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Bah. This is getting a bit out of hand. It is one thing to maintain quality of your app marketplace, but demanding that people remove features because you are i

Bah. This is getting a bit out of hand. It is one thing to maintain quality of your app marketplace, but demanding that people remove features because you are ideologically against them is crazy.

deweller 13y ago
I believe Apple is monetarily opposed to these apps. My crystal ball says Apple will likely release their own wallet services in the future and when they do, they don't want any competition.
tensafefrogs 13y ago
I don't believe this is the result of an ideological belief. This is standard Apple app store policy that if you allow any sort of in-app purchases, they have to go through Apple.
- fat0wl 13y ago
  well it's somewhat ideological, no? or do they allow Bitcoin payments for in-app purchases if you go through them? My feeling has been that the major companies don't want to acknowledge Bitcoin yet and are waiting a bit to see how things play out. Not supporting it for a while won't hurt them too much financially. They lose some transaction fees but don't have to support a new payment type.
- MartinMcGirk 13y ago
  This is exactly right. Ever since they brought in in-app purchases to the app store they have required a 30% cut of everything. This isn't a dig at bitcoin specifically. My local bus service sells bus tickets through an iOS app and they have to give up 30% of the sale to Apple. Even major retailers like Amazon and B&N ended up removing in app purchases back in 2011 [1] to avoid Apple taking 30% of their business. They are not even allowed to link to their own web stores from their apps. Frankly I'm just amazed Gliph ever got that functionality in there in the first place. [1] http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-20082925-93/apple-forces-amazon-to-alter-kindle-app/ http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-20082925-93/apple-forces-am...
  - yeldarb 13y ago
    This doesn't sound right. The in-app purchase rule only applies to virtual goods. A bus ticket, much like a plane ticket, should not fall under this rule. And, in fact, you are prohibited from selling real-world items via in-app purchase. What you're buying isn't the virtual ticket. It's the bus ride.
    - simonh 13y ago
      Indeed. You can buy good on Amazon's iOS app to be delivered to your door without Apple getting a penny, but buying Kindle ebooks in your Kindle app is a different story. The difference is that in the Kindle case you're buying content for use in your app.
- crazygringo 13y ago
  But my Citibank app allows me to pay bills, transfer money between accounts, and deposit checks. LevelUp allows me to pay for things using credit cards linked to the app. So it's pretty clear that Apple does allow financial transactions to happen in apps, without taking a cut or anything. What's unclear is why they would allow this for Citibank, LevelUp, etc., but not for bitcoin.
  - sigzero 13y ago
    The issue is the LEGALITY of the currency.
    - MatmaRex 13y ago
      Bitcoin was not illegal last time I checked.
      - _Simon 13y ago
        The legality of the currency isn't confirmed either.
        kybernetyk 13y ago
        Since when do you have to confirm that something is legal? Isn't the predominant law system on this planet: It's allowed unless explicitly forbidden?
        waterlesscloud 13y ago
        Where was the legality of Candy Crush confirmed?
        yourad_io 13y ago
        The legality of that underscore in your username hasn't been explicitly confirmed either, and I say it looks too much like a weapon - so as far as I am concerned, you are a mass transporter of weapons. Which is nonsense, of course. Things are legal unless explicitly made illegal.
- freyrs3 13y ago
  Unless you pay for the special privilege by making deals with Apple behind closed doors, as most of the banking apps do. The terms of service hardly apply evenly to all applications.
JohnTHaller 13y ago
Getting out of hand? This isn't some new behavior from Apple breaking with past behavior. Apple already bans competing web browsers with their own rendering engines (forcing them to use the slower Mobile Safari without JIT), bans any app which duplicates any functionality Apple has or is considering adding to their platform, and forces all providers to either give them 30% or not have in-app purchases or even links to purchases. Banning bitcoin send functionality is tame compared to that.
- fharper1961 13y ago
  Exactly! In 2010, I swore off of iOS and moved to Android for exactly this reason. I didn't want to be prisoner of a platform where a corporation could decide what software I was allowed to run on my device. I hope Apple's policy will be untenable in the long run.
  - reginaldjcooper 13y ago
    I just got my Android phone and I agree. I shall never again pay someone for the "privilege" of programming my own device.
    - trevelyan 13y ago
      I also dropped iOS over this and am pleased I did. The Bitcoin Wallet software on Android is amazing: no-one I know who has seen it in action wants to buy another iPhone.

