Tim Cook Threatened to Remove Uber From the App Store Over iPhone Tagging Tactics

[mabhatter]

Since you'll be entering personal account data anyway to register, this seems like a perfectly reasonable need for device registration as well.

Apple should come up with an API where an app writer can simply ask the mothership if this device has been registered in such a way before, and another call to tag it thusly when it is registered.

Create a solution, instead of leaving a real and costly problem in place.

Apple's "unit of measure" is AppleID accounts. Apple doesn't want "devices" blocked because they change hands often. As much as device theft and such is bad, it's preventing another paying App Store customer from buying stuff. Apple benefits slightly from people that make 12 different accounts in these cases. It would also lead to problems with malcontents locking people out of apps and device IDs that weren't their own. The headaches to Apple of devs using Device IDs are bigger than one or two companies problems.

 

[_Refurbished_]

CHEERS TO UBER FOR ATTEMPTING TO DEFEAT THE NAZIS AT APPLE

apple has NO RIGHT to tell people what they can and cannot put in an APP - it's none of their business.

and those of you that support this nazi like behavior may as well hand apple all your books so they can burn them as well

duh...

Not sure if serious...

 

[Abazigal]

CHEERS TO UBER FOR ATTEMPTING TO DEFEAT THE NAZIS AT APPLE

apple has NO RIGHT to tell people what they can and cannot put in an APP - it's none of their business.

and those of you that support this nazi like behavior may as well hand apple all your books so they can burn them as well

duh...

It is Apple's platform. They have every right.

Or is the concept of "cause and effect" beyond your ken?

 

[I7guy]

Okay talk about lack of equality! Most companies simply get their app pulled, yet Tim went crazy to avoid it. Sounds like someone owns shares of Uber.

Some critical thinking here, maybe he didn't want to disenfranchise millions of customers and gave the company time to fix it.

 

[apolloa]

Good for Apple. I really dislike Uber as they don't like playing by the rules, including road laws for autonomous cars. I can see a big serious fine heading there way one day..
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Its a dubious company with dodgy business practices. I'm 100% all in support for the London black Cab drivers whose trade is being affected.

Couldn't agree with you anymore. I don't trust Uber one bit.

 

[Abazigal]

Okay talk about lack of equality! Most companies simply get their app pulled, yet Tim went crazy to avoid it. Sounds like someone owns shares of Uber.

The concept of equality has always been more of an aspiration than a reality. With wealth comes greater power and influence. You can't expect a small time app developer to be accorded the same attention or treatment as a more influential, major player like Uber or Facebook.

Banning Uber from their iOS platform would have damaged Apple as much as Uber. We can argue until the cows come home about whether Apple would have carried out their threat had Uber not capitulated, but at the end of the day, the issue was resolved and all's well that ends well.

But hey, Apple dared to expunge Google Maps from iOS, so that was clearly a dare Uber's CEO decided he wasn't prepared to take Apple up on.

 

[JohnApples]

Let's see...

Try standing by the roadside with your mom in a wheelchair and see taxi after taxi whiz past you because no driver wants to get down to help. (Not me but my friend).

Try waiting at a taxi stand behind more than 30 people past midnight with no taxi in sight.

See empty taxis waiting at a stand with the "busy" signal on because they want you to call and book them.

Try arguing with taxi drivers on which route to take because they want to take the longer route in order to earn more. Or putting up with stuck up drivers who think I owe them a living, or have no idea how to travel to my destination but don't seem willing to use the maps app on their smartphone, leaving me to have to guide them there.

Conversely with Uber,

With maps and pre-determined fairs, that solves some of my biggest bugbears. The GPS tells the driver where to go. Because the fare is decided upfront, there is no incentive to take a longer route. In fact, it is to the driver's benefit to get me to my destination ASAP. It's a win win scenario for both of us.

The use of an app to hail a ride has all but removed any uncertainty from the equation. I can call an Uber from home, then slowly walk down just as my ride arrives. Waiting by the roadside and praying that a taxi comes your way now seems so barbaric by comparison.

Uber is far from perfect, but the taxi companies are no angels themselves.

Pretty much this.

I admit that I "felt bad" for the taxi companies and felt Uber was overrated years ago. That is, until I vacationed to a different city without a rental car.

Not only was a one-way trip with the local taxi company twice as expensive as a round-trip with Uber, but there was a 20-30 minute waiting period. With Uber, someone pulled up literally seconds after I sent the request. After you add the fact that the Ubers' cars were cleaner (and newer), drivers friendlier, and routes shorter, there is literally not a single reason for me to choose a taxi instead.

 

[Rob_2811]

It's about time Apple toughened up against the big companies in the App Store.

If you're an independent developer, your app is removed immediately at the slightest infraction.

