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Believe me, I would bet $1000 right now, that if unfettered IPA installation was added to iPhone, piracy would be more than 90% of installs. Some game developer

Believe me, I would bet $1000 right now, that if unfettered IPA installation was added to iPhone, piracy would be more than 90% of installs. Some game developers have experienced as high as 98% piracy rates on Android through APK sideloading. Why do you think mobile games are so full of ads? In part, because ads stick around and are profitable, no matter where you got your app. As long as sideloading files is so heavily connected to piracy, we’ll be lucky to see alternative app stores, but never direct installation on iOS. https://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/5hozvo/absolutely_ridiculous_piracy_numbers_on_android_98/ https://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/5hozvo/absolutely_...

lapcat 2y ago
"Or do we go waste our time trying to piracy protect our Android apps?" So they have no copy protection at all? Well, sure, if you rely on OS lockdown as your sole copy protection, and the OS is unlocked, then of course you're open to piracy. Yes, they do need to "waste their time", as it were, protecting their own apps. This is something desktop developers figured out ages ago.
- what 2y ago
  Feels like victim blaming.
  - kelnos 2y ago
    That's not what that term means.
kelnos 2y ago
So what? I'm not responsible for other people's business models. It's funny, because I remember computing in the 80s and 90s, when most software came in a box and was bought from a store or through mail order. Piracy was a problem then, and companies tried to invent all sorts of copy-protection schemes. Some of them worked decently well, but most (all?) were eventually defeated. That didn't stop the world from having a healthy market for software. Phones are no different. If Android developers have a piracy problem, they should develop strong copy-protection schemes. Sure, none of those schemes will be perfect, but they generally have the effect of moving piracy further out to the margins. Otherwise: tough shit. If people pirate your app, explore avenues through the legal system to get them to stop. If that doesn't work, that's just a cost of doing business.
kennysoona 2y ago
> Why do you think mobile games are so full of ads? Because most games are not games, but clones of other games purely as vehicles to show ads. The goal is to show ads more than it is to be a game.

lapcat 2y ago

"Or do we go waste our time trying to piracy protect our Android apps?" So they have no copy protection at all? Well, sure, if you rely on OS lockdown as your sole copy protection, and the OS is unlocked, then of course you're open to piracy. Yes, they do need to "waste their time", as it were, protecting their own apps. This is something desktop developers figured out ages ago.

what 2y ago
Feels like victim blaming.
- kelnos 2y ago
  That's not what that term means.

kelnos 2y ago

So what? I'm not responsible for other people's business models. It's funny, because I remember computing in the 80s and 90s, when most software came in a box and was bought from a store or through mail order. Piracy was a problem then, and companies tried to invent all sorts of copy-protection schemes. Some of them worked decently well, but most (all?) were eventually defeated. That didn't stop the world from having a healthy market for software. Phones are no different. If Android developers have a piracy problem, they should develop strong copy-protection schemes. Sure, none of those schemes will be perfect, but they generally have the effect of moving piracy further out to the margins. Otherwise: tough shit. If people pirate your app, explore avenues through the legal system to get them to stop. If that doesn't work, that's just a cost of doing business.

kennysoona 2y ago

> Why do you think mobile games are so full of ads? Because most games are not games, but clones of other games purely as vehicles to show ads. The goal is to show ads more than it is to be a game.