Bah. This is getting a bit out of hand. It is one thing to maintain quality of your app marketplace, but demanding that people remove features because you are ideologically against them is crazy.

deweller 13y ago

I believe Apple is monetarily opposed to these apps. My crystal ball says Apple will likely release their own wallet services in the future and when they do, they don't want any competition.

tensafefrogs 13y ago

I don't believe this is the result of an ideological belief. This is standard Apple app store policy that if you allow any sort of in-app purchases, they have to go through Apple.

fat0wl 13y ago
well it's somewhat ideological, no? or do they allow Bitcoin payments for in-app purchases if you go through them? My feeling has been that the major companies don't want to acknowledge Bitcoin yet and are waiting a bit to see how things play out. Not supporting it for a while won't hurt them too much financially. They lose some transaction fees but don't have to support a new payment type.
MartinMcGirk 13y ago
This is exactly right. Ever since they brought in in-app purchases to the app store they have required a 30% cut of everything. This isn't a dig at bitcoin specifically. My local bus service sells bus tickets through an iOS app and they have to give up 30% of the sale to Apple. Even major retailers like Amazon and B&N ended up removing in app purchases back in 2011 [1] to avoid Apple taking 30% of their business. They are not even allowed to link to their own web stores from their apps. Frankly I'm just amazed Gliph ever got that functionality in there in the first place. [1] http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-20082925-93/apple-forces-amazon-to-alter-kindle-app/ http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-20082925-93/apple-forces-am...
- yeldarb 13y ago
  This doesn't sound right. The in-app purchase rule only applies to virtual goods. A bus ticket, much like a plane ticket, should not fall under this rule. And, in fact, you are prohibited from selling real-world items via in-app purchase. What you're buying isn't the virtual ticket. It's the bus ride.
  - simonh 13y ago
    Indeed. You can buy good on Amazon's iOS app to be delivered to your door without Apple getting a penny, but buying Kindle ebooks in your Kindle app is a different story. The difference is that in the Kindle case you're buying content for use in your app.
crazygringo 13y ago
But my Citibank app allows me to pay bills, transfer money between accounts, and deposit checks. LevelUp allows me to pay for things using credit cards linked to the app. So it's pretty clear that Apple does allow financial transactions to happen in apps, without taking a cut or anything. What's unclear is why they would allow this for Citibank, LevelUp, etc., but not for bitcoin.
- sigzero 13y ago
  The issue is the LEGALITY of the currency.
  - MatmaRex 13y ago
    Bitcoin was not illegal last time I checked.
    - _Simon 13y ago
      The legality of the currency isn't confirmed either.
      - kybernetyk 13y ago
        Since when do you have to confirm that something is legal? Isn't the predominant law system on this planet: It's allowed unless explicitly forbidden?
      - waterlesscloud 13y ago
        Where was the legality of Candy Crush confirmed?
      - yourad_io 13y ago
        The legality of that underscore in your username hasn't been explicitly confirmed either, and I say it looks too much like a weapon - so as far as I am concerned, you are a mass transporter of weapons. Which is nonsense, of course. Things are legal unless explicitly made illegal.
freyrs3 13y ago
Unless you pay for the special privilege by making deals with Apple behind closed doors, as most of the banking apps do. The terms of service hardly apply evenly to all applications.

JohnTHaller 13y ago

Getting out of hand? This isn't some new behavior from Apple breaking with past behavior. Apple already bans competing web browsers with their own rendering engines (forcing them to use the slower Mobile Safari without JIT), bans any app which duplicates any functionality Apple has or is considering adding to their platform, and forces all providers to either give them 30% or not have in-app purchases or even links to purchases. Banning bitcoin send functionality is tame compared to that.

fharper1961 13y ago
Exactly! In 2010, I swore off of iOS and moved to Android for exactly this reason. I didn't want to be prisoner of a platform where a corporation could decide what software I was allowed to run on my device. I hope Apple's policy will be untenable in the long run.
- reginaldjcooper 13y ago
  I just got my Android phone and I agree. I shall never again pay someone for the "privilege" of programming my own device.
  - trevelyan 13y ago
    I also dropped iOS over this and am pleased I did. The Bitcoin Wallet software on Android is amazing: no-one I know who has seen it in action wants to buy another iPhone.