5 ms·

Psh, screw Apple. They made us remove the .com from anything that said domain.com because it would help users recognize that we have a site that allows purchasi

by thesis 6y ago

Psh, screw Apple. They made us remove the .com from anything that said domain.com because it would help users recognize that we have a site that allows purchasing. We complied of course. :(

adoxyz 6y ago
If anything, I hope this changes. Why shouldn't you be able to tell your customers about your website in an app that you built? Even if you want to say hey go to www.myapp.com and buy there, so what?
- threeseed 6y ago
  I really don't understand comments like this. No retail store that sells your product allows you to put a giant sticker on it that says "buy this product from us instead and get a 30% discount". You're intentionally trying to benefit from the store's distribution channel at the same trying to screw them out of the money they need to finance it.
  - koyote 6y ago
    If you buy a printer at a retail store there is nothing stopping the manufacturer from having a flyer in the box advertising a cheaper place to buy replacement cartridges. Apple is like Walmart taking a 30% cut off Xbox live subscription fees after a customer buys an Xbox from them.
    - dodobirdlord 6y ago
      Unless the store has a policy against it, which would be perfectly legal and pretty normal.
      - deleted 6y ago
        [deleted]
  - redwall_hp 6y ago
    I just saw some Quip toothbrushes at Target recently. The box clearly has a starburst advertising $5 brush heads online, while Target sells them for $10. Many developers would love to not "intentionally benefit" from Apple's distribution channel. The issue is Apple forces them to use the App Store for distribution.
  - adoxyz 6y ago
    This isn't talking about the store. No you probably shouldn't be allowed to say "Go here to buy this app for cheaper" in your App Store description. But inside your app, you most certainly should. Physical goods are not the same as digital goods, but even if you do want to go with your analogy, brands will often times include coupons and refill offers and other promotional material with items they sell and push the consumer to buy directly from them and retail stores still carry their products.
  - Keyframe 6y ago
    Maybe within the store you’re right. This is more about a city allowing only one store to operate. People are complaining (well, companies, not people as much) about not being able to put a giant sticker in the city to go to the other store - because city allows only one store to operate!
  - rexf 6y ago
    Users can download a "reader app" (arbitrary definition), but users can't find out how to sign up for them? This UX is bad for customers.
  - noelsusman 6y ago
    You can do it on Android.
  - kinkrtyavimoodh 6y ago
    Even accepting this terrible analogy, the sticker in this case is NOT a giant sticker on the box but rather a leaflet inside the box that the user has paid for.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - unreal37 6y ago
    I'm staring at my brand new Keurig coffee maker that has the website URL right on the top of the box in prominent lettering. Almost everything you buy has a URL on it or in it. Booklets, warranty cards, QR codes, and on and on. So, reality disagrees with you.
murphy214 6y ago
Apple's policies on this seem pretty messed up. I watched a video today where an app developer had to rip out user generated content (comments section) which seems crazy to me! Video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QzHu-sjdB8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QzHu-sjdB8 Have you thought about just putting 30% fee on your users? For example google when you subscribe to youtube premium in the iphone app just charges you a straight 17 USD with no info or note saying that it is 12 USD through the website. (which I'm sure they were made to do as well)
- thesis 6y ago
  It was a consideration to raise prices. We believe it does violate their terms as well. Also it's illegal in some countries. They wouldn't approve the app with any mention of the site at all. It's all a load of BS. My Ring app tells me I can only buy it on their site. But since we don't have a lot of "power" we are screwed.
  - fomine3 6y ago
    IIRC raising prices only on IAP was violation of terms but now it's possible
  - kevingadd 6y ago
    One solution used by companies like Blizzard for dealing with region-specific rules and taxes is to sell a different product in each region with its own pricing/rewards. Given that Apple and Google already don't want in-app virtual currency to be transferable between platforms (otherwise you could work around the 30% cut), it's not unreasonable to sell different products to different audiences. Who knows whether they'd decide to punish you for that anyway though...
liability 6y ago
Apple apologists frequently claim the walled garden is meant to keep bad guys out, but this seems a clear cut instance of the garden's wall being used to keep people in.
- noizejoy 6y ago
  The Berlin Wall was also marketed by the old DDR government as keeping the bad guys out, when in reality it was to keep their own citizens from fleeing to the west. “Mr. Cook - tear down this wall!” :-)
  - wruza 6y ago
    Unless you cannot just go buy any phone or tablet you like, this may be considered an insult to all these families who were split by that wall. How on earth do these analogies cross some minds.
    - fakedang 6y ago
      Might seem a frivolous analogy, but they are essentially equivalent remarks (made by DDR and Apple) in the real world and the digital world.
    - unreal37 6y ago
      Personally not a fan of people who are offended on behalf of "others".
      - wruza 6y ago
        Then you must be not a fan of android users or store abusers who "take care for freedom" of those who are comfortable with apple.
    - noizejoy 6y ago
      This analogy crossed my mind, because my family was split by that wall. - And people on the locked in side of the wall had a legendary sense of humour[0]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_German_jokes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_German_jokes
cma 6y ago
There are stories of apps being pulled because they link their privacy policy page, and from there you can get to the rest of the webpage which may sell things. Or they link to support documentation. But it's all for security...
thaumasiotes 6y ago
That seems easy to work around by committing to the name. You're not Company, you're Company.com! The trademark is "Company.com" in a fancy font!
- kkarakk 6y ago
  Apple can and will reject your app if you use that as your excuse.
hyperdimension 6y ago
I can only wonder if they would/did do the same for SalesForce, seeing as they market themselves as salesforce.com.

