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I'm glad that Apple backed down this time. > What’s more, Mullenwag told us that he had previously offered to strip other mentions of the paid plans out of the

I'm glad that Apple backed down this time. > What’s more, Mullenwag told us that he had previously offered to strip other mentions of the paid plans out of the app (even workarounds like when a user views a preview of their own WordPress webpage and then navigates to WordPress.com), only to have those suggestions rejected by Apple. Having to remove those kinds of work-arounds is part of what bugs me about apples control over the app store.

seba_dos1 6y ago
Consider that they backed down only when it became a popular news story at exactly the worst time for them to have it (because of Epic).
- threeseed 6y ago
  No evidence that it's tied to publicity. We've seen dozens of situations like this over the years and often we find out that Apple and the developers were discussing behind the scenes way before it was public.
  - edgyquant 6y ago
    There's little point the anti-apple hive mind is too strong on HN
- bostonvaulter2 6y ago
  Yeah, that is why included the "this time"
- kergonath 6y ago
  Well, we’ll never know if it would have turned out differently at another time. They can be stubborn, but they can also recognise mistakes and correct them. That said, there is no comparison: forcing a developer to add features to an app is nothing like enforcing the TOS the developer agreed with and is trying to subvert.
  - tsycho 6y ago
    Yes, we know. Ask any iOS developer friend of yours and you'll know that Apple never backs down, until the incident gets publicity. And the non-malicious explanation for that is simple. The majority of the million apps in the app store are small fry to them, and they can't scale support to that level in any empathetic rational manner. My wishlist for legislation is: 1/ Apple has to allow side loading of apps (make it an advanced developer setting, with plenty of warnings and periodic reminders, that's fine). 2/ Apple cannot force usage of Apple pay and apple sign in. 3/ Apple cannot force developers to hide any options or even information about alternative mechanisms to pay for content, or sign up to a service.
    - kergonath 6y ago
      Yeah it certainly is perfectible. I’d just like to retain decent security at the platform level. We know that if sideloading can be enabled, at some point Adobe will require it because they won’t be bothered. I am conflicted about Sign In with Apple. It’s heavy handed, but I clearly benefit by not having to trust Google or Facebook for this. There should be a standard with several providers, like FIDO, but somehow I don’t see this happening as long as Facebook and Google are utterly dominant. I completely agree with your third point.

seba_dos1 6y ago

Consider that they backed down only when it became a popular news story at exactly the worst time for them to have it (because of Epic).

threeseed 6y ago
No evidence that it's tied to publicity. We've seen dozens of situations like this over the years and often we find out that Apple and the developers were discussing behind the scenes way before it was public.
- edgyquant 6y ago
  There's little point the anti-apple hive mind is too strong on HN
bostonvaulter2 6y ago
Yeah, that is why included the "this time"
kergonath 6y ago
Well, we’ll never know if it would have turned out differently at another time. They can be stubborn, but they can also recognise mistakes and correct them. That said, there is no comparison: forcing a developer to add features to an app is nothing like enforcing the TOS the developer agreed with and is trying to subvert.
- tsycho 6y ago
  Yes, we know. Ask any iOS developer friend of yours and you'll know that Apple never backs down, until the incident gets publicity. And the non-malicious explanation for that is simple. The majority of the million apps in the app store are small fry to them, and they can't scale support to that level in any empathetic rational manner. My wishlist for legislation is: 1/ Apple has to allow side loading of apps (make it an advanced developer setting, with plenty of warnings and periodic reminders, that's fine). 2/ Apple cannot force usage of Apple pay and apple sign in. 3/ Apple cannot force developers to hide any options or even information about alternative mechanisms to pay for content, or sign up to a service.
  - kergonath 6y ago
    Yeah it certainly is perfectible. I’d just like to retain decent security at the platform level. We know that if sideloading can be enabled, at some point Adobe will require it because they won’t be bothered. I am conflicted about Sign In with Apple. It’s heavy handed, but I clearly benefit by not having to trust Google or Facebook for this. There should be a standard with several providers, like FIDO, but somehow I don’t see this happening as long as Facebook and Google are utterly dominant. I completely agree with your third point.