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Makes sense. Apple doesn't want you using their app store in a way that could be promoting their competition. For example, maybe I'm browsing the app store fo

Makes sense. Apple doesn't want you using their app store in a way that could be promoting their competition. For example, maybe I'm browsing the app store for new apps and I come across this app in question. Reading the description I see it says something about the Pebble watch...hmmm..I've never heard of this. Now I look it up, it looks cool, I like it, now I want to buy the Pebble instead of the Apple watch. Their app store - their rules. Just remove mention it and it'll be approved.

Drakim 11y ago
Would it be okay for Google to censor competitors in their search?
- cybrox 11y ago
  Ask the EU - and compare that hilarious case to the apple store problem we have here.... http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-15-4781_en.htm http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-15-4781_en.htm
  - AlexandrB 11y ago
    The difference is that Google has a near monopoly on search whereas Apple has no such monopoly on mobile platforms.
    - venomsnake 11y ago
      Apple has 100% monopoly on iOS platform.
      - happyscrappy 11y ago
        And Ford has a monopoly on F-150s. Apple hate is quite blinding.
        anaptdemise 11y ago
        > Apple hate is quite blinding. So is Apple fanboyism. There are laws that prevent Ford from requiring you to only service your vehicle at Ford dealerships. There are also laws that prevent Ford from restricting sales of third-party after market parts in franchised dealerships. Not a good comparison.
        happyscrappy 11y ago
        Claiming Apple is a monopoly because only they make iDevices, what I was responding to, is just as ignorant as saying Ford is a monopoly because only they make F-150s. Is that hard to understand?
        venomsnake 11y ago
        Ford does not control which roads andntasks you could use your truck for
        happyscrappy 11y ago
        As others have pointed out, your "Apple has 100% monopoly on iOS platform" is silly which is why you are changing the argument.
        anaptdemise 11y ago
        I was just raising the point that your specific example of Ford is weak due to the fact that there are indeed laws that prevent how Ford can sell and restrict third-party sales of their vehicles, parts and services. > is just as ignorant as saying Ford is a monopoly because only they make F-150s Which only goes to support my statement of the weakness in your example. That even if you don't entertain the grandparents claim that a manufacturer has a monopoly on a product, your specific example shows there are indeed laws that prevent Ford from asserting that kind of control on the market. Which include franchise laws preventing auto manufacturers from owning dealerships which is likened to Apple owning the App Store. It also prevents auto manufacturers from preventing third party manufacturers from creating compatible aftermarket parts, likened to Apple's MFi restrictions. All of these are playing out elsewhere in the example market you brought into the discussion. The manufacturer controlled marketplace is playing out through Tesla. The third-party and aftermarket suppression is playing out in the Right to Repair in the auto and heavy equipment market. I never asserted that the grandparents claim of a "manufactures monopoly" over their own product was correct. Only that your example was a poor choice. [edit] spelling
      - AlexandrB 11y ago
        And as I mentioned in another comment, Twitter has a 100% monopoly on the Twitter platform. This is a silly argument because an ecosystem that Apple created and maintains all the infrastructure for is not comparable to the "free market".
        Drakim 11y ago
        Would it be okay for Twitter to censor tweets about rival products?
        AlexandrB 11y ago
        Legally, yes. And they would rightly get pilloried for it by users & the press. I'm not saying what Apple is doing is right, I'm saying it's not illegal.
      - s73v3r 11y ago
        Which doesn't matter, as there are far more smartphone platforms than just iOS.
        venomsnake 11y ago
        And there were many more OS-es and browsers than MS and they got sued. And here we have totally captive audience and nobody gives a fuck ...
cybrox 11y ago
While I technically agree with this, it is absolute nonsense from a user point of view. As the provider of an important host system, you might want to consider allowing people to list supported platforms in order to make it possible for the user to see which apps he can use with the equipment he has. It might be right from an objective point of view but it's a plain out dick-ish behaviour towards user friendly app management aka the user itself.
- soylentcola 11y ago
  Yep. If I was an iPhone user and just bought a Pebble, I'd go to the App Store and search for "Pebble" to see what apps I could buy that work with my Pebble. It's the same thing I did when I got a Moto 360. I went to the Play Store and searched for "Android Wear" to find apps that make use of it. If I'd gotten a Pebble, I would've done the same thing. It sucks for the developers of iOS apps that are meant to integrate with Pebble (or other similar devices). I assume this means you can't create an iOS app whose sole purpose is doing something with a Pebble watch since otherwise there's no real way to describe it in the app store (not one that would make for easy discoverability at least).
  - wvenable 11y ago
    Some apps have Pebble in the title, like PebbleCam, which is for controlling the iPhone's camera from the Pebble.
  - s73v3r 11y ago
    No, you would use Pebble's app to do that.
xtrumanx 11y ago
> Apple doesn't want you using their app store in a way that could be promoting their competition. That just seems really messed up. Considering it may not seem so bad since Apple isn't really that diverse but imagine if Google did the same thing at the Play Store. No mention of any other search engines, ad networks, email providers, phones, internet providers, home automation, etc. Pretty sure people would find that unacceptable.
- pjc50 11y ago
  Imagine if Google did the same thing in search.
  - anaptdemise 11y ago
    > In a lengthy investigation, staffers in the FTC’s bureau of competition found evidence that Google boosted its own services for shopping, travel and local businesses by altering its ranking criteria and “scraping” content from other sites. It also deliberately demoted rivals. http://www.wsj.com/articles/how-google-skewed-search-results-1426793553 http://www.wsj.com/articles/how-google-skewed-search-results... > But at a press conference at the FTC's headquarters, Chairman Jon Leibowitz said that after an "exhaustive" investigation, the commission found there was not enough evidence to conclude Google's search results violate fair-competition laws. http://thehill.com/policy/technology/275429-google-dodges-federal-antitrust-lawsuit http://thehill.com/policy/technology/275429-google-dodges-fe...
danmaz74 11y ago
> Their app store - their rules IANAL, but this rule seriously smells of abuse of a dominant position.