If you're Facebook (background silent audio), Spotify (in-app purchase violation), or now Uber, you get a slap on the wrist and a meeting with the CEO.

Uber should have been booted from the App Store the moment this was discovered.

I agree with you but thats business I suppose. Lets be honest it weakens Apples platform if popular services like Facebook and Uber start getting kicked out of the App Store, its in their interests for them to be in there. I'd imagine they have to be careful of the anti competitive angle also particularly with the likes of Spotify.

 

[WRChris]

Their trade is going to be affected a hell of a lot more by autonomous cars in the not too distant future.

When it comes down to hitting a pedestrian or an oncoming car, what would an autonomous vehicle decide was better?

 

[macfacts]

Creepy

 

[timber]

Here's where I am conflicted. I love the service, even as I find some of their practices deplorable, and as long as Uber continues to operate in my country, I will never use another taxi for as long as I live.

The taxi companies really have only themselves to blame for becoming so lazy and complacent and allowing themselves to be disrupted by a better, more efficient service. The uber drivers I have encountered are way more polite, knowledgeable and have a better attitude overall compared to the taxi drivers I have come across.

From around the Globe I have exactly the same opinion.

 

[Maria Ashot]

Thank you, Tim Cook! Someone should put the U-folks on a much shorter leash. At first I was skeptical, for reasons of personal security. Then I tried Uber, and found it mostly convenient -- especially in big cities. But after about 50 trips, I have huge doubts again. Too many rude drivers! One started chewing me out for refusing to chatter at him when at the end of a very long day, after spending hours tending to ill family members, I really just wanted to ride in peace, alone with my thoughts at 9:30 p.m. as I prepared for an important meeting that would keep me engaged until almost midnight. Twice, today, the Uber telecom system failed to register the correct address, leading to delays, confusion and searching for drivers parked somewhere else. Is it because they didn't get the numbers? Or because they can't read a map? On the one hand, I like supporting entrepreneurs & people who need the income. On the other hand, there isn't enough consistency in the service. Too many drivers just don't bother considering their customers. Some drive around & try to get chummy. Others shut off the engine at every stoplight: a bad driving habit that is both worryingly jarring & disruptive to passengers. Uber has grown too quickly with an arrogant skinflint at the helm. He needs to stop cheating, stop trying to cut corner, stop trying to be Kramer from Seinfeld with his loopy, exhausting schemes. Just give us something basic but reliable, take the time to train & motivate your drivers, and dump the gimmicks! What's the most important thing in a ride? A fancy car? No, a good, competent, polite, restrained, courteous & compassionate driver.

 

[Radon87000]

Some critical thinking here, maybe he didn't want to disenfranchise millions of customers and gave the company time to fix it.

So different rules for everyone? When f.lux did something far less treacherous they were kicked out of the store and Facebook and Uber get to do whatever they want. How does Cook know Uber isnt using yet another api to do something shady?

 

[macfacts]

I wonder how they found out about the geofencing.
And if Uber did it, how can we be sure that other companies and their apps don't do that, too?

Apple operates on the honor system with respect to ios users' privacy it seems. Apple should make it so the OS doesn't allow this type of tracking.

 

[Radon87000]

But hey, Apple dared to expunge Google Maps from iOS, so that was clearly a dare Uber's CEO decided he wasn't prepared to take Apple up on.

And that dare didnt turn out to be a good bet. Google maps wipes the floor with Apple maps in almost every part of the country

 

[fitshaced]

Let's see...

Try standing by the roadside with your mom in a wheelchair and see taxi after taxi whiz past you because no driver wants to get down to help. (Not me but my friend).

Try waiting at a taxi stand behind more than 30 people past midnight with no taxi in sight.

See empty taxis waiting at a stand with the "busy" signal on because they want you to call and book them.

Try arguing with taxi drivers on which route to take because they want to take the longer route in order to earn more. Or putting up with stuck up drivers who think I owe them a living, or have no idea how to travel to my destination but don't seem willing to use the maps app on their smartphone, leaving me to have to guide them there.

Conversely with Uber,

With maps and pre-determined fairs, that solves some of my biggest bugbears. The GPS tells the driver where to go. Because the fare is decided upfront, there is no incentive to take a longer route. In fact, it is to the driver's benefit to get me to my destination ASAP. It's a win win scenario for both of us.

The use of an app to hail a ride has all but removed any uncertainty from the equation. I can call an Uber from home, then slowly walk down just as my ride arrives. Waiting by the roadside and praying that a taxi comes your way now seems so barbaric by comparison.

Uber is far from perfect, but the taxi companies are no angels themselves.

