4 ms·

Why would Apple want developers to compete on pricing?

• gnicholas 3y ago
  This seems to help out newer apps, which otherwise might not be able to break into a market that is dominated by existing players. If Apple wants to encourage new entrants to such markets, then they would want to allow this sort of targeted competition. That said, it does seem like a pretty niche thing for Apple to have developed and rolled out. My guess is that as an outsider I don't understand this, but there are some pressures internally to change the dynamics of the App Store. I'd say an easier way to fix this would be to make search actually work in the App Store. I have typed in the exact name of an app and been forced to scroll through tens of apps — many quite unrelated — before reaching the one I was looking for. The brokenness of search really hurts upstarts.
• enragedcacti 3y ago
  My first guess is that they want to do this with their own subscription offerings and opening it to everyone makes it look less bad. I guess we'll see if Spotify users start getting Apple Music offers soon.
• toast0 3y ago
  Is this really intended for competition? Or is it for soft bundling? (subscribe to The Caladan Post and save $2/month on The Times of Arrakeen)
  • gnicholas 3y ago
    Good point. It looks like Apple specifically allows it to be used in the way you describe: > It can be used for subscriptions from one developer or two different developers.
    • stephenr 3y ago
      > specifically allows I think the term there is “intends” or “expects”. Using this as competition against an existing subscription makes very little sense. Bundling together complimentary (as in they compliment each other, not that they are free) subscriptions for a reduced price is already a concept that businesses use - this just allows the same concept in the App Store.