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> Apple wanted to buy FlickType but they didn't agree on the price or Eleftheriou didn't want to sell (I doubt it) Man, these Apple threads are always so full

by jb1991 5y ago

> Apple wanted to buy FlickType but they didn't agree on the price or Eleftheriou didn't want to sell (I doubt it) Man, these Apple threads are always so full of open speculation. Edit: I find it very interesting that after multiple downvotes, suddenly I'm getting downvotes on lots of older comments of mine also. Are folks just going into comment histories to go on a downvote rampage?

LeoNatan25 5y ago
This is not a speculation, it is according to Kosta Eleftheriou, the developer of FlickType.
sodality2 5y ago
> In one blatant example, Eleftheriou said he was approached by Apple’s head of mobile keyboard technology, Randy Marsden. The latter (who created the Swype keyboard) wanted to buy FlickType to add a native QWERTY for the Apple Watch and improve typing on the device. When Eleftheriou rejected Apple, it refused to remove copycat and scam apps from the App Store. https://hitechglitz.com/the-creator-of-the-previous-highest-paying-ios-app-is-suing-apple-for-exploiting-small-developers/ https://hitechglitz.com/the-creator-of-the-previous-highest-...
- buran77 5y ago
  Blocking the app was probably just a dick move and revenge in response to the rejection. The two softwares aren't actually competing, one now comes with the OS whether you want it or not. If Apple now bans the use of an alternative keyboard despite it not breaking the rules then that's the real issue: they'd be arbitrarily choosing when to apply or ignore the stated terms of use of the store. Reinstating the app later on once the damage is done is a small price to pay from Apple's perspective. On the other hand if your product is actually just a feature for someone else's product you're always exposing yourself to a situation where the product developer just builds that feature in. Think of other fields where you may offer an aftermarket solution like a car seat heating cover but the market evaporates the moment the manufacturer starts offering that as standard.
  - sodality2 5y ago
    >The two softwares aren't actually competing Well yeah, duh, they literally cannot compete. They were kicked off. The fact that you defend banning an app from the store as childish retribution for not taking a lowball offer is telling.
  - windexh8er 5y ago
    > Blocking the app was probably just a dick move and revenge in response to the rejection. The two softwares aren't actually competing, one now comes with the OS whether you want it or not. You have to remember that to companies like Apple everything is competition and financially related. Apple sells widgets based on product release cycles. Those cycles generally focus on features, whether those are hardware or software. Keep in mind that not everyone knows about FlickType. So in that case Apple may choose to release a FlickType clone as part of a new Apple Watch series, exclusive to that version and above. This helps sell more product for Apple. More new features that resonate with their buyers == more profit. Also you can't stand on the stage for 10 minutes and talk about a keyboard that your buyers go to the App store to get, now can you?
- commoner 5y ago
  hitechglitz.com is one of those spam blogs that copies articles from other sites and changes a couple of the words around. The original article from PhoneArena also contains the lawsuit filing: https://www.phonearena.com/news/flicktype-developer-files-suit-against-apple_id130849 https://www.phonearena.com/news/flicktype-developer-files-su...
NKosmatos 5y ago
It's not speculation, Apple for sure wanted to buy and had invited over Kostas to demo FlickType. Kostas for sure wanted to sell, since he went over at Apple to showcase his very good and usable watch keyboard. They didn't agree on a price and thus parted ways.
CRConrad 5y ago
This took vouching to be able to reply. People, if what the commenter said were all that wrong, it should be pretty fucking easy to post a coherent and convincing rebuttal. Just downvoting in stead shows that it's the downvoter, not the downvoted, who lacks good grounds for their opinion. And the retroactive downvote sprees of other comments -- which I've also seen before, so don't even try to deny their existence -- are just beyond despicable. Shame, shame on anyone who is enough of an asshole to do shit like that.

by jb1991 5y ago

LeoNatan25 5y ago

This is not a speculation, it is according to Kosta Eleftheriou, the developer of FlickType.

sodality2 5y ago

> In one blatant example, Eleftheriou said he was approached by Apple’s head of mobile keyboard technology, Randy Marsden. The latter (who created the Swype keyboard) wanted to buy FlickType to add a native QWERTY for the Apple Watch and improve typing on the device. When Eleftheriou rejected Apple, it refused to remove copycat and scam apps from the App Store. https://hitechglitz.com/the-creator-of-the-previous-highest-paying-ios-app-is-suing-apple-for-exploiting-small-developers/ https://hitechglitz.com/the-creator-of-the-previous-highest-...

buran77 5y ago
Blocking the app was probably just a dick move and revenge in response to the rejection. The two softwares aren't actually competing, one now comes with the OS whether you want it or not. If Apple now bans the use of an alternative keyboard despite it not breaking the rules then that's the real issue: they'd be arbitrarily choosing when to apply or ignore the stated terms of use of the store. Reinstating the app later on once the damage is done is a small price to pay from Apple's perspective. On the other hand if your product is actually just a feature for someone else's product you're always exposing yourself to a situation where the product developer just builds that feature in. Think of other fields where you may offer an aftermarket solution like a car seat heating cover but the market evaporates the moment the manufacturer starts offering that as standard.
- sodality2 5y ago
  >The two softwares aren't actually competing Well yeah, duh, they literally cannot compete. They were kicked off. The fact that you defend banning an app from the store as childish retribution for not taking a lowball offer is telling.
- windexh8er 5y ago
  > Blocking the app was probably just a dick move and revenge in response to the rejection. The two softwares aren't actually competing, one now comes with the OS whether you want it or not. You have to remember that to companies like Apple everything is competition and financially related. Apple sells widgets based on product release cycles. Those cycles generally focus on features, whether those are hardware or software. Keep in mind that not everyone knows about FlickType. So in that case Apple may choose to release a FlickType clone as part of a new Apple Watch series, exclusive to that version and above. This helps sell more product for Apple. More new features that resonate with their buyers == more profit. Also you can't stand on the stage for 10 minutes and talk about a keyboard that your buyers go to the App store to get, now can you?
commoner 5y ago
hitechglitz.com is one of those spam blogs that copies articles from other sites and changes a couple of the words around. The original article from PhoneArena also contains the lawsuit filing: https://www.phonearena.com/news/flicktype-developer-files-suit-against-apple_id130849 https://www.phonearena.com/news/flicktype-developer-files-su...

NKosmatos 5y ago

It's not speculation, Apple for sure wanted to buy and had invited over Kostas to demo FlickType. Kostas for sure wanted to sell, since he went over at Apple to showcase his very good and usable watch keyboard. They didn't agree on a price and thus parted ways.

CRConrad 5y ago

This took vouching to be able to reply. People, if what the commenter said were all that wrong, it should be pretty fucking easy to post a coherent and convincing rebuttal. Just downvoting in stead shows that it's the downvoter, not the downvoted, who lacks good grounds for their opinion. And the retroactive downvote sprees of other comments -- which I've also seen before, so don't even try to deny their existence -- are just beyond despicable. Shame, shame on anyone who is enough of an asshole to do shit like that.