5 ms·

There’s tons of value in a unified payment system, which is why it’s app developers who were unhappy, not users. For instance, ease of cancellation of recurring

There’s tons of value in a unified payment system, which is why it’s app developers who were unhappy, not users. For instance, ease of cancellation of recurring fees is enormous. You can bet that’s going to get harder as developers get more control. And anyway, The app developers have no motivation to charge you less, the market already bears the fees, they just want to capture that profit for themselves. Personally I probably just won’t buy things that require me to sign up for a new payment system, but I don’t play mobile games so I’m probably not representative of who this impacts the most.

madeofpalk 5y ago
> which is why it’s app developers who were unhappy, not users The judge commented on that >> "Apple created an innovative platform but it did not disclose its rules to the average consumer. Apple has used this lack of knowledge to exploit its position. --- > Personally I probably just won’t buy things that require me to sign up for a new payment system You, as a consumer, will now have a choice, which you'll get to exercise! You will be able to send a market signal for products (either the service you might subscribe to, and Apple) to get better and attract more developers/users. This sounds like a win!
- coldpie 5y ago
  > This sounds like a win! Not if I wasn't interested in having the choice to begin with. Now some apps will not be purchasable by me unless I go through their account flow, which I don't want to. It's strictly worse (for me).
  - madeofpalk 5y ago
    There is now a market force for Apple to make its IAP services better, which makes it more likely for developers to make apps with it (theoretically).
    - ascagnel_ 5y ago
      There will be larger players who won't bother with any cut -- they want to own the relationship with the customer, and view any intermediary with hostility.
      - luckylion 5y ago
        And before, they might not have bothered developing an app, or one for iOS. Now you have choice. Choice is good.
        mrtranscendence 5y ago
        What big names haven't developed iOS apps but may do so now? I'm hard pressed to think of any. They may not always allow in-app purchases, of course, but they generally exist.
        berkes 5y ago
        Well. Fortnite for example.
      - madeofpalk 5y ago
        Sure. They’re either already not on Apple’s IAP (Netflix or Spotify) or they are very sensitive to optimising conversions, and would pay a premium to give users an easier option (which Apple is now incentivised to lower)
      - reissbaker 5y ago
        No one wants to own the payment instrument. That's useless, causes missed sales, and is a security nightmare. Companies don't reinvent their own Visa or Mastercard, for example, because that's a huge pain and the fees for using the existing products are low. App developers were mad about Apple's egregious 30% cut for doing payment processing. If Apple wants everyone to accept Apple IAP, it can simply lower its fees to competitive payment processing rates.
  - majani 5y ago
    I trust Apple will force developers to provide a drop down menu of options for payments. I don't think they'll allow dodgy redirects and webviews. That's not in line with Apple's design principles.
    - madeofpalk 5y ago
      The infamously dodgy "link".
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- tshaddox 5y ago
  I already had a choice. That’s one of the primary reasons I chose iPhone and tend to recommend iPhones to friends and family. This decision will by definition reduce the amount of choice available to smartphone buyers.
thebean11 5y ago
> why it’s app developers who were unhappy, not users IIRC, Epic was offering their in game currency more cheaply outside of the App Store, which Apple didn't like. I bet plenty of people would use an alternate payment method to save money..right now they don't have that choice.
- ApolloFortyNine 5y ago
  It was pretty genius from Epic, they knew they'd get banned, but it instantly showed how the consumer is harmed by this behavior (pay more, get less). Every mobile game with a cash store would instantly give you a discount to go through a different provider.
  - badwolf 5y ago
    I highly doubt every, or even many mobile game devs who could suddenly switch from IAP to Stripe would pass those savings on to the consumers... Let's be real here.
    - thebean11 5y ago
      That’s getting into pretty basic economic theory, costs going down across the board in a very competitive market will generally bring down prices, eventually.
MillenialMan 5y ago
I think if you offered the two options to users with even partial differences in price, most users would go for the cheaper option even if they had to do cartwheels to process payments.

madeofpalk 5y ago

> which is why it’s app developers who were unhappy, not users The judge commented on that >> "Apple created an innovative platform but it did not disclose its rules to the average consumer. Apple has used this lack of knowledge to exploit its position. --- > Personally I probably just won’t buy things that require me to sign up for a new payment system You, as a consumer, will now have a choice, which you'll get to exercise! You will be able to send a market signal for products (either the service you might subscribe to, and Apple) to get better and attract more developers/users. This sounds like a win!

coldpie 5y ago
> This sounds like a win! Not if I wasn't interested in having the choice to begin with. Now some apps will not be purchasable by me unless I go through their account flow, which I don't want to. It's strictly worse (for me).
- madeofpalk 5y ago
  There is now a market force for Apple to make its IAP services better, which makes it more likely for developers to make apps with it (theoretically).
  - ascagnel_ 5y ago
    There will be larger players who won't bother with any cut -- they want to own the relationship with the customer, and view any intermediary with hostility.
    - luckylion 5y ago
      And before, they might not have bothered developing an app, or one for iOS. Now you have choice. Choice is good.
      - mrtranscendence 5y ago
        What big names haven't developed iOS apps but may do so now? I'm hard pressed to think of any. They may not always allow in-app purchases, of course, but they generally exist.
        berkes 5y ago
        Well. Fortnite for example.
    - madeofpalk 5y ago
      Sure. They’re either already not on Apple’s IAP (Netflix or Spotify) or they are very sensitive to optimising conversions, and would pay a premium to give users an easier option (which Apple is now incentivised to lower)
    - reissbaker 5y ago
      No one wants to own the payment instrument. That's useless, causes missed sales, and is a security nightmare. Companies don't reinvent their own Visa or Mastercard, for example, because that's a huge pain and the fees for using the existing products are low. App developers were mad about Apple's egregious 30% cut for doing payment processing. If Apple wants everyone to accept Apple IAP, it can simply lower its fees to competitive payment processing rates.
- majani 5y ago
  I trust Apple will force developers to provide a drop down menu of options for payments. I don't think they'll allow dodgy redirects and webviews. That's not in line with Apple's design principles.
  - madeofpalk 5y ago
    The infamously dodgy "link".
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
tshaddox 5y ago
I already had a choice. That’s one of the primary reasons I chose iPhone and tend to recommend iPhones to friends and family. This decision will by definition reduce the amount of choice available to smartphone buyers.

thebean11 5y ago

> why it’s app developers who were unhappy, not users IIRC, Epic was offering their in game currency more cheaply outside of the App Store, which Apple didn't like. I bet plenty of people would use an alternate payment method to save money..right now they don't have that choice.

ApolloFortyNine 5y ago
It was pretty genius from Epic, they knew they'd get banned, but it instantly showed how the consumer is harmed by this behavior (pay more, get less). Every mobile game with a cash store would instantly give you a discount to go through a different provider.
- badwolf 5y ago
  I highly doubt every, or even many mobile game devs who could suddenly switch from IAP to Stripe would pass those savings on to the consumers... Let's be real here.
  - thebean11 5y ago
    That’s getting into pretty basic economic theory, costs going down across the board in a very competitive market will generally bring down prices, eventually.

MillenialMan 5y ago

I think if you offered the two options to users with even partial differences in price, most users would go for the cheaper option even if they had to do cartwheels to process payments.