Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Multiple U.S. States Sue Google for Violating Antitrust Laws With Play Store Fees
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Building open source software from scratch for iOS is pretty about as easy as side loading on Android. Not sure what you mean by paying $299 for ad-hoc?
Again, to make sure I understand what you are saying, you currently have a profitable business selling an app that is only available via side loading on Android? Wow. Epic with one of the most popular games out there and a very motivated user pool could not make a go of that. Since you complained about paying Apple, and not about selling an application that is forbidden, if what you are saying is true, you must make over $1 million a year on your app, or you have a very odd market. If you make less than $1 million a year, you would pay 15% on iOS for access to the store. In order for that to be a worse deal than using a store like gumroad, and handling all the support costs of downloading your app and teaching people how to side load, you have to do all that for 6.5% of the price of your app. Seems unlikely to me.
Except we have seen on Android that piracy is still a serious problem. It is also clear from the existing lawsuit and comments from regulators that it will not stop at side loading.
Looking forward to see Apple and Google being regulated, it’s about time that both get multiple kicks in the junk around the world, and they will. 👍
I think the only reason why they haven’t sued Apple yet is because the outcome of the judge’s decision in the Epic trial is pending.
Yep I hope they wake up and set some general laws up to control all tech companies. Laws in US and EU needs to get modernized, to catch up these fast moving tech companies, any kind of business benefit lock-ins shall be forbidden, hardware and software wise. Rarely a lock-in makes sense, e.g like in a few medical, flight, traffic sectors, but even here it should be only wisely allowed. Maybe lock-ins should be requested, and temporarily allowed e.g for 2ys, then reviewed, then prolonged or rejected, with the possibility to challenge it anytime.
I am curious. What do you think Google will do if they are not allowed to pre-install their apps, set their search engine to be the default, and make money from the Play Store? Why would they want to continue paying for Android development?
Thats not funny. Please do not compare click-to-install and source code compilation, not every app is hello world with zero dev-dependencies. 299$ is price to allow your ios app to be installed from url without device whitelist, this feature mostly for enterprise customers, do i miss something?
What? No, i just want to provide free apps for my friends and anyone else, without paying every year for "App Store hosting". Feels like you are not too close to development/publishing stuff. If you want to spend some time for free app without in-app purchases and ad everywhere, app store just sucks.
Google or Apple won’t exist forever, or do you think they will exist in 500 years from now. If they decide to leave earlier, other companies comes up to fill the gap, Android base is OpenSource anyway.
True! Exactly.
Now the army of Android users are going nuts because Google is enforcing this and from their users to developers LOATH paying for ANY service or product they don’t themselves make.
Why is this expected in this world?
Nothing is going to last forever. Kind of makes all these discussions seems pointless when the universe is going to end someday.
Nothing like some hyperbole to drive home that point eh?
So you pay for a developer account in iOS to Apple.
You upload our free app. You don’t generate more than a 1 million per year thus no fees for App Store hosting. You send 1 link to friends & family and they can download your app. Heck you can upload it for free and sent TestFlight links for them to test while you iron out bugs.
Heck you can make your app(s) fully web-based avoiding any developer fees at all and it works across ALL platforms - save for gaming consoles (meaning mobile iOS, iPadOS, Android, Windows PC or tablets, ChromeBooks etc) not paying ANY fees or having to explain or guide users to ‘side load’ anything. 1 link boom it works. Why bother with the side load at all?
I don’t understand people that buy an iOS device then complain that they want an open system!
it’s like they don’t know what they were buying! Or like they buying iPhones because it’s cool …
They want torrents and other things on device but they are not capable to make a research before buying a 1000$ device, which is hard to believe!
it’s like they don’t know what they were buying! Or like they buying iPhones because it’s cool …
They want torrents and other things on device but they are not capable to make a research before buying a 1000$ device, which is hard to believe!
Your argument does not respond in any way to my question. Do you believe that Google will continue to develop Android if it gains no benefit from it?
Nothing forces companies to install Android with Google Services, yet in most of the world outside of China they do. Why is that? Do you think they do it because they hate their customers and want to force them to use Google Services, or because they know if they did not do it, few people would buy their phones?
Given that Android OSP is available, why has no other company successfully challenged Google’s Android Platform (even two companies of similar size: Amazon and Facebook)?
Who do you think this regulation benefits? The average consumer? Google’s competitors?
Although I did not mention Apple in my previous post, since you brought them in to this conversation, why do you think it benefits the consumer to eliminate one or more choices from the market? Right now there are three major choices (and several minor ones) among which consumers can choose:
- Apple’s Walled Garden
- Google’s Android with Google Services
- Google Open Source Project.
