Minnesota and Arizona Bills Aim to Let Developers Skirt Apple's In-App Purchase Rules

[iOS Geek]

Forcing Apple to drop the in-app payment exclusivity will change nothing - hopefully (I don't want iOS cracked open, insecure and not protecting my privacy.)
As a developer I'm happy to continue using Apple's payment system. 15% seems like a lot but it isn't. PayPal takes 6%.
On top of that I don't have to deal with people wanting refunds and users get a better purchase experience using Apple's payment system because it is full integrated into iOS. 15% is worth it I think.
I also think the users will probably convert better with apps that continue to use Apple's payment system because of this.
If they bust open iOS for any payment in-app I won't be switching.

Nice to see a developer's perspective!

As a user...the way things are now...I trust how it's set up and therefore don't have any problem spending the money. If this goes through and developers make the switch...they won't see another cent from me. I trust the current payment system and it's convenience. Move away from that and that good grace is lost.

Things that sound good on paper don't always end up that way in practice.

 

[I7guy]

I don't think you read the post I replied to, it's in the quote...

What I am asking you and everyone, is what is the difference between MacOS and iOS. On a Mac, I can sell my app in the Mac app store. I can sell it via SetApp. I can sell it via Steam. I can sell it on my own website. On iOS? The App Store is literally the only option.

The difference is MacOS was setup the way it was and the iphone was setup the way it was.

That's the difference. The entire "what's a computer" is irrelevant, they are both computers albeit doing things differently.

 

[QT Performa]

Is there some lobbying group that is contributing to state legislators nationwide? Seems oddly coincidental that three states are trying to do this simultaneously

It would seem to be an effort by Epic to "win" through buying politicians what they know they cannot win in court.

At this stage of the game this reeks of desperation by Epic, and the true court case hasn't even started yet.

 

[Cosmosent]

When will these Lawmakers ever learn ?

Apple's "cut" is ONLY a part of the problem, & it's NOT the biggest part !

Apple has a Complete & Total Stranglehold on App Discovery !!

If third-party App Stores were allowed, NON-Game Apps would flourish BIG time !

Very specifically, the existing App Store does fine for Game Apps, with the primary gripe of such App Devs being Apple's cut.

For App Devs OUTSIDE of Games, & especially those who have High-Tech NON-Game Apps, it's a real challenge.

Here, App Discovery is by-far the biggest issue !

If third-party App Stores were allowed, they could & would promote / recommend apps that Apple never does !

Tim Cook's time as CEO is very likely coming to an end.

With lack of innovation being the key reason.

The existing App Store is mostly for the Young & the Dumb !

Apple needs a 2nd App Store, focused on Apps for Adults !

If Apple doesn't get there, third-party App Stores will (soon) !

 

[I7guy]

[...]

Apple has a Complete & Total Stranglehold on App Discovery !!
[...]

Then outsource App Discovery to google. Give them a billion back of what they pay Apple. Problem solved.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

Will this also mean we can buy stuff on Amazon without paying Amazon? Yay!

No, but people that sell on Amazon have a choice to sell their products elsewhere. See the difference?

 

[breather]

Regulating big tech, maybe break some of them up (FB), enforcing laws is a good thing.

However, this thing is ridiculous. I want my apps to be secure, safe and good and that is what you get (mostly) from the App Store.

Wanna go after Apple and big tech? Make them pay their taxes....

 

[svanstrom]

No, but people that sell on Amazon have a choice to sell their products elsewhere. See the difference?

You're trying to say that the developers can't chose to sell for Android devices instead?

 

[Ethosik]

No, but people that sell on Amazon have a choice to sell their products elsewhere. See the difference?

You can sell on Android....

iOS is Target
Android is Wal-Mart.

What do you do if target won’t sell your product or has too many fees? Sell elsewhere. Wal-Mart for example.

 

[Ethosik]

Regulating big tech, maybe break some of them up (FB), enforcing laws is a good thing.

However, this thing is ridiculous. I want my apps to be secure, safe and good and that is what you get (mostly) from the App Store.

Wanna go after Apple and big tech? Make them pay their taxes....

They pay their taxes. If they want more, fix all those loopholes only the super rich can take advantage of.

 

[QT Performa]

I'm starting to wonder if the days of them controlling the only gateway onto the iPhone is coming to an end.

Of course it is.

Economic illiteracy is running rampant in America. Apple literally created this market from nothing, and they should be able to run it as they see fit. It really is no different - as a theory - than if Apple had built the world's largest shopping mall at a physical location and the rest of society now thinks they get a say in what Apple can and cannot do with that property.

As America continues a dangerous flirtation with socialism, it is not a leap of logic to see that eventually governmental control of the App Store will be seen as acceptable by the economically illiterate. Sadly, when it starts being their property controlled it will be too late to do anything about it.

So please wonder no more. So long as America continues down this path what you contemplate is sure to become reality.

 

[kelemor88]

I don't think you read the post I replied to, it's in the quote...

What I am asking you and everyone, is what is the difference between MacOS and iOS. On a Mac, I can sell my app in the Mac app store. I can sell it via SetApp. I can sell it via Steam. I can sell it on my own website. On iOS? The App Store is literally the only option.

Simple difference if you as a macOS developer screw the pooch the worse thing that can happen is the person loses their data or their computer won’t boot

you do that to an IOS device someone could be stuck needing help with a bricked iPhone because of your app. They could be severely hurt or die.

the macOS problem can be fixed or data could be retrieved. Can’t fix death or turn back time on severe injuries.
Also who do think they will go after with a major iOS problem the developer of the app or the billion dollar company who let crap apps be downloaded to some ones phone that caused the problem.

