4 ms·

The problem with the MAS is that it's very difficult to leave it. If you stop paying the Apple developer fee, maybe because you're not generating any revenue a

by pier25 6y ago

The problem with the MAS is that it's very difficult to leave it. If you stop paying the Apple developer fee, maybe because you're not generating any revenue anymore or you switched to some other distribution system, users who have paid your app won't be able to download it again. The app won't be uninstalled from their machines but it will completely disappear from the MAS and the list of purchased apps. There's nothing you can do to help them because you won't be able to know which users have already bought your app. What if you wanted to help your users switch to your new distribution system, or give them a discount for the new version (distributed outside the MAS)?

true_religion 6y ago
I think the developer fee is something on the order of $100 per year. If you can't pay that because of low revenue, then there's no reason to go chasing/helping customers who bought via the app store since the never generated enough revenue in the first place. Now if you're just about to switch to a new distribution system, not because of revenue issues, then you maintain your developer fee and publish one last update which allows paid users to register their versions in the new system.
- kranner 6y ago
  > there's no reason to go chasing/helping customers who bought via the app store since the never generated enough revenue in the first place How does that follow? An individual customer is not responsible for the commercial viability of the app, in order to continue to receive a service they have already paid for. In this case the service is permanent access to the last version of the app, even if the developer is no longer able to support it.
  - OldHand2018 6y ago
    I just wrote above: the customer can keep using the app as long as they keep the app. Even when they get a new computer. If an app is removed from the App Store, it’s gone from the App Store, that’s all.
    - kranner 6y ago
      Sure, but many Mac users don't expect to have to do this (or even know how to) because Macs are supposed to "just work".
      - OldHand2018 6y ago
        Well, a requirement of the App Store is that the application is self-contained, so all you have to do is go to the Applications folder (a default location in your finder) and drag/drop the app to your usb drive, etc. It does just work.
  - true_religion 6y ago
    They can keep their app. What's being discussed is that you have to maintain your app-store presence in order to help them migrate to your new distribution system. If you're doing that because of low revenue.... just abandon the low revenue customers.
    - kranner 6y ago
      > If you're doing that because of low revenue.... just abandon the low revenue customers. I understood the pragmatism of the advice. I'm just saying there is an ethical obligation to users, which really should be on Apple to continue to allow users to download the version of the app they have bought.
      - true_religion 6y ago
        Ah, well in that case I agree. Apple should allow it, especially since they're the ones who jostled to become a middleman to 'protect' their users.
OldHand2018 6y ago
> The app won't be uninstalled from their machines but it will completely disappear from the MAS and the list of purchased apps. This is true, but if you make a backup of the app while you still have it and then put it on a new machine, Apple will continue to authorize the app. I just got a new M1 machine and moved my Mac App Store version of Paw over to it. Paw removed themselves from the App Store 5 or 6 years ago (?), yet I continue to use it and put it on my new computers.
- webmobdev 6y ago
  And do you think that's acceptable? That Apple gets to decide what apps you can install and run on your system or else you have to jump through hoops (sometimes potentially risky ones when you consider jailbreaking) to do so?
  - jdeibele 6y ago
    If a developer chooses to remove their product from the App Store, what is Apple supposed to do about it? There doesn't seem to be a difference between this and a developer removing a product from their own website and declaring it EOL. Or not declaring EOL, just removing it. If you downloaded it, you can keep installing it. But maybe the developer found that there were significant bugs that they didn't want to or couldn't fix. Or that the App Store wasn't a profitable delivery mechanism for them.
    - webmobdev 6y ago
      I was talking about the no-choice App Store on ios (and soon to be on macOS) ...
      - alsetmusic 6y ago
        > (and soon to be on macOS) This is a bullshit statement that people have been making for years.
        6y ago

by pier25 6y ago

true_religion 6y ago

I think the developer fee is something on the order of $100 per year. If you can't pay that because of low revenue, then there's no reason to go chasing/helping customers who bought via the app store since the never generated enough revenue in the first place. Now if you're just about to switch to a new distribution system, not because of revenue issues, then you maintain your developer fee and publish one last update which allows paid users to register their versions in the new system.

kranner 6y ago
> there's no reason to go chasing/helping customers who bought via the app store since the never generated enough revenue in the first place How does that follow? An individual customer is not responsible for the commercial viability of the app, in order to continue to receive a service they have already paid for. In this case the service is permanent access to the last version of the app, even if the developer is no longer able to support it.
- OldHand2018 6y ago
  I just wrote above: the customer can keep using the app as long as they keep the app. Even when they get a new computer. If an app is removed from the App Store, it’s gone from the App Store, that’s all.
  - kranner 6y ago
    Sure, but many Mac users don't expect to have to do this (or even know how to) because Macs are supposed to "just work".
    - OldHand2018 6y ago
      Well, a requirement of the App Store is that the application is self-contained, so all you have to do is go to the Applications folder (a default location in your finder) and drag/drop the app to your usb drive, etc. It does just work.
- true_religion 6y ago
  They can keep their app. What's being discussed is that you have to maintain your app-store presence in order to help them migrate to your new distribution system. If you're doing that because of low revenue.... just abandon the low revenue customers.
  - kranner 6y ago
    > If you're doing that because of low revenue.... just abandon the low revenue customers. I understood the pragmatism of the advice. I'm just saying there is an ethical obligation to users, which really should be on Apple to continue to allow users to download the version of the app they have bought.
    - true_religion 6y ago
      Ah, well in that case I agree. Apple should allow it, especially since they're the ones who jostled to become a middleman to 'protect' their users.

OldHand2018 6y ago

> The app won't be uninstalled from their machines but it will completely disappear from the MAS and the list of purchased apps. This is true, but if you make a backup of the app while you still have it and then put it on a new machine, Apple will continue to authorize the app. I just got a new M1 machine and moved my Mac App Store version of Paw over to it. Paw removed themselves from the App Store 5 or 6 years ago (?), yet I continue to use it and put it on my new computers.

webmobdev 6y ago
And do you think that's acceptable? That Apple gets to decide what apps you can install and run on your system or else you have to jump through hoops (sometimes potentially risky ones when you consider jailbreaking) to do so?
- jdeibele 6y ago
  If a developer chooses to remove their product from the App Store, what is Apple supposed to do about it? There doesn't seem to be a difference between this and a developer removing a product from their own website and declaring it EOL. Or not declaring EOL, just removing it. If you downloaded it, you can keep installing it. But maybe the developer found that there were significant bugs that they didn't want to or couldn't fix. Or that the App Store wasn't a profitable delivery mechanism for them.
  - webmobdev 6y ago
    I was talking about the no-choice App Store on ios (and soon to be on macOS) ...
    - alsetmusic 6y ago
      > (and soon to be on macOS) This is a bullshit statement that people have been making for years.
      - 6y ago