystery to me. Smart phone market share without considering profits?

Not the same. Not sure why it is so hard for people to understand the difference of trying to control your own products versus trying to control 3rd party products. Apple’s AppStore only exists on Apple’s devices. Google Play is on many OEM devices - and Google trying to force the use of the Play Store is in fact anti-competitive.
 
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If people prefer a particular store, then great for them, the "nerds" have no issues with that.

All the "nerds" want, is choice.

Why would you even care if us "nerds" have the choice to download from other sources? It's no skin off your back.

But nerds shouldn't get choice and freedom when it affects me. They should be less valued.

The reason why we care is we don't want iOS to work like macOS or Windows.
We want developers to have as little power as possible since so many of them abuse it. We value convenience and conformity above everything else.

On macOS I have to download software from several different sources, all having their own login system, their own payment system, their own upgrade system, etc.

On macOS and Windows, applications are allowed to abuse resources and get as much CPU/GPU and memory as they want, very few limits are put on the developers.

I want developers to be treated as second class citizens which are servants to Apple and Apple's users.
 
Correction: "at the moment i get all my iOS software, that Apple decide I am worthy to get, easily from one app store."

And no, there is no guaranteed privacy and security provided to you just because Apple decided to allow an app in the AppStore, the abundance of scam apps in the top 10 lists have proven that time and time again.

If you were a true consumer, you would immediately see the benefit for us with the MacOS approach, download from the source the apps that YOU want to have on your device.


firstly im not aware of any software that apple stopped me from getting, that I wanted.
secondly you go off on a tangent with 'and no,...' which reads as if you are disagreeing with something I said, when I didn't say it. but as it happens, again im not aware of any apps ive ever installed being scam apps.

for me the App Store is like one big supermarket, I can get everything I want under one roof, and pay for it all together. what this will do is mean I have to shop in more than one supermarket as a lot of items will choose to be only sold by one or the other, and ill have to sign up repeatedly and put my card details into various sites, some of which I might not feel comfortable about. It's like when EPIC opened its game store. Before that, everything was neatly on Steam. Now ive got games on steam, epic, plus tbh I must have games on Ubisoft and various other stores that ive forgotten about.

me disagreeing with you doesn't mean im not a consumer, never mind a 'true consumer' whatever that is.
 
firstly im not aware of any software that apple stopped me from getting, that I wanted.
secondly you go off on a tangent with 'and no,...' which reads as if you are disagreeing with something I said, when I didn't say it. but as it happens, again im not aware of any apps ive ever installed being scam apps.

for me the App Store is like one big supermarket, I can get everything I want under one roof, and pay for it all together. what this will do is mean I have to shop in more than one supermarket as a lot of items will choose to be only sold by one or the other, and ill have to sign up repeatedly and put my card details into various sites, some of which I might not feel comfortable about. It's like when EPIC opened its game store. Before that, everything was neatly on Steam. Now ive got games on steam, epic, plus tbh I must have games on Ubisoft and various other stores that ive forgotten about.

me disagreeing with you doesn't mean im not a consumer, never mind a 'true consumer' whatever that is.
There’s a subset of users who can’t get everything they want from Apple’s App Store (usually quoted as being emulators and torrent apps in my experience). Those users want to be able to get those apps on their phones and don’t give two hoots about any consequences of changing that model (or they just tell you not to install anything outside of the App Store). They are only interested in their own needs and wants as opposed to a more holistic approach that considers other users needs/knowledge/experience.

Those users are also not content that they can get what they want from an Android phone; they also want to be able to get what they want a the iPhone too.

The irony is I’m not even completely sure that they’ll ever be able to get emulator and torrent apps on the iPhone, even with the ability to install from other sources.
 
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