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Is anyone else concerned that the influx of cheap, low-quality iOS apps ported to Mac via Marzipan is going to effectively poison the well for existing Mac apps

Is anyone else concerned that the influx of cheap, low-quality iOS apps ported to Mac via Marzipan is going to effectively poison the well for existing Mac apps? Software prices have already been pushed to rock bottom on mobile but things are more sustainable on Mac, for now anyway...

sephoric 8y ago
Nah. Mac users who pay for software are a different demographic than their iOS counterparts in my experience. Such Mac users are usually professionals who pay a little extra for the reliability and quality and attention to detail that Mac apps have been know for for a while now.
carlesfe 8y ago
Fair point. However, we already have an influx of cheap, low-quality web apps ported to Mac via Electron. I think in this case Marzipan is a better solution, as it will allow willing developers to port native iOS apps to the Mac without much effort. It won't help with webapp juggernauts like Slack or Skype, but it's definitely a step in the right direction.
- teknologist 8y ago
  I actually wouldn't mind having the iOS Skype app running on my Mac. It has a nice dark mode.
  - saagarjha 8y ago
    So would the old Skype desktop app, had they kept it around and linked it against a recent SDK. But no, they threw it out, replaced it with some sort of Electron mess, and now have to pay the price of not having proper dark mode support.
tonyedgecombe 8y ago
The long term trend for software prices is towards zero, I'm not sure this will have much influence on that.
- s73v3r_ 8y ago
  Why would it be toward zero? The authors of the software still have to eat.
  - PKop 8y ago
    "in the direction of"
  - tonyedgecombe 8y ago
    I think there is an economic theory that the price of products tends towards their marginal cost which in the case of software is near zero.
nsmith14 8y ago
As a final user I'm very happy software prices are plummeting, thanks.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- saagarjha 8y ago
  Generally this also means the quality of software declines as well.
- s73v3r_ 8y ago
  Are you? Wouldn't you prefer that software vendors can support themselves selling the software, and thus be able to update it?
raydev 8y ago
If Apple doesn't offer a better solution, Electron's performance will eventually catch up to "good enough" for all sorts of purposes and then nerds will really be crying as those Electron apps take off in popularity. Slack is only the beginning, and Apple sees what's happening, perhaps a little bit too late.

sephoric 8y ago

Nah. Mac users who pay for software are a different demographic than their iOS counterparts in my experience. Such Mac users are usually professionals who pay a little extra for the reliability and quality and attention to detail that Mac apps have been know for for a while now.

carlesfe 8y ago

Fair point. However, we already have an influx of cheap, low-quality web apps ported to Mac via Electron. I think in this case Marzipan is a better solution, as it will allow willing developers to port native iOS apps to the Mac without much effort. It won't help with webapp juggernauts like Slack or Skype, but it's definitely a step in the right direction.

teknologist 8y ago
I actually wouldn't mind having the iOS Skype app running on my Mac. It has a nice dark mode.
- saagarjha 8y ago
  So would the old Skype desktop app, had they kept it around and linked it against a recent SDK. But no, they threw it out, replaced it with some sort of Electron mess, and now have to pay the price of not having proper dark mode support.

tonyedgecombe 8y ago

The long term trend for software prices is towards zero, I'm not sure this will have much influence on that.

s73v3r_ 8y ago
Why would it be toward zero? The authors of the software still have to eat.
- PKop 8y ago
  "in the direction of"
- tonyedgecombe 8y ago
  I think there is an economic theory that the price of products tends towards their marginal cost which in the case of software is near zero.

nsmith14 8y ago

As a final user I'm very happy software prices are plummeting, thanks.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
saagarjha 8y ago
Generally this also means the quality of software declines as well.
s73v3r_ 8y ago
Are you? Wouldn't you prefer that software vendors can support themselves selling the software, and thus be able to update it?

raydev 8y ago

If Apple doesn't offer a better solution, Electron's performance will eventually catch up to "good enough" for all sorts of purposes and then nerds will really be crying as those Electron apps take off in popularity. Slack is only the beginning, and Apple sees what's happening, perhaps a little bit too late.