Supreme Court Allows App Store Monopoly Lawsuit Against Apple to Proceed [Updated]

[sw1tcher]

This is a horrible idea that is being spun as a benefit to consumers. It's not. It opens up the opportunity for malious and privacy invading software to enter a users device. While this is possible through the App Store, apple does a good job of preventing it.

Let the end user decide for themselves if they want to install privacy invading software on their device(s) or not.

It's not as if Apple's App store doesn't have any privacy invading software. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google's various apps, Snapchat, etc. all gather user data.

 

[MuckyDuck]

Good. It IS a monopoly.

So are Facebook and Single Payer Healthcare

 

[jazstudio]

How ridiculous. If they stopped charging the 30%, the companies would just keep the price the same and pocket the 30% Who wouldn't?

John, you're right. They absolutely would. Companies generally don't pass savings down. They send it to their shareholders. I always think about airlines that say they are raising the prices because of fuel but then when fuel prices go down months later, ticket prices don't.

 

[shaunp]

No You can’t!
Because apple has a walled garden too. If You have a watch?

What, you can't easily buy an Android phone? There are other choices other than Apple.

Nobody is forcing you to buy Apple, but if you do choose to buy Apple those are the rules.

 

[AZMecha]

Good. It IS a monopoly.

As I've said repeatedly, it's not Apple's iPhone, it's MY iPhone. I should have the choice to install apps from whatever source I desire, and I shouldn't have to go through ridiculous machinations with Xcode every week to do it.

I disagree... Trust the App store and can complain to Apple when an issue surfaces with app/company/developer out side the consumer has no option or built-in safeguards.

 

[CanadianGuy]

Excellent. Hope this gets some traction, even if their pricing argument is flawed (app prices can't possibly go lower, even outside of the store), but Apple's requirement that all apps have to be delivered through their store is anti-competitive.

 

[Rafterman]

The Monopoly guy is cree-pi-fying.

 

[A MacBook lover]

Look at all the people criticizing Apple here. Delusional.

This scenario....is like the owner of a shopping mall (that leases kiosks and retail spaces) being ruled that it has a monopoly and that it must allow people outside the leasing process inside the mall to open up shop, for free.

So what happens when they bring bad stuff?

 

[Mikey44]

Also what is the $99/yr developer fee for?

This fee covers the access to the resources that Apple provides it's developers, of which there are quite a number of them.

It is a monopoly when the end user cannot get an app from another marketplace or directly from the person who created the app. Everything has to go through the App store first.

The original iPhone had no App Store, the original selling point for developer were 'web apps', which still exist, and are still completely valid. Any developer can develop a web app to run on the iPhone. It may not be as 'in-depth' as some users would like, but there are literally tons of apps that you can run from just saving the webpage to your home screen. A function still within the iPhone, and it doesn't even touch the App Store.

 

[Victor Mortimer]

So you want the government to say you have a right to develop on the iOS platform and sell your app wherever/however you chose? Having governments decide companies business models is a scary thing.

The government does that all the time, mostly for small businesses. Look at how many licenses and permissions a hairdresser or liquor store has to have to operate, and how much the government dictates how their business will operate.

But no, that's actually not what I'm asking for here. It's not at all unreasonable for the government to say "Sorry, big business, but your model is stomping all over the rights of people who have purchased the product you built. It was yours until you sold it to them, but now it's theirs, they own it, and your artificial restrictions on what they can do with it are unreasonable and unlawful."

The rights of the individual should supersede the business model of the corporation here.

 

[1146331]

This is a horrible idea that is being spun as a benefit to consumers. It's not. It opens up the opportunity for malious and privacy invading software to enter a users device. While this is possible through the App Store, apple does a good job of preventing it.

Here's a miraculous solution: If you don't want to use an app store other than Apple's, then DON"T USE IT!

Wow what an easy concept to understand, well I guess not for all the Apple apologists / elitist here. There is no harm in consumer choice.

Apple can have their own strictly controlled store and somebody else can create a store app that allows hosting of iOS applications according to their own rules. Don't like it, don't use it.

Also, no decision has been made by the supreme court yet. The only decision they made was to HEAR the case by allowing the lawsuit to happen. At the end of this lawsuit, a decision will be made.

Who gives a **** about what Kavanaugh sided with, the supreme court is not supposed to be about Democrat vs Republican, it is supposed to be a court that thoughtfully applies an interpretation of the laws and constitution in the United States. A SC justice that can make an argument for different things that don't tote a party line is a good justice. The bad ones are strictly partisan (and often tend to be Democrat.... surprise surprise).

 

[realtuner]

Good luck.

All The Supreme Court decided is that a trial can proceed. They didn’t make any decisions whatsoever as to whether The App Store is a monopoly.