I'm not disagreeing with any of that. Except the taxi services were never going to be Uber. Just like book stores didn't become Amazon and record stores didn't become iTunes. Those ideas were not likely to come from the industries that didn't want them or were not able to become them. Yet, we can have pity on book stores and record stores. Taxi services get a bad name as many taxi drivers are rude and very unhelpful. Not all of them though.

Also, I think I've read somewhere that Uber under pay drivers and seem to have a lot of disrepect for them. Well by getting an Uber you are encouraging the lowering of the average wage and supporting a company with very bad business practices. I don't see that as progress. It's just ignoring a problem because of a convenience.

 

[bigchrisfgb]

Its a dubious company with dodgy business practices. I'm 100% all in support for the London black Cab drivers whose trade is being affected.

I have been disappointed with Uber's practice of tracking me, so now au turn off locations services when for it when I'm not using the app.

Hackney and indeed taxi companies for a long time have had a monopoly on the industry. It was only a matter of time before someone else came in and stole their thunder. Taxi companies arn't against Uber for the interests in passengers, they are against them because they now have to start charging more realistic prices.

 

[Tech198]

so Uber has no right to do this but the "maker of the iPhone" can ?

Sounds more like we want control than anything..

Next, Apple will say no app developer can analyze how much use our app is being used 😛

Your not buying a free device... u'r buying a bloody limiter, u do as u are told... That's not why i bought one., yet Apple is treating u like one.

 

[coolfactor]

Since you'll be entering personal account data anyway to register, this seems like a perfectly reasonable need for device registration as well.

Apple should come up with an API where an app writer can simply ask the mothership if this device has been registered in such a way before, and another call to tag it thusly when it is registered.

Create a solution, instead of leaving a real and costly problem in place.

Did Apple leave the problem in place? This is from 2015. Maybe Apple engineers worked with Uber to implement a solution that didn't have the same problems? The wording of your post makes it sounds like Apple has done nothing, but we don't know what they've done, do we?

 

[SoN1NjA]

It is Apple's platform. They have every right.

Or is the concept of "cause and effect" beyond your ken?

it's satirical,

breathe in...
breathe out...

 

[Abazigal]

And that dare wasnt good for the customer. Google maps wipes the floor with Apple maps in almost every part of the country

On the contrary, both Apple, google and the consumer won.

Previously, google maps was all but neutered on iOS because Apple refused to give google the data they wanted, and so Google refused to update it.

When Apple maps was released and replaced google maps, google responded by releasing a properly working google maps app of their own. They win in that they get to serve ads in their own maps app, and can earn revenue from it.

Apple wins in that iOS users now have a capable mapping service, and one less reason to defect from the Apple ecosystem. At the same time, send a strong message to google - don't mess with me.

Consumers win because we now have a choice as to whether we want to park our data with Apple or Google, and we have the choice of two capable mapping services to use (I myself use Apple maps exclusively, and it works well enough for me).

The lesson Apple has taught us here is perspective. Make a vey public example of one bad player, and the rest fall in line. Short term pain for long term gain.

Remember. Perspective.

 

[chr1s60]

You 100% support them intentionally blocking roads and causing huge traffic jams in London numerous times?

Are you sure you'd still say the same thing if your day was messed up due to black cabs being plonkers as they usually are?

That is the best way to get attention with a protest now days. It has literally happened hundreds of times in the US over the past couple years with the various anti-trump and BLM protests. Why are you acting like blocking roads and traffic is a new thing?

 

[I7guy]

So different rules for everyone? When f.lux did something far less treacherous they were kicked out of the store and Facebook and Uber get to do whatever they want. How does Cook know Uber isnt using yet another api to do something shady?

Nope, same rules. Apple gives their devs time to fix a problem before pulling the app. There is always some discretion involved. And I doubt cook reads the code, but if you're worried, delete the app. I don't have it on my phone.
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And that dare didnt turn out to be a good bet. Google maps wipes the floor with Apple maps in almost every part of the country

Except where it doesn't which is in most major cities, but that is off-topic.

 

[Abazigal]

so Uber has no right to do this but the "maker of the iPhone" can ?

Sounds more like we want control than anything..

Next, Apple will say no app developer can analyze how much use our app is being used 😛

Your not buying a free device... u'r buying a bloody limiter, u do as u are told... That's not why i bought one., yet Apple is treating u like one.

And that's precisely why I use Apple devices. Because I trust Apple to have my back and to tell these bad players to shove it should they dare to even think of trying anything funny with me.

That is why the Apple ecosystem must remain strong. So Apple will always have the strength to stand up to any foe no matter how strong.

 

[I7guy]

Apple operates on the honor system with respect to ios users' privacy it seems. Apple should make it so the OS doesn't allow this type of tracking.

So do android apps from what I've read. Some info is controlled, other info is like the Wild West. For Apple at least the benefit of one App Store.