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You ASSUME, you cannot guarantee it. And the way Epic is handling things on the PC side it would not surprise me to have them purchase exclusivity rights on popular apps.
What dev wouldn’t want the exposure a massive store provides? Use logic for a second. The worst that could happen is that it’s cheaper direct or via an alternate store. At which point, the user can decide how and where they wish to purchase.
 
Normally I would try to make a coherent comment that supports one side while acknowledging the other side.

F*** it, I want an easy to access Game Boy emulator. I hope this bill passes.
Emulators are a legal grey area and depending on how you use them its questionable at best. Like ripping blu rays. Apple is a duty to remove those from the store. Nintendo is cracking down on emulation and its within their legal right to do so as they are the ones holding the copyright for the games you are emulating.
 
A company like Facebook would certainly host your third party app in their store for “free” in exchange for you using their “free” frameworks in your app.
😂🤣😂🤣
I would love to have Facebook as my App Store, so they can have one more way to track my life!
I can imagine it! Ad blasting at its best.

NO THANKS!
 
Finally!! Big win for everybody!!

I'm not so sure. Apple will find ways to generate revenue, resulting in developers paying for stuff that was free. Developers may wind up paying upfront for review and certificates, pay per download instead of after a sale, see piracy go up, etc.

Big companies like EPIC would also have to open up their app store and development tools as well as Apple; and allow third party ales.

Controversial, but I don't see how formally ending Apple's monopoly over in-app purchase revenue would harm consumers. They still have a choice to use Apple's system.

The security loophole, as well as allowing the same restrictions as Apple places on its apps to be placed on others, means, IMHO, Apple can still control what or how an app interacts with the OS, and could effectively sandbox apps limiting functionality.

If Apple forbids collecting certain data or pushing adds in its apps, for instance, it appears they can impose the same conditions on others.
 
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I’m so sick of the there’s Android arguments. I don’t want to use Android, I paid good money for my iPhone and if there’s a developer out there selling a legal app (outside of the App Store) that I am willing to give legal money to, who is Apple to restrict that trade? Apple may claim its policies are for security and privacy, but since Apple is the sole App Store operator and the sole in-app purchase fee collector, its policies are inextricably tied to profits as well when you peel back the layers.

More players in the App Store operator and in-app purchase administrator markets may mean less profit for Apple. And they’re afraid. Apple is using its dominant position to erect barriers to entry to these markets. And the government seems to be saying that these barriers are artificial and illegal. It’s time for users to have choice.
I am so sick of people trying to turn iOS INTO Android with this mess. You bought iPhone knowing full well its limitations on side-loading.
 
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What dev wouldn’t want the exposure a massive store provides? Use logic for a second. The worst that could happen is that it’s cheaper direct or via an alternate store. At which point, the user can decide how and where they wish to purchase.
Adobe is not on macOS App Store is it? Epic did not have Fortnite on the Google Play store for a bit. It happens.
 
I’m talking about you saying everyone will pull their apps from the App Store. The Google Play Store is a ghost town right?

Its not because its difficult to side-load on Android - which is why Epic is suing them. If it was easier, more people would do it and more apps would leave the single store.
 
Adobe is not on macOS App Store is it? Epic did not have Fortnite on the Google Play store for a bit. It happens.
Because Epic doesn’t want their in game transactions to be subject to the 30% cut. This move will allow Fortnite to be hosted on the App Store as they can still use their own payment provider.

And if not on App Store, Apple users will still be able to install and play via alternate.

It’s a win for the end user. Surely it’s clear.
 
I assume Affinity Photo would be on both. Maybe just 30% cheaper on their website for those to chose to go direct.
30% cheaper? Then how will the other App Store make money?
They will ask for the 30% instead, specially if it's a startup; they will need money to get going.

End users will pay the same or more.

Also think about this:
• What motivated and still motivates Apple to create the App Store and host both free and paid apps?

$100/year for the Developer membership doesn't cover it, considering all the tools they provide.
Plus free Operating System. Microsoft still can't really provide Windows for free, because they need the money to survive. The free upgrade from Windows 7 or 8 to Windows 10 has many conditions and limitations. Plus, Windows 8 was a disaster, and they needed to redeem themselves.

The Apple App Store exists to provide software for Apple Devices. Add to this all the services Apple provides to their users.

Did the App Store succeed? Definitely. It was a win for developers since day one. We have seem small developers like Rovio go from unknown to software giants in a short time. Same with Readdle, and many more.

There still are developers who make money while Apple receives nothing. Example: Flappy Bird; Apple didn't make a penny from its success.


• What would motivate the people behind a third-party App Store to host free apps?
- Money, of course.
Or... Increasing a user base to target for Ads, user tracking, Adware, etc.
I can't think of anything else that would make sense here. Perhaps someone here does...
Or... Money laundering.
Or someone who has too much money and doesn't care to loose some (tax deduction opportunity).
 
Because Epic doesn’t want their in game transactions to be subject to the 30% cut. This move will allow Fortnite to be hosted on the App Store as they can still use their own payment provider.

And if not on App Store, Apple users will still be able to install and play via alternate.

It’s a win for the end user. Surely it’s clear.

Epic specifically called out the difficulties of side-loading on Android and that is why they are also suing Google. If it was easy, they could just avoid Google's 30% cut entirely.


“After 18 months of operating Fortnite on Android outside of the Google Play Store, we’ve come to a basic realization,” the company said at the time, “Google puts software downloadable outside of Google Play at a disadvantage.”
 