Apple will easily win this.

 

[Nexus1974]

Is it really a monopoly given we have the Google Store. The App store keeps things simple for consumers. If we end up with 10 app stores, how is that any better overall. The developer sets their price and Apple takes a 30% cut to provide the software distribution service.

 

[alfonsog]

It’s the same issue if they made Mac apps only available through Mac App Store... they don’t because that would be a monopoly. They want to protect iPhone above all else though.

 

[chaicka]

What's wrong with the Americans nowadays?

Telling the whole world about democracy yet insisting on App Store to open up to all the mess plunging Android that almost everyone I know switched back to iPhone for its clean, worry-free of spams/malwares/hacks/etc.

Look at those games which has Android variants and how many cheats/hacks/etc which destroy the gaming experience. One good example: Pubg Mobile is now a goner...every play is filled with cheats/hacks players.

 

[PaulRustad007]

Apple hosts your app. apple processes your payment for app. Apple makes sure there is no malicious code in app. Apple makes it convenient to get your app.

Why would anyone risk malware, privacy issues and bad developers to load anything on your phone?

I wouldn’t. Look at play store. Horrible.

 

[TheDauterive]

This won't be good for Apple. Or the consumer. If it ends up against Apple down the road.

I believe thinks worked out well for the consumer when the government stepped in to check all the anti-competitive nonsense Microsoft was up to in the 90s (stuff which, if I remember correctly Apple fans raised against).

What would be so awful if the iOS app market was transformed into something like the Mac app market, where developers can sell their apps in the App Store and from their own website. And individuals like you and me can install apps on our phone whether Apple approves of them or not?

 

[Meandmunch]

Good. It IS a monopoly.

As I've said repeatedly, it's not Apple's iPhone, it's MY iPhone. I should have the choice to install apps from whatever source I desire, and I shouldn't have to go through ridiculous machinations with Xcode every week to do it.

Everyone knows when they purchase an iPhone they are buying into the Apple ecosystem. Good luck with your new Chinese phone and the free spyware it comes with.

 

[needsomecoffee]

IMHO this case is one of many we will start to see about your property rights. Lots of arguments positively noting that Apple is "keeping everyone" safe, and those that want to take risks can go to Android. If we were to compare the pros on this issue versus the almost universal negative reaction to Apple's desire to restrict our right to repair, there would probably be lots people who are pros on the store monopoloy versus being a "Ney" on the RTR -- even though Apple also argued limiting RTR is best for consumer safety. Not sure if this case is about pricing or rights to install non-Apple store apps, but ultimately, at its core, I see Apple's intent the same. To the extent that they can restrict your property rights as owner of a device for which you paid a lot of money, they can create very profitable revenue streams whether those are app selling commissions, or very expensive repairs. I hope Americans realize how important the RTR is, and how disingenuous statements from people like Tim Apple are: "Sacrifice your rights to us - it is what's best for you".

 

[JosephAW]

Somehow this will end badly for consumers resulting in even higher prices.

 

[weup togo]

Apple's App Store is the worst thing ever to happen to software distribution. A once-thriving Mac software scene has been utterly decimated, and iOS was never anything more than a cesspool of throwaway surveillance apps. We would all be better off if it had never existed.

 

[now i see it]

iOS apps only cost a couple bucks at most anyway and most people don't buy new apps after they've got their favorites. This lawsuit seems strange

 

[PaulRustad007]

It’s the same issue if they made Mac apps only available through Mac App Store... they don’t because that would be a monopoly. They want to protect iPhone above all else though.

A computer has an inherent ability to load programs and execute them from any source. The iPhone does not have that ability. And apple will never code iOS to allow that ability.

 

[I7guy]

This probably will be years before this is decided. However I’m sure Apple is already planning for the worst and hoping for the best.

 

[Victor Mortimer]

Look at all the people criticizing Apple here. Delusional.

This scenario....is like the owner of a shopping mall (that leases kiosks and retail spaces) being ruled that it has a monopoly and that it must allow people outside the leasing process inside the mall to open up shop, for free.

So what happens when they bring bad stuff?

No, the delusion is that you think the shopping mall owner should be able to tell all the kiosk and retail spaces "You can't move to another mall down the street or go buy your own store somewhere else in town, you're only allowed to sell here, forever."

We're criticizing Apple here because Apple is wrong.

It's like a car manufacturer saying "you can only buy gas from our gas stations, and we've developed a special fuel port so that no other gas station's nozzle will fit in your car, and if we detect that you've somehow managed to bypass that we're going to turn off your car in a week and you'll have to go through a bunch of annoying steps to turn it back on." It's not reasonable, and it would actually be illegal for a car manufacturer to do that.