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> We understand that Basecamp has developed a number of apps and many subsequent versions for the App Store for many years, and that the App Store has distribut
by villgax 6y ago
> We understand that Basecamp has developed a number of apps and many subsequent versions for the App Store for many years, and that the App Store has distributed millions of these apps to iOS users. These apps do not offer in-app purchase — and, consequently, have not contributed any revenue to the App Store over the last eight years.
They literally have paid 8 years of Developer Program fees for supporting the AppStore.
- wlll 6y agoThere is also the missing other side to this argument, and that's without third part apps Apple couldn't sell it's phones that it surely makes a decent amount of money on. Without third-party app authors Apple couldn't sell it's phones. Perhaps Apple should be paying them?
- chriswphoto 6y agoSeems like the best we can hope for is an EU antitrust ruling that reigns in Apple’s anticompetitive behavior here.
- z3t4 6y agoAlmost everyone in the world have a smartphone. Having only two options (iOS or Android) to choose between in such a big market is a joke. Google or Apple will just continue to buy out the competition to make sure they are the only option.
- helsinkiandrew 6y agoIt's a different matter whether 30% is a valid cut for Apple to make on Hey In App subscriptions. But $2,400 (8*$300/year?) for the delivery and update, notifications and Siri integration etc to millions of apps/devices sounds a pretty good deal.
- stephenr 6y agoWhere do you get $300 from? The developer program is $99/year regardless of how many apps you have.
- helsinkiandrew 6y agoEnterprise account is $300 https://developer.apple.com/programs/enterprise/ https://developer.apple.com/programs/enterprise/
- stephenr 6y agoAn enterprise account is not required to ship public apps. It's specifically designed for those who want to ship private apps, which I'm pretty sure Basecamp don't do.
- JimDabell 6y agoThe enterprise account is for people deploying enterprise apps internally. You can't use it for publishing apps to the App Store. Basecamp will be using the standard developer account, not the enterprise account.
- libertine 6y ago+ the hardware mandatory to build and submit Apps to the AppStore, right?
- oauea 6y agoYes. Apple forces you to buy their overpriced hardware if you want to develop for their platform.
- jmisavage 6y agoXcode comes with an iOS simulator so you don't need hardware, but it would be a bad idea not to test on an actual device.
- emsy 6y agoOn the other hand, for a lot of successful apps Apple’s share looks like profiteering and it becomes a very bad (but unavoidable) deal for developers.
- merb 6y agoactually you can't use an enterprise license for the app store. https://developer.apple.com/programs/enterprise/ https://developer.apple.com/programs/enterprise/ it clearly says that: > Please learn about the Apple Developer Program first. The Apple Developer Program is the right option for most organizations that want to distribute proprietary, internal-use apps. It allows you to use Apple Business Manager, Ad Hoc distribution, or redemption codes to privately distribute custom apps to employees, and TestFlight to test beta versions of your apps. > The Apple Developer Enterprise Program is only for specific use cases that cannot be addressed using these methods. Before applying for the Apple Developer Enterprise Program, learn more about the Apple Developer Program to see if it addresses your use case. If not, you can start your application. so it's only 99 USD
- helsinkiandrew 6y agoOK - so its $800 - that makes the services provided by Apple even more value for money
- wayneftw 6y agoThose are all things that you have no choice in. You can’t install an alternative to Siri. You can’t use a different push notification system. You can’t use an alternative store and send updates yourself.
- m463 6y agoIsn't that a little like comcast charging websites for access to their customers? What if I bought an iphone, I am ONLY allowed to install apple apps on it, and I want the basecamp app?
- kristianc 6y ago> Isn't that a little like comcast charging websites for access to their customers? Not exactly, as Comcast don’t provide the infrastructure to Basecamp to host and deliver the binary of its app. Basecamp can’t be said to be ‘freeloading’ on Comcast. Basecamp would come back and say ‘well, we pay our developer fees’ but developer fees don’t differentiate whether Apple has to maintain app updates for hundreds of downloads or millions. Edit: Was clearly referring to the app binary.
- boudin 6y agoI'm pretty sure that Apple doesn't host basecamp...
- m463 6y agoI was making an analogy from when comcast was charging "transit fees" to netflix for instance. In the end, the customers are paying twice.
- Hamuko 6y ago>Not exactly, as Comcast don’t provide the infrastructure to Basecamp to host and deliver it’s service. Neither Comcast or Apple provide any infrastructure to Basecamp for hosting. They are just in charge of delivering the ways and means of accessing their platform.
- stephenr 6y agoThey provide all the infrastructure to deliver the iOS app binary, receive notifications, etc.
- dkarp 6y agoThe apps have also augmented the iOS platform over those 8 years. An Apple device is better thanks to the apps on it, so they sell more devices. They are double dipping when they benefit from App Store revenues + Developer program fees.
- Hamuko 6y ago>The apps have also augmented the iOS platform over those 8 years. Yeah, let's not forget Apple's famous "there's an app for that" ad campaign.
- Hamuko 6y agoYeah, Apple keeps pushing this narrative that they are giving away a free service to developers that don't accept payments. It costs $99 a year to put anything on the App Store. And if Apple is really that concerned about free distribution, I'm sure they could set up an AWS-like pricing model where there's a set price for data transfer, updates, maybe even push notifications.
- villgax 6y agoBusiness program is $249 IIRC