4 ms·
Apple definitely needs to loosen their guidelines, wanting to review third party games on gaming services is an exact example of a dumb guideline poorly applied
by valuearb 6y ago
Apple definitely needs to loosen their guidelines, wanting to review third party games on gaming services is an exact example of a dumb guideline poorly applied.
But allowing third party stores would be terrible for users and developers. Security is a huge issue, but other reasons include:
1) Splitting app search across different stores hurting discoverability.
2) Different payment systems making purchasing more difficult.
3) Different subscription and purchasing rules making it harder for customers to refund purchases or cancel subscriptions, reducing consumer confidence in buying on the platform.
4) Lowered app review standards letting even more spam-ware, malware and fraud-ware on the platform, hurting sales for legit developers.
5) Developers forced to spend more time and money hosting their apps on more stores to maximize their reach.
The security of the platform and frictionless purchase system are Apples primary responsibilities. If they lose control of them then iPhone has little that is better than Android.
- grishka 6y agoAndroid has had sideloading as well as alternative app stores enabled by it since the beginning. These problems don't really exist. You'd still want to publish on Google Play by default, but if your app hurts Google's business, morals, feelings, or whatever else, you have the option of distributing it using whatever means you see fit — like an apk with a built-in updater on your website. In other words, being rejected from the App Store is an end of the world situation, while being rejected from Google Play is not quite.
- valuearb 6y agoGoogle Play is a dumpster fire compared to the App Store, and despite alternative app stores as competition still charges 30%.
- grishka 6y agoAs opposed to Apple, Google doesn't mandate that your payments go through the store. You could as well do your own payment processing.
- valuearb 6y agoRight, Apple has a unified purchasing system that makes the entire purchasing process (including subscription management and app refunds) easier and more trustworthy for iPhone users.
- grishka 6y agoGoogle also offers that. My point is that choice is good.
- valuearb 6y agoMy point is allowing alternate stores means allowing more malware, fraud-ware and worse purchasing experiences for platform customers.
- grishka 6y agoAllowing a web browser also means allowing phishing and "worse purchasing experience". Again, if a company wants The Google Experience™, it can use it for 30% of its income. If it does not, it's free to use whatever payment provider it wants.