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South Korea Passes Bill Banning Apple From Requiring Developers to Use App Store In-App Purchase System
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Unless services lower prices it will not benefit consumers at all.
Good for everyone, even Apple who will get happier developers and users.
Until, of course, Apple raises fees across the board for all developers to make up for lost revenue; and developers either raise prices or suck it up because users have been conditioned not to pay more than a dollar or two for apps.
And what I noticed from all your posts, that you are very anti Apple. What are you doing here? U still sure that you ever developed anything for an Apple device, or even own one?
I wonder how far this will cascade for other devices? Does this also apply to Sony and the PlayStation store? Amazon and the Kindle?
"The bill is an amendment to the existing Telecommunications Business Act." Guess there is no further explanation necessary - regulations relate only to telecommunication devices.
I think this is less about fairness in views of developers vs forcing iOS to be more like Android and thus introduce issues with apps.
I’ve said it a hundred times before on on Nokia’s S60 with NGage platform getting screwed by copying apps for free when they had a cost, as well as experiencing Amazon’s App Store for Android where certain apps don’t work wel from there but do directly from Google (MS OneNote is an example).
the tea damage to developers will be …
Lack of trust from an app held on various websites.
Developers having to check and upload to multiple sites for each iteration/version (and ensure it’s theirs not re-wrapped with other code within).
end users not discovering their apps/trusting their apps since most are not as savvy beyond a Google search (top links always ads).
Developers now paying for cost of marketing themselves - indie devs may not like this nor have time/resources to continue this more than a year.
if it’s this chaotic everywhere then the appeal of iOS significantly drops, for me.
Simple solution for Apple if to not allow ANY IAP in Korea and make all apps free there.
They (Apple) should charge for what exactly? For the sake of the dividends that go to the shareholders perhaps?
If Apple can't make money from a service they aren't offering, maybe Apple should actually use the pile of money it is sitting on to innovate, research and develop meaningful and useful products rather than design creative ways to create an steady source of revenue by locking the ones that actually give real value to their platform: the developers of apps.
It is called competition.
South Korea just made (us) a big favour by showing what is possible and why regardless of the monopolistic practices of some technological empires.
In App Payments and the App Store commission issues always seemed like two separate issues for me. I’m fine with the App store taking a 15 or 30% cut of the initial purchase to cover the costs of running the app store. I’m also fine with that cut including purchases to “unlock” an app or its features. But taking 30% of subscriptions or microtransactions always seemed like a pure cash grab to me. If Apple wanted to reign in on freemium games like Candy Crush or subscription-based apps like Spotify or Netflix then charge the developer a hosting fee based on downloads, updates, etc.
As for the consumer side, Apple could have simply mandated Apple Pay be an option for any in-app purchase regardless of back-end processor. Consumers wouldn’t have to juggle their information with multiple providers, they get the security of Apple Pay’s payment tokenization, and developers can pick whatever back-end system they want to reduce their cost overhead.
As for the consumer side, Apple could have simply mandated Apple Pay be an option for any in-app purchase regardless of back-end processor. Consumers wouldn’t have to juggle their information with multiple providers, they get the security of Apple Pay’s payment tokenization, and developers can pick whatever back-end system they want to reduce their cost overhead.
Hey, just don’t use or download other app stores. Keep just using Apple. Nothing will change for you. Let’s all just breathe, take some time, realize this has no effect on any user who doesn’t want to be affected. It’s okay. The monsters are just imaginary, they can’t get us we don’t give the chance. 🙄
I bet Epic Games was somehow involved in this. They probably lobbied or made a deal with the South Korean government to get this passed. The next thing in the news will be that "Epic Games is moving its headquarters to South Korea."
It is so simple I don't understand why people can't comprehend this fact. Apple/Google are letting us use their infrastructure and therefore have the right to make money since they are the ones who built the entire App Store platform. We have a choice! If you don't like paying Apple/Google, then don't utilize their App Stores. Go create your own App Store, so you don't have to pay commissions to Apple/Google. Quit whining about it, do something! 🤯 Oh, wait...I can't imagine most being able to build an App Store like Apple's/Google's. Even if a few did manage, I doubt they will get enough customers to even pay for a tenth of the time they spent investing in creating their App Store, so I guess we should all just whine and complain about Apple/Google charging commissions on in-app purchases.
Lol, I love that governments are cracking down on Apple/Google but don't touch Amazon, who charges commissions—go figure. 😂
It is so simple I don't understand why people can't comprehend this fact. Apple/Google are letting us use their infrastructure and therefore have the right to make money since they are the ones who built the entire App Store platform. We have a choice! If you don't like paying Apple/Google, then don't utilize their App Stores. Go create your own App Store, so you don't have to pay commissions to Apple/Google. Quit whining about it, do something! 🤯 Oh, wait...I can't imagine most being able to build an App Store like Apple's/Google's. Even if a few did manage, I doubt they will get enough customers to even pay for a tenth of the time they spent investing in creating their App Store, so I guess we should all just whine and complain about Apple/Google charging commissions on in-app purchases.
Lol, I love that governments are cracking down on Apple/Google but don't touch Amazon, who charges commissions—go figure. 😂
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This is exactly why I don't understand that some developers (of smaller apps) are happy with this change. It's not like Apple will simply let this revenue stream get taken away and just be left with the costs of running the store. They will somehow collect a percentage. And it may in the future be done in a way that has a bigger impact on smaller developers. Raising the developer program fees is just one of the possible ways to do this.
