9 ms·

It will be a special kind of joy for small developers to publish their apps on a billion stores each with its own regulations.

the-dude 6y ago
There is a SaaS for that.
echopom 6y ago
That's a bit exaggerated I think , you would get just "One Side Store" Per country or Region. That would be such a big victory. Personally I would not complain about the bureaucratic overhead.
- judge2020 6y ago
  There are 193 countries (footnote[0]), so that might mean 193 app stores, but then some countries might delegate the power to require their own app store to their own regions/"states". 0: https://youtu.be/4AivEQmfPpk https://youtu.be/4AivEQmfPpk
- elondaits 6y ago
  It'd create a new middle layer of distributors to handle the bureaucracy... like with music and streaming.
  - megous 6y ago
    That's not exactly a good thing. Look at how much publishers get and how much trickles down to authors.
- risyachka 6y ago
  You are used to Apple-style bureaucracy. It won't be even close. If 10 countries roll out their stores - most of them probably won't even be in English for a long time. Custom SDKs will add a lot of overhead on the development side. And app review madness will be like never before.
  - indymike 6y ago
    Something about the government being the supplier feels like a really horrible idea.
ape4 6y ago
I seem to recall a standard XML file for describing apps in stores a couple years ago.
pojntfx 6y ago
... or they could just create a PWA and publish it on the free and open web and have the app be available globally in 40s w/o any regulations or artificial restrictions.
- maneesh 6y ago
  Except the ability to send push notifications, which is paramount to retention and revenue
  - actuator 6y ago
    and user spam as well. I am thankful for new versions of Android giving notification control to the users.
    - spideymans 6y ago
      The web notifications API has become yet another vector for spam. The standard should’ve had a way to proactively deal with spammy developers.
  - jefftk 6y ago
    According to the article, India is 97% Android, and so Progressive Web Apps can send push notifications: https://developers.google.com/web/ilt/pwa/introduction-to-push-notifications https://developers.google.com/web/ilt/pwa/introduction-to-pu... (Disclosure: I work for Google, speaking only for myself)
  - ethbr0 6y ago
    > retention and revenue By which you mean, pissing off power users? Or as Google puts it in equally bullshit terms: > They allow your users to opt-in to timely updates and allow you to effectively re-engage users with customized content.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
- adventured 6y ago
bsaul 6y ago
i guess there's a right number. I love the idea of having an alternate solution to reach your market whenever you don't want to comply with apple or google guidelines for some reason
dgellow 6y ago
You mean that us, developers, will have to choose the right fit between multiple options, in a competitive ecosystem? That’s exactly what I want!
- abc-xyz 6y ago
  Have you tried publishing apps for the App/Play Store? Last time I made a game with Unity then I had to export it to different platforms and for some of them, such as iOS, then I had to make additional code modifications with xcode to get e.g. ads to work properly. I’d easily end up spending a day on making sure each store listing looked good (required files in different formats, and tons of settings to setup). I also struggle to think of a scenario in which you wouldn’t want your app published on all app stores (unless you for moral reasons wouldn’t want your app on Chinese-owned stores or something like that).
  - dgellow 6y ago
    Yes, I do have applications on Android, iOS, macOS. I want more competition in app stores, I want places where adult applications can be distributed which is completely impossible at the moment. I want app stores that offer different models than what Apple and google do. I want Apple to have to improve their developer experience because of competition (the google play store is way simpler to deal with in my experience). Etc. And you’re right, it’s a pain to deal with them.
hehetrthrthrjn 6y ago
OMG the horror of having a billion other choices when you're arbitrarily banned from one.
- ffdjjjffjj 6y ago
  That’s not the problem, it’s having to manage a bunch of sets of credentials, and the logistics of pushing updates through multiple stores. Both are obviously solvable problems but definitely annoying barriers to someone who really just wants to make their app. Or more realistically, it means developers will have to start paying for a middle man saas thing that distributes apps in all the stores and aggregates reviews etc.
return1 6y ago
This but unironically

the-dude 6y ago

There is a SaaS for that.