Doesn't take a genius to know this will end badly for the customer. Just look at what Epic is doing on PC with Steam competition. Getting exclusivity to where I NEED to use Epic if I want to play the games.

How do I keep sideloading disabled if the Affinity Photo app is not on the App Store and on the Affinity Store?

This is essentially removing choice from me. I have a choice now - Android for side loading and Apple for not sideloading.
I can imagine Affinity and other apps that have been repackaged with 'extras' from the 3rd party App Store... A little Adware here and there, tracking code, etc.
 
Its not because its difficult to side-load on Android - which is why Epic is suing them. If it was easier, more people would do it and more apps would leave the single store.
Epic says it’s too difficult to launch a side-loaded app. Is it? That’s their claim any way. I don’t use Android and don’t know if that has any merit. Epic’s end goal is to be allowed to have Fortnite on the Google Play Store with an alternate payment system, so they have an incentive to say “but side-loading isn’t a fair or viable workaround.”
 
30% cheaper? Then how will the other App Store make money?
They will ask for the 30% instead, specially if it's a startup; they will need money to get going.

End users will pay the same or more.

Also think about this:
• What motivated and still motivates Apple to create the App Store and host both free and paid apps?

$100/year for the Developer membership doesn't cover it, considering all the tools they provide.
Plus free Operating System. Microsoft still can't really provide Windows for free, because they need the money to survive. The free upgrade from Windows 7 or 8 to Windows 10 has many conditions and limitations. Plus, Windows 8 was a disaster, and they needed to redeem themselves.

The Apple App Store exists to provide software for Apple Devices. Add to this all the services Apple provides to their users.

Did the App Store succeed? Definitely. It was a win for developers since day one. We have seem small developers like Rovio go from unknown to software giants in a short time. Same with Readdle, and many more.

There still are developers who make money while Apple receives nothing. Example: Flappy Bird; Apple didn't make a penny from its success.


• What would motivate the people behind a third-party App Store to host free apps?
- Money, of course.
Or... Increasing a user base to target for Ads, user tracking, Adware, etc.
I can't think of anything else that would make sense here. Perhaps someone here does...
Or... Money laundering.
Or someone who has too much money and doesn't care to loose some (tax deduction opportunity).
Direct from the devs website?!? No royalty.
 
Epic says it’s too difficult to launch a side-loaded app. Is it? That’s their claim any way. I don’t use Android and don’t know if that has any merit. Epic’s end goal is to be allowed to have Fortnite on the Google Play Store with an alternate payment system, so they have an incentive to say “but side-loading isn’t a fair or viable workaround.”
They had to bring Fortnite back to the Play Store after it was off it for 18 months due to low amount of downloads.
 
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A company like Facebook would certainly host your third party app in their store for “free” in exchange for you using their “free” frameworks in your app.
Most of the iOS Apps already include them, makes no difference.
But then we would be able to sideload a decent firewall, and block all those hidden traffics, which Apple does not allow to block.

Little Snitch for iOS \o/
 
What the heck is going on here…
In those previous two messages examples I wouldn’t be hosting on a third party app store, only Apple’s AppStore. I wouldn’t be skipping nor asking for free rides to them either (as clearly stated in the previous message).

I’m actually quite uneasy at the blatant avoidance of the question at hand: which is on the ability to allow side loading of an app or not
(not where it is hosted) at the app permissions level itself (if such a thing exists or could exist).

Can’t bold emphasize anymore than that.

No need to reply, your suggestions or contributions are on the “keep on dreaming charity third party store” rants.
Yes, because many people here think that apps hosted by a 3rd party store will be free, no more 30% tax, blah-blah-blah...

Regarding side loading, at this time, anyone is allowed to side-load their own-created apps. it doesn't help or promote piracy, meaning that you can't just copy a paid app from someone else's device and side-load it into your own devices.
 
It costs me $100+ a month for Visual Studio and the required Azure tools for my development on Windows.
There are cheaper alternatives.
PS: I don't know the size of your company, but you could use the Community Edition up to 5 developers.
 
So now I need more apps or app stores on my devices?
Sounds a bit fragmented idea doesn’t it? More credit card details out in a mystery secure billing system. I prefer the one stop shop to be honest. It’s easy and ignorant to just say don’t download or buy from the 3rd party stores. But this could also hurt developers couldn’t it?

It’s easy to claim it’s going to get iPhone users sexually aroused by having the ability to bypass apples app store but that’s going to be a smaller demographic of users than the general users who just want to keep things simple and straight forward and won’t download 3rd party stores to just download a app. It’s going to be overall far to much fuss for them.
To get a refund for a **** app I now have to deal with a 3rd party customer service? Who protects my security when using 3rd party software?
Sounds like soft porn for developers and anti apple nerds, but for the majority of users it sounds like a pain in the arse with zero gain.

Now instead of just adding a laughing icon to show you’re a know it all wanker, how about actually commenting something constructive instead.
 
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Direct from the devs website?!? No royalty.
I can imagine every single app on my device, pinging home constantly to find out if there's a software update available. Even when it's just pinging at launch, that generates traffic. Now multiply it by a few thousands or millions, then multiply by 30 days...
The developer will need to increase their hosting bandwidth to be at the right level, which will increase their costs...
Now imagine having 5 different App Stores to download and update your apps from. What a mess, unless you like to waste time.

There's no such thing as "No royalty". There's always a cost involved, and someone would have to pay for it. And it's usually the consumer.
 
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