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Apple aren't doing anything to prevent competition with their platform. Google are/were. It's that simple. iOS is a closed platform, and Android is a more open

Apple aren't doing anything to prevent competition with their platform. Google are/were. It's that simple. iOS is a closed platform, and Android is a more open platform, but that's 100% orthogonal to Apple or Google's _business practices_. Closed platforms are not illegal, while anticompetitive behaviour is.

tzakrajs 8y ago
Can you explain to me how the Apple Maps limitation of Siri is not anti-competitive? I believe you are right but I am curious as a layman.
- gcburn2 8y ago
  Apple is 24% of the smartphone market so anything they do on their their systems only affects that minority portion and isn't denying competitors access to the market. Android on the other hand has a 74% share of smartphone market so anything they do impacts a majority of the market and could limit others access to the market.
- scarface74 8y ago
  What Apple Maps limitation? You can open Google Maps with Siri now with an ugly work around (https://www.tuaw.com/2012/12/17/how-to-use-google-maps-with-siri/ https://www.tuaw.com/2012/12/17/how-to-use-google-maps-with-...) And in iOS 12 any app will be able to provide a Siri shortcut.
kodablah 8y ago
> Apple aren't doing anything to prevent competition with their platform. This is a categorically false statement. I can point to a lot of places where Apple are doing quite a bit to prevent competition on their platform. I mean, browser engine choice is the easiest to see of dozens of ways Apple is doing something to prevent competition on their platform. Did you mean something else by your statement I do not understand? Even if you mean "with their platform" vs "on their platform" as if users can go somewhere else, that's a far cry from "aren't doing anything" as they are in fact doing lots of things.
- scarface74 8y ago
  So a lot of places is “1”?
  - kodablah 8y ago
    I was just trying to avoid a large and obvious enumeration in my comment. I assumed we all knew things like browser engine, development/compilation hardware, app store choice, software installation method, system OS choice, runtime eval approach (e.g. JIT), phone/sms app choice, keyboard choice, etc, etc are not subject to choice and in most cases competition is actively prevented. I suppose my assumption was wrong though.
    - scarface74 8y ago
      You can develop on other platforms - see Xamarin You want to be able to install another OS on an iPhone? Unless you happen to have an Android phone that has hardware that is supported by one of the forks - good luck with that. Yes you can use scripting languages with iOS apps, games do it all of the time. Alternate voip apps integrate well with the native iOS dialer. For instance a call using Skype looks just like a call on the native phone dialer and your Skype call history is integrated with your regular phone call history. You can even say call X using Y with Siri and it will use the alternate app - same with messages. If you use a third party VoIP app, and you’re connected to Bluetooth in your car, it uses the phone call Bluetooth protocol just like the native dialer. Third party keyboard support has been available for 3 years and unlike Android, you can install a third party keyboard and not give it network access so you’re not installing a keylogger.
      - kodablah 8y ago
        Sigh. My comment has nothing to do with what you can do elsewhere. I was responding specifically to the false claim "aren't doing anything to prevent competition" which is untrue, they are doing things.
        8y ago

tzakrajs 8y ago

Can you explain to me how the Apple Maps limitation of Siri is not anti-competitive? I believe you are right but I am curious as a layman.

gcburn2 8y ago
Apple is 24% of the smartphone market so anything they do on their their systems only affects that minority portion and isn't denying competitors access to the market. Android on the other hand has a 74% share of smartphone market so anything they do impacts a majority of the market and could limit others access to the market.
scarface74 8y ago
What Apple Maps limitation? You can open Google Maps with Siri now with an ugly work around (https://www.tuaw.com/2012/12/17/how-to-use-google-maps-with-siri/ https://www.tuaw.com/2012/12/17/how-to-use-google-maps-with-...) And in iOS 12 any app will be able to provide a Siri shortcut.

kodablah 8y ago

> Apple aren't doing anything to prevent competition with their platform. This is a categorically false statement. I can point to a lot of places where Apple are doing quite a bit to prevent competition on their platform. I mean, browser engine choice is the easiest to see of dozens of ways Apple is doing something to prevent competition on their platform. Did you mean something else by your statement I do not understand? Even if you mean "with their platform" vs "on their platform" as if users can go somewhere else, that's a far cry from "aren't doing anything" as they are in fact doing lots of things.

scarface74 8y ago
So a lot of places is “1”?
- kodablah 8y ago
  I was just trying to avoid a large and obvious enumeration in my comment. I assumed we all knew things like browser engine, development/compilation hardware, app store choice, software installation method, system OS choice, runtime eval approach (e.g. JIT), phone/sms app choice, keyboard choice, etc, etc are not subject to choice and in most cases competition is actively prevented. I suppose my assumption was wrong though.
  - scarface74 8y ago
    You can develop on other platforms - see Xamarin You want to be able to install another OS on an iPhone? Unless you happen to have an Android phone that has hardware that is supported by one of the forks - good luck with that. Yes you can use scripting languages with iOS apps, games do it all of the time. Alternate voip apps integrate well with the native iOS dialer. For instance a call using Skype looks just like a call on the native phone dialer and your Skype call history is integrated with your regular phone call history. You can even say call X using Y with Siri and it will use the alternate app - same with messages. If you use a third party VoIP app, and you’re connected to Bluetooth in your car, it uses the phone call Bluetooth protocol just like the native dialer. Third party keyboard support has been available for 3 years and unlike Android, you can install a third party keyboard and not give it network access so you’re not installing a keylogger.
    - kodablah 8y ago
      Sigh. My comment has nothing to do with what you can do elsewhere. I was responding specifically to the false claim "aren't doing anything to prevent competition" which is untrue, they are doing things.
      - 8y ago