by thesis 6y ago

Psh, screw Apple. They made us remove the .com from anything that said domain.com because it would help users recognize that we have a site that allows purchasing. We complied of course. :(

adoxyz 6y ago

If anything, I hope this changes. Why shouldn't you be able to tell your customers about your website in an app that you built? Even if you want to say hey go to www.myapp.com and buy there, so what?

threeseed 6y ago
I really don't understand comments like this. No retail store that sells your product allows you to put a giant sticker on it that says "buy this product from us instead and get a 30% discount". You're intentionally trying to benefit from the store's distribution channel at the same trying to screw them out of the money they need to finance it.
- koyote 6y ago
  If you buy a printer at a retail store there is nothing stopping the manufacturer from having a flyer in the box advertising a cheaper place to buy replacement cartridges. Apple is like Walmart taking a 30% cut off Xbox live subscription fees after a customer buys an Xbox from them.
  - dodobirdlord 6y ago
    Unless the store has a policy against it, which would be perfectly legal and pretty normal.
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
- redwall_hp 6y ago
  I just saw some Quip toothbrushes at Target recently. The box clearly has a starburst advertising $5 brush heads online, while Target sells them for $10. Many developers would love to not "intentionally benefit" from Apple's distribution channel. The issue is Apple forces them to use the App Store for distribution.
- adoxyz 6y ago
  This isn't talking about the store. No you probably shouldn't be allowed to say "Go here to buy this app for cheaper" in your App Store description. But inside your app, you most certainly should. Physical goods are not the same as digital goods, but even if you do want to go with your analogy, brands will often times include coupons and refill offers and other promotional material with items they sell and push the consumer to buy directly from them and retail stores still carry their products.
- Keyframe 6y ago
  Maybe within the store you’re right. This is more about a city allowing only one store to operate. People are complaining (well, companies, not people as much) about not being able to put a giant sticker in the city to go to the other store - because city allows only one store to operate!
- rexf 6y ago
  Users can download a "reader app" (arbitrary definition), but users can't find out how to sign up for them? This UX is bad for customers.
- noelsusman 6y ago
  You can do it on Android.
- kinkrtyavimoodh 6y ago
  Even accepting this terrible analogy, the sticker in this case is NOT a giant sticker on the box but rather a leaflet inside the box that the user has paid for.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- unreal37 6y ago
  I'm staring at my brand new Keurig coffee maker that has the website URL right on the top of the box in prominent lettering. Almost everything you buy has a URL on it or in it. Booklets, warranty cards, QR codes, and on and on. So, reality disagrees with you.

murphy214 6y ago

Apple's policies on this seem pretty messed up. I watched a video today where an app developer had to rip out user generated content (comments section) which seems crazy to me! Video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QzHu-sjdB8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QzHu-sjdB8 Have you thought about just putting 30% fee on your users? For example google when you subscribe to youtube premium in the iphone app just charges you a straight 17 USD with no info or note saying that it is 12 USD through the website. (which I'm sure they were made to do as well)

thesis 6y ago
It was a consideration to raise prices. We believe it does violate their terms as well. Also it's illegal in some countries. They wouldn't approve the app with any mention of the site at all. It's all a load of BS. My Ring app tells me I can only buy it on their site. But since we don't have a lot of "power" we are screwed.
- fomine3 6y ago
  IIRC raising prices only on IAP was violation of terms but now it's possible
- kevingadd 6y ago
  One solution used by companies like Blizzard for dealing with region-specific rules and taxes is to sell a different product in each region with its own pricing/rewards. Given that Apple and Google already don't want in-app virtual currency to be transferable between platforms (otherwise you could work around the 30% cut), it's not unreasonable to sell different products to different audiences. Who knows whether they'd decide to punish you for that anyway though...

liability 6y ago

Apple apologists frequently claim the walled garden is meant to keep bad guys out, but this seems a clear cut instance of the garden's wall being used to keep people in.

noizejoy 6y ago
The Berlin Wall was also marketed by the old DDR government as keeping the bad guys out, when in reality it was to keep their own citizens from fleeing to the west. “Mr. Cook - tear down this wall!” :-)
- wruza 6y ago
  Unless you cannot just go buy any phone or tablet you like, this may be considered an insult to all these families who were split by that wall. How on earth do these analogies cross some minds.
  - fakedang 6y ago
    Might seem a frivolous analogy, but they are essentially equivalent remarks (made by DDR and Apple) in the real world and the digital world.
  - unreal37 6y ago
    Personally not a fan of people who are offended on behalf of "others".
    - wruza 6y ago
      Then you must be not a fan of android users or store abusers who "take care for freedom" of those who are comfortable with apple.
  - noizejoy 6y ago
    This analogy crossed my mind, because my family was split by that wall. - And people on the locked in side of the wall had a legendary sense of humour[0]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_German_jokes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_German_jokes

cma 6y ago

There are stories of apps being pulled because they link their privacy policy page, and from there you can get to the rest of the webpage which may sell things. Or they link to support documentation. But it's all for security...

thaumasiotes 6y ago

That seems easy to work around by committing to the name. You're not Company, you're Company.com! The trademark is "Company.com" in a fancy font!

kkarakk 6y ago
Apple can and will reject your app if you use that as your excuse.

hyperdimension 6y ago

I can only wonder if they would/did do the same for SalesForce, seeing as they market themselves as salesforce.com.