echopom 6y ago

That's a bit exaggerated I think , you would get just "One Side Store" Per country or Region. That would be such a big victory. Personally I would not complain about the bureaucratic overhead.

judge2020 6y ago
There are 193 countries (footnote[0]), so that might mean 193 app stores, but then some countries might delegate the power to require their own app store to their own regions/"states". 0: https://youtu.be/4AivEQmfPpk https://youtu.be/4AivEQmfPpk
elondaits 6y ago
It'd create a new middle layer of distributors to handle the bureaucracy... like with music and streaming.
- megous 6y ago
  That's not exactly a good thing. Look at how much publishers get and how much trickles down to authors.
risyachka 6y ago
You are used to Apple-style bureaucracy. It won't be even close. If 10 countries roll out their stores - most of them probably won't even be in English for a long time. Custom SDKs will add a lot of overhead on the development side. And app review madness will be like never before.
- indymike 6y ago
  Something about the government being the supplier feels like a really horrible idea.

ape4 6y ago

I seem to recall a standard XML file for describing apps in stores a couple years ago.

pojntfx 6y ago

... or they could just create a PWA and publish it on the free and open web and have the app be available globally in 40s w/o any regulations or artificial restrictions.

maneesh 6y ago
Except the ability to send push notifications, which is paramount to retention and revenue
- actuator 6y ago
  and user spam as well. I am thankful for new versions of Android giving notification control to the users.
  - spideymans 6y ago
    The web notifications API has become yet another vector for spam. The standard should’ve had a way to proactively deal with spammy developers.
- jefftk 6y ago
  According to the article, India is 97% Android, and so Progressive Web Apps can send push notifications: https://developers.google.com/web/ilt/pwa/introduction-to-push-notifications https://developers.google.com/web/ilt/pwa/introduction-to-pu... (Disclosure: I work for Google, speaking only for myself)
- ethbr0 6y ago
  > retention and revenue By which you mean, pissing off power users? Or as Google puts it in equally bullshit terms: > They allow your users to opt-in to timely updates and allow you to effectively re-engage users with customized content.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
adventured 6y ago

bsaul 6y ago

i guess there's a right number. I love the idea of having an alternate solution to reach your market whenever you don't want to comply with apple or google guidelines for some reason

dgellow 6y ago

You mean that us, developers, will have to choose the right fit between multiple options, in a competitive ecosystem? That’s exactly what I want!

abc-xyz 6y ago
Have you tried publishing apps for the App/Play Store? Last time I made a game with Unity then I had to export it to different platforms and for some of them, such as iOS, then I had to make additional code modifications with xcode to get e.g. ads to work properly. I’d easily end up spending a day on making sure each store listing looked good (required files in different formats, and tons of settings to setup). I also struggle to think of a scenario in which you wouldn’t want your app published on all app stores (unless you for moral reasons wouldn’t want your app on Chinese-owned stores or something like that).
- dgellow 6y ago
  Yes, I do have applications on Android, iOS, macOS. I want more competition in app stores, I want places where adult applications can be distributed which is completely impossible at the moment. I want app stores that offer different models than what Apple and google do. I want Apple to have to improve their developer experience because of competition (the google play store is way simpler to deal with in my experience). Etc. And you’re right, it’s a pain to deal with them.

hehetrthrthrjn 6y ago

OMG the horror of having a billion other choices when you're arbitrarily banned from one.

ffdjjjffjj 6y ago
That’s not the problem, it’s having to manage a bunch of sets of credentials, and the logistics of pushing updates through multiple stores. Both are obviously solvable problems but definitely annoying barriers to someone who really just wants to make their app. Or more realistically, it means developers will have to start paying for a middle man saas thing that distributes apps in all the stores and aggregates reviews etc.

return1 6y ago

This but unironically