In fact, from what you have posted in other places, I am pretty sure you oppose apple offering any service on its platform. Not sure how removing competitors from the market, eliminating consumer choices and preventing integration of the ecosystem benefits the consumer.
Last edited:
Well maybe it’s also time to law enforce Smartphones(general purpose consuming devices) to be sold like PCs, unlocked from software, being able to install iOS, Android, Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, etc. With a law that also enforces Public Spec availability for consumer devices to remove the barriers of further OpenSource development, this would help against planned obsolescence, too.
They're trying to create illusion that they're the one eyed king of the blind...
Last edited:
Many Android phones have their app stores included as well. Samsung, Huawei etc…
How in the world they expect Google to make money? Android OS is free, and a continuously evolving project.
Who pays for R&D?
Who pays for all the new or updated tools, SDKs, etc.?
If there’s no profit, do you think Google will continue developing Android for free just for charity?
People are going too far at trying to control the way businesses operate. After all, Android and iOS are not the only mobile platforms around.
I don’t like Google much, but they deserve to make money too.
They can charge what they want in their own Store. If you don’t like it, then go away. Same thing with Apple.
A business is a business, don’t interfere unless a crime is being committed.
Who pays for R&D?
Who pays for all the new or updated tools, SDKs, etc.?
If there’s no profit, do you think Google will continue developing Android for free just for charity?
People are going too far at trying to control the way businesses operate. After all, Android and iOS are not the only mobile platforms around.
I don’t like Google much, but they deserve to make money too.
They can charge what they want in their own Store. If you don’t like it, then go away. Same thing with Apple.
A business is a business, don’t interfere unless a crime is being committed.
Where’s the law forcing the PC’s to be sold the way they are? Is there one?
How about, rather than trying to rule with an iron fist, you let a company make a product and (this is really going to blow your mind!) if people want it they can buy it! AND (for bonus mind blowing) if you don’t like it you don’t have to buy it! No interest, no repayments, no black marks on your credit score!
If you get enough people exercising their right to not buy, then the company will be forced to make some changes. However if that doesn’t happen then there is a strong possibly you’re wrong OR you don’t represent the market at large.
Laws really need to be thought through properly. Every heard of the “Law of Unintended Consequences“ - yeah that one was not thought through.… jokes aside. The people putting together laws to regulate tech (like the Bills from the other week) don’t seem all that knowledgeable on the broader ramifications of what these Laws could do to other tech businesses small, large, and not yet formed inside a brain cloud.
Unfortunately it’s not as simple “as make a law putting Apple and Google in the place for not making the product I want…”
Last edited:
If consumers want this, why are they not buying the Android Open Source Project phones? Why are they not buying the Linux phone? Why did they not buy Facebook’s Android phone or Amazon’s Android phone? Why do they buy so little from Samsung’s application store pre-installed on all the Samsung’s phones? No one wants what you want except a tiny groups of edge case users like you.
Your views of choice are so skewed as to be absurd. The only choice should be the one you want. No other option should be allowed.
I'm curious if you have this same opinion about your own career. You won't exist forever. If you're denied fair compensation for your work and decide to leave earlier, someone else will come and fill that gap.
Which covers the cost of the developer tools, while giving you the additional benefit of free access to the App Store.
If you are only deploying it to friends for free as you said, you can use TestFlight and ignore the App Store rules as there is no application review until you submit it.
Given that you claim to be developing free apps just for your friends, it does not matter what percentage of the market Apple holds, just how many of your friends have iOS devices. Are you trying to claim that you expect to develop two different applications (one for Apple’s platforms and one for Android) just for a few of your friends?
Your story gets less and less reasonable over time.
Dunno I’m not Google, “believe” is just “lack of knowledge “, and I don’t believe.
Sure thing, Google forces companies to use the Google Services, with pretty mafia like methods. There are several examples available on the net, I won’t create more duplicates.
Up to a point I personally accept some of these rules, but it’s all set up in a shady way solely to shoulder away the competition.
Same goes for Apple, both companies set up those meticulously chosen rules in a anticompetitive way, and decoratively encircles it with privacy and/or security.
The ones who are unable to recognize this are either stupid or blind.
Amazon challenged their Platform.
Samsung is “slowly” challenging Googles mafia methods, too. They just can, because they are heavy weight enough, which just shows how anticompetitive Google and Apple is.
Apple and Google will have to adapt, and I’m happy that this is gonna happen. And the best thing is, from now on they will continue to stay on the “watch list”.
Yeah I hope Apples walled garden, and all Google Services becomes optional.
As I said, other companies and more OpenSource solutions will come to fill the gap if any of those companies decides to leave the smartphone business.
They won’t, but if they do, I won’t cry.