 

[genovelle]

No but did you pay Microsoft or Apple when you used your Mac or PC to shop on amazon? No? Why not?

Because it is an operating system. Just like iOS and iPadOS.

Apple should have the right to police their own App Store, even to the extent they do today...as long as users can choose to "shop" in other App Store if those rules become too draconian. People should own the devices they purchase, not corporations.

You clearly don’t know how it works. It is an App Store that sells stuff. Apple invests quite a lot to maintain it and keep it moving forward. Anyone making money from their work and marketing but not paying is a free loader.

 

[genovelle]

Of course it is.

Economic illiteracy is running rampant in America. Apple literally created this market from nothing, and they should be able to run it as they see fit. It really is no different - as a theory - than if Apple had built the world's largest shopping mall at a physical location and the rest of society now thinks they get a say in what Apple can and cannot do with that property.

As America continues a dangerous flirtation with socialism, it is not a leap of logic to see that eventually governmental control of the App Store will be seen as acceptable by the economically illiterate. Sadly, when it starts being their property controlled it will be too late to do anything about it.

So please wonder no more. So long as America continues down this path what you contemplate is sure to become reality.

Socialism is not what certain media companies paint it to be to scare their people.

 

[rafark]

Do they plan to pay for the server resources to host the games? Fortnite was free on the App Store, IAPs was the only way Apple was profiting from it.

Perhaps they should have the option to host the apps themselves. Server infrastructure for app downloads is really not that expensive these days. The most popular open source repositories get millions of downloads per day and they host packages *for free*. So go figure.

It’s in apple’s interest to have a strong App Store with lots of good apps. Otherwise you end up like Windows phone. Apple needs developers as much if not more than developers need Apple.

 

[QT Performa]

As a developer I'm happy to continue using Apple's payment system. 15% seems like a lot but it isn't. PayPal takes 6%.

I am curious here... do you have any sort of idea as to how much - in terms of percentage - you would be paying out if you had to pay for all the 'back office' Apple currently provides if you were to market your app completely independent of Apple?

Do you think you would have any profit at all?

 

[MauiPa]

This is ridiculous. If you decide to be an app developer you know Apple/Google get a cut of the in-app purchases. It’s their platform, they’re allowed. If you don’t like it, don’t have in-app purchases. Pretty simple.

Or be like Spotify and others. Let customers buy your services on a web site and use the purchased services on the downloaded app. Seriously not seeing the issue here. This applies only to a small group of customers who buy via in app purchases. Maybe they don’t trust developers with their credit card numbers? But a small group of customers

 

[QT Performa]

Socialism is not what certain media companies paint it to be to scare their people.

Would that be the same media companies that are currently crushing any and all dissent of socialism/liberalism? Those media companies?

Would you mind explaining how the crushing of dissent is scaring people away from socialism?

 

[1258186]

Only takes one state to pass this legislation for the domino effect to start. Apple under Cook has amassed a lot of enemies.

 

[Amazing Iceman]

This is ridiculous. If you decide to be an app developer you know Apple/Google get a cut of the in-app purchases. It’s their platform, they’re allowed. If you don’t like it, don’t have in-app purchases. Pretty simple.

Very true. And they are forgetting that without ”Big Tech”, most of them would be just a bunch of starving developers, trying to sell their apps as shareware on a low reputation website that hosts a whole bunch of malware like CNet and Softonic.

 

[roar08]

No but did you pay Microsoft or Apple when you used your Mac or PC to shop on amazon? No? Why not?

Because it is an operating system. Just like iOS and iPadOS.

Apple should have the right to police their own App Store, even to the extent they do today...as long as users can choose to "shop" in other App Store if those rules become too draconian. People should own the devices they purchase, not corporations.

False comparison. Maybe people would pay Microsoft if they worked hard to prevent garbage malware, viruses, and all manner of crap from getting into the average person's computer. Don't even start with privacy. I'm not even disagreeing with your stance, but true comparisons should be ... well, true comparisons of what is and isn't included with the things you're comparing.

 

[MauiPa]

Perhaps they should have the option to host the apps themselves. Server infrastructure for app downloads is really not that expensive these days. The most popular open source repositories get millions of downloads per day and they host packages *for free*. So go figure.

It’s in apple’s interest to have a strong App Store with lots of good apps. Otherwise you end up like Windows phone. Apple needs developers as much if not more than developers need Apple.

As an Apple customer I want privacy and security (all the sleazebag developers flouting the rules, be damned). If you want more “open source” go android. Apple is far from a monopoly. As google always tells us they sell way more phones on android

 

[Take Flight]

Excellent, more good news. Glad some people are wising up to this.

From a user experience standpoint...this would be a nightmare. Can you imagine the extent some app makers may go to bury the ability to easily opt out of subscriptions? Right now, you can easily go into settings and quickly see the full list of all the apps nickel and diming you every month and unsubscribe from those you may have only needed temporarily.

Come back here when you are having to call a 1-800 number to unsubscribe from an app.

 

[MauiPa]

Perhaps they should have the option to host the apps themselves. Server infrastructure for app downloads is really not that expensive these days. The most popular open source repositories get millions of downloads per day and they host packages *for free*. So go figure.

It’s in apple’s interest to have a strong App Store with lots of good apps. Otherwise you end up like Windows phone. Apple needs developers as much if not more than developers need Apple.

Well we could all get a Facebook phone

 

[roar08]

People should own the devices they purchase, not corporations.

You can choose to live in a neighborhood with CC&Rs that prevent your neighbors from painting their homes plaid or parking cars w/ no tires on the lawns. You own your home, but you agree to the rules that come along with living there.

Don't like that? There are plenty of neighborhoods that don't have or enforce CC&Rs.

Choice. Choice. Choice.