5 ms·
> Android and Wear OS App > The app will no longer be available for download. Service to existing users and subscribers will continue until July 1, 2020, at wh
by johnl1479 7y ago
> Android and Wear OS App
> The app will no longer be available for download. Service to existing users and subscribers will continue until July 1, 2020, at which point the app will be shut down. Subscribers who are still active at that time will receive a refund.
I understand that Apple has no obligation to support a platform that is not their own, but this really hurts to hear after using Dark Sky on Android and the API for _years_
- georgyo 7y agoI agree, this seems like a cheap shot with no actual benefit.
- dmos62 7y agoIt's important to acknowledge that there is a benefit: Apple products' value increases in relation to other platforms' when they introduce more exclusive offerings. The right to do this without repercussions is hurting IT. Big IT business is rife with anti-competitive crap that noone should put up with.
- jaywalk 7y agoYou really think Apple (or anyone else) should be forced to support software on a competing platform? That's absurd. It's a crappy decision on their part, no doubt. But saying it should be illegal is way out of line.
- rrix2 7y agoapple wasn't forced to purchase dark sky...
- sudosysgen 7y agoI actually don't think it should be legal for a platform to buy software and then remove it from a competing platform. It's incredibly anti-competitive. If they made their own software and didn't put it on Android, sure. But this isn't it.
- duncanawoods 7y agoMany countries have some sort of "Competition Commission" whose role is to determine if acquisitions/mergers are bad for either the market or consumers. This might be for monopolistic reasons or other negative issues. In this case, a platform buying up cross-platform software to eliminate support for competing platforms is clearly causing harm to consumers. In similar situations, a government might legislate to force companies to be either the pipe/platform or a content supplier but not both, to eliminate precisely this type of anti-consumer incentive.
- dmos62 7y agoYou can always come up with a ludicrous policy; it doesn't detract from the potential of regulation. Would you accept General Motors buying freeways and not allowing others' platforms on it? Competition must be regulated. Also, isn't the barrier between iOS and Android devices artificial? I don't see a veritable technical reason why the two platforms can't be compatible.
- jaywalk 7y ago> Also, isn't the barrier between iOS and Android devices artificial? No, not even remotely. They are completely different operating systems.
- dmos62 7y agoNot processors though, right? OSX and Windows are distinct as well, but Web apps are portable. The main reason why there isn't an analogue native standard is that the economics incentivize walled gardens.