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Looks like I might finally have a reason to upgrade my iPhone 7! Web Push is fantastic for developing useful applications without paying the apple tax, which n

Looks like I might finally have a reason to upgrade my iPhone 7! Web Push is fantastic for developing useful applications without paying the apple tax, which necessarily results in the garbage-tier free apps dominating the App Store today (Want to do anything at all? Watch an ad every minute. Want functionality that's not the absolute bare minimum? Pay $5/month forever.)

scarface74 4y ago
Free apps are not using ads because they need to fund their $99 developer fee.
- explaininjs 4y ago
  I ain’t publishing any utility apps for free if I have to pay. I have made plenty of utility websites I use as Home Screen apps though, all without ads.
  - scarface74 4y ago
    Do you not have any hobbies that you pay for? When I was deep in the C# ecosystem, I personally paid for my own JetBrain license. Do you also not pay someone to host your web apps?
    - sccxy 4y ago
      It is not only $99. It is $500+ (used) computer also. Cannot use your old PC do develop iOS apps. $99 may be nothing for most HN users, but for 3rd world developer...
      - true_religion 4y ago
        I’m a third world developer. In the third world, at least in Ghana, iPhones are over represented in the middle class and by association many people have MacBooks. This means there is a glut of older models in second hand market or passed down to kids, cousins, and family friends. The problem with the 99 dollars is that it’s payable yearly. Yes someone might sponsor you once and give you enough for a single year but they won’t do it ever year. You have to make enough yourself and that’s a tall order of business if you are a student. Thus no one learns iOS development first.
      - philistine 4y ago
        I get that PCs are more common but you can't classify that as a recurring cost. I mean, if your computer is a Mac than there's no cost. It's only if you're using a PC that you have to get a Mac to develop for iOS etc. But I totally get you, Apple is but one company and they've completely bungled reasonable prices in many countries, for example India.
    - explaininjs 4y ago
      I use Cloudflare free tier and am trialing Fly.up free tier for always-on servers as needed (websockets, etc.)
    - krono 4y ago
      Paying for the privilege of getting to fill gaps and solve problems on my device operating system that the recipient of those payments who also happens to control said device and operating system refuses to resolve or has even purposefully introduced. Yeah, no thanks.. I'll pass.
      - scarface74 4y ago
        So are you saying that Apple should produce any app that anyone ever might need? Do you feel the same way about console makers?
        krono 4y ago
        That's not at all what I'm saying, you are putting words in my mouth. "I'm not paying for the privilege of..." Edit: A continuation of the above but paraphrased from my previous comment: ...being allowed to step over this ridiculous barrier to implement these fixes myself on my own device.
  - lozenge 4y ago
    There are good apps out there written by casual people, they just can't spend the time and money on making their app easy to find.
  - pier25 4y ago
    I had a free password generator app on the Mac App Store. It wasn't super popular but had like 50-70 daily downloads. I didn't make any money from it. Just made the app because I needed it myself and wanted to learn a bit of macOS dev. After a couple of years I decided to stop paying $99 a year for hosting a little 5MB app.
    - scarface74 4y ago
      And that was your choice on the Mac. You could put the app on your own website and let users download it.
      - pier25 4y ago
        Indeed. So? My point was not about distributing the app but about paying $99 every year to distribute a free app using the official app store.
        scarface74 4y ago
        If you don’t want to spend $99 to use the “official Mac App Store”. You have other options on the Mac. What’s there to complain about?
        pier25 4y ago
        Me: "X has this problem" You: "but you can use Y" Me: "I know, just saying X has this problem" You: "But you can use Y. Don't complain about X."
        scarface74 4y ago
        If my head hurts when I repeatedly hit myself over the head with a hammer, guess what I do?
    - conradfr 4y ago
      Does the app disappear from the store when you stop paying the yearly Apple tax or you just can't update it?

scarface74 4y ago

Free apps are not using ads because they need to fund their $99 developer fee.

explaininjs 4y ago
I ain’t publishing any utility apps for free if I have to pay. I have made plenty of utility websites I use as Home Screen apps though, all without ads.
- scarface74 4y ago
  Do you not have any hobbies that you pay for? When I was deep in the C# ecosystem, I personally paid for my own JetBrain license. Do you also not pay someone to host your web apps?
  - sccxy 4y ago
    It is not only $99. It is $500+ (used) computer also. Cannot use your old PC do develop iOS apps. $99 may be nothing for most HN users, but for 3rd world developer...
    - true_religion 4y ago
      I’m a third world developer. In the third world, at least in Ghana, iPhones are over represented in the middle class and by association many people have MacBooks. This means there is a glut of older models in second hand market or passed down to kids, cousins, and family friends. The problem with the 99 dollars is that it’s payable yearly. Yes someone might sponsor you once and give you enough for a single year but they won’t do it ever year. You have to make enough yourself and that’s a tall order of business if you are a student. Thus no one learns iOS development first.
    - philistine 4y ago
      I get that PCs are more common but you can't classify that as a recurring cost. I mean, if your computer is a Mac than there's no cost. It's only if you're using a PC that you have to get a Mac to develop for iOS etc. But I totally get you, Apple is but one company and they've completely bungled reasonable prices in many countries, for example India.
  - explaininjs 4y ago
    I use Cloudflare free tier and am trialing Fly.up free tier for always-on servers as needed (websockets, etc.)
  - krono 4y ago
    Paying for the privilege of getting to fill gaps and solve problems on my device operating system that the recipient of those payments who also happens to control said device and operating system refuses to resolve or has even purposefully introduced. Yeah, no thanks.. I'll pass.
    - scarface74 4y ago
      So are you saying that Apple should produce any app that anyone ever might need? Do you feel the same way about console makers?
      - krono 4y ago
        That's not at all what I'm saying, you are putting words in my mouth. "I'm not paying for the privilege of..." Edit: A continuation of the above but paraphrased from my previous comment: ...being allowed to step over this ridiculous barrier to implement these fixes myself on my own device.
- lozenge 4y ago
  There are good apps out there written by casual people, they just can't spend the time and money on making their app easy to find.
- pier25 4y ago
  I had a free password generator app on the Mac App Store. It wasn't super popular but had like 50-70 daily downloads. I didn't make any money from it. Just made the app because I needed it myself and wanted to learn a bit of macOS dev. After a couple of years I decided to stop paying $99 a year for hosting a little 5MB app.
  - scarface74 4y ago
    And that was your choice on the Mac. You could put the app on your own website and let users download it.
    - pier25 4y ago
      Indeed. So? My point was not about distributing the app but about paying $99 every year to distribute a free app using the official app store.
      - scarface74 4y ago
        If you don’t want to spend $99 to use the “official Mac App Store”. You have other options on the Mac. What’s there to complain about?
        pier25 4y ago
        Me: "X has this problem" You: "but you can use Y" Me: "I know, just saying X has this problem" You: "But you can use Y. Don't complain about X."
        scarface74 4y ago
        If my head hurts when I repeatedly hit myself over the head with a hammer, guess what I do?
  - conradfr 4y ago
    Does the app disappear from the store when you stop paying the yearly Apple tax or you just can't update it?