I once was very pro Apple but I was never blind like lots of people posting here. So I liked the MacBooks very much, but I hated the crippled butterfly keyboards, the thermal management and the missing ports for developers. For my latest MBP I had to pay $5000 and it turned out to be a piece of s...
I like the Apple Watch, but I don't like the fact that you cannot connect it to other devices.
I loved Apple for "just works" and I hate Apple because they scrapped that principle and today it just doesn't work.
Last but not least I hope that critics and regulations transfer Apple into a different company, more like the company Apple was long time ago. A company that doesn't need lock in effects to make money.
Apple became to greedy. Once the Appstore started it was ok and Jobs told the world that the fees are just high enough to cover the costs.
Today Apple tries to keep other companies out and lock customers in. In every possible way.
Apple could offer different subscription models:
- Old school, everything stays the same (only Apple inApp allowed)
- Tier 1: 3 free apps, 1 paid app - including 5000 push notifications a day
- Tier 2: just increase the number from above
- Tier 3: just increase the number from above
...
Apple always wants to be a service company, so here you go. Just offer services like Push Notifications the same way AWS does.
What developers want to have is competition and freedom. No more App rejections just because you mention something about payment in you App.
Yet I doubt that the wifi-only iPad, iPod Touch and Apple TV, which share the App Store with iPhone, will be exempt.
I’m wayyy less likely to purchase an app if I need to go to a shady 3rd party site.
its like asking McDonalds to be like KFC. You love their fries and you want a KFC like chicken.
Here's to the OBEDIENT ones - the ones who OBEY the status quo and do not contribute to innovationl
The ones who in 2008 would have OBEYED Apple's stance against having 3rd party apps on the new iPhone thinking only Apple knows how to write quality software (We would have never had the app revolution with these "It's their Phone" OBEDIENT folks)
The ones who OBEYED Apple's rejection of Crypto apps years ago (We would have never had the Crypto revolution)
When trillions in new value are created in the digital economy because this artificial friction was removed, Defiant ones can sleep well knowing the OBEDIENT ones will be there to OBEY that new status quo that the defiant ones build.
Defiant ones, Innovators, It's time to build. OBEDIENT ones, just take this loss and wait to OBEY the new status quo that will be built out of this new reality.
THINK DIFFERENT people! You live in the free world not Communist China or North Korea
☝️ DEFIANCE built Apple but your OBEDIENCE is enabling them to deny us the future.
The ones who in 2008 would have OBEYED Apple's stance against having 3rd party apps on the new iPhone thinking only Apple knows how to write quality software (We would have never had the app revolution with these "It's their Phone" OBEDIENT folks)
The ones who OBEYED Apple's rejection of Crypto apps years ago (We would have never had the Crypto revolution)
When trillions in new value are created in the digital economy because this artificial friction was removed, Defiant ones can sleep well knowing the OBEDIENT ones will be there to OBEY that new status quo that the defiant ones build.
Defiant ones, Innovators, It's time to build. OBEDIENT ones, just take this loss and wait to OBEY the new status quo that will be built out of this new reality.
THINK DIFFERENT people! You live in the free world not Communist China or North Korea
☝️ DEFIANCE built Apple but your OBEDIENCE is enabling them to deny us the future.
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Of course that's the idea. Charge a hosting fee. How do you think it's done in retail stores? You think Sony, Samsung, LG, etc don't pay stores like Best Buy to sell their electronics?
Can they though?
If I buy an iPhone from a retailer outside Korea, can I be prohibited from using inside the country?
How is this ”ban” supposed to actually work?
If I were Apple, I would simply stop selling iPhones directly in Korea (and similar countries) in the future. Most of the impact will be felt by local retail business, who will be quite vocal to have the bill changed.
How can you buy stuff if the developer is using a different payment system without you also starting to use that payment system?
Whilst this may help larger developers skip Apples payment systems I don’t see many smaller devs bothering when Apple’s own is frictionless. Devs will use Apple Pay to sidestep having to put in card details each time but cancelling subscriptions from those apps will be a nightmare compared to how easy it is now.
Says who? You may feel secure with Apple because you are wearing blinders in an Apple world. But in China where Apple has sold out to the government who's to say that a local company is not more secure. Or what about a smaller foreign company in China that is not big enough to catch China's attention.
Take the blinders off. This is no way makes the world less safe. In fact, it opens the world for more competition and more options. Yeah, I know, you're afraid and you're afraid for me. Well, I don't need your nanny opinion or rules to protect me.
This and any other similar law is going to be completely irrelevant if Apple writes into their T&C’s that a developer cannot charge a different amount if they use an alternative payment processor. They do this already so it’s not a stretch to think it will happen (eg the whole Netflix situation). I’d be willing to bet lawmakers haven’t thought about this scenario or deliberately avoided it.
Virtually nobody is going to go off platform unless there is a decent incentive to do so. A tiny number will go to ‘support developers’, but it’s not going to be a flood. It won’t move the dial on App Store revenues.
If it has been considered and legislated for, that’s a different story.
Virtually nobody is going to go off platform unless there is a decent incentive to do so. A tiny number will go to ‘support developers’, but it’s not going to be a flood. It won’t move the dial on App Store revenues.
If it has been considered and legislated for, that’s a different story.
How can the experience be better with multiple payment systems? It adds complexity and might force people to register with additional payment systems.