Drakim 11y ago

Would it be okay for Google to censor competitors in their search?

cybrox 11y ago
Ask the EU - and compare that hilarious case to the apple store problem we have here.... http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-15-4781_en.htm http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-15-4781_en.htm
- AlexandrB 11y ago
  The difference is that Google has a near monopoly on search whereas Apple has no such monopoly on mobile platforms.
  - venomsnake 11y ago
    Apple has 100% monopoly on iOS platform.
    - happyscrappy 11y ago
      And Ford has a monopoly on F-150s. Apple hate is quite blinding.
      - anaptdemise 11y ago
        > Apple hate is quite blinding. So is Apple fanboyism. There are laws that prevent Ford from requiring you to only service your vehicle at Ford dealerships. There are also laws that prevent Ford from restricting sales of third-party after market parts in franchised dealerships. Not a good comparison.
        happyscrappy 11y ago
        Claiming Apple is a monopoly because only they make iDevices, what I was responding to, is just as ignorant as saying Ford is a monopoly because only they make F-150s. Is that hard to understand?
        venomsnake 11y ago
        Ford does not control which roads andntasks you could use your truck for
        happyscrappy 11y ago
        As others have pointed out, your "Apple has 100% monopoly on iOS platform" is silly which is why you are changing the argument.
        anaptdemise 11y ago
        I was just raising the point that your specific example of Ford is weak due to the fact that there are indeed laws that prevent how Ford can sell and restrict third-party sales of their vehicles, parts and services. > is just as ignorant as saying Ford is a monopoly because only they make F-150s Which only goes to support my statement of the weakness in your example. That even if you don't entertain the grandparents claim that a manufacturer has a monopoly on a product, your specific example shows there are indeed laws that prevent Ford from asserting that kind of control on the market. Which include franchise laws preventing auto manufacturers from owning dealerships which is likened to Apple owning the App Store. It also prevents auto manufacturers from preventing third party manufacturers from creating compatible aftermarket parts, likened to Apple's MFi restrictions. All of these are playing out elsewhere in the example market you brought into the discussion. The manufacturer controlled marketplace is playing out through Tesla. The third-party and aftermarket suppression is playing out in the Right to Repair in the auto and heavy equipment market. I never asserted that the grandparents claim of a "manufactures monopoly" over their own product was correct. Only that your example was a poor choice. [edit] spelling
    - AlexandrB 11y ago
      And as I mentioned in another comment, Twitter has a 100% monopoly on the Twitter platform. This is a silly argument because an ecosystem that Apple created and maintains all the infrastructure for is not comparable to the "free market".
      - Drakim 11y ago
        Would it be okay for Twitter to censor tweets about rival products?
        AlexandrB 11y ago
        Legally, yes. And they would rightly get pilloried for it by users & the press. I'm not saying what Apple is doing is right, I'm saying it's not illegal.
    - s73v3r 11y ago
      Which doesn't matter, as there are far more smartphone platforms than just iOS.
      - venomsnake 11y ago
        And there were many more OS-es and browsers than MS and they got sued. And here we have totally captive audience and nobody gives a fuck ...

cybrox 11y ago

While I technically agree with this, it is absolute nonsense from a user point of view. As the provider of an important host system, you might want to consider allowing people to list supported platforms in order to make it possible for the user to see which apps he can use with the equipment he has. It might be right from an objective point of view but it's a plain out dick-ish behaviour towards user friendly app management aka the user itself.

soylentcola 11y ago
Yep. If I was an iPhone user and just bought a Pebble, I'd go to the App Store and search for "Pebble" to see what apps I could buy that work with my Pebble. It's the same thing I did when I got a Moto 360. I went to the Play Store and searched for "Android Wear" to find apps that make use of it. If I'd gotten a Pebble, I would've done the same thing. It sucks for the developers of iOS apps that are meant to integrate with Pebble (or other similar devices). I assume this means you can't create an iOS app whose sole purpose is doing something with a Pebble watch since otherwise there's no real way to describe it in the app store (not one that would make for easy discoverability at least).
- wvenable 11y ago
  Some apps have Pebble in the title, like PebbleCam, which is for controlling the iPhone's camera from the Pebble.
- s73v3r 11y ago
  No, you would use Pebble's app to do that.

xtrumanx 11y ago

> Apple doesn't want you using their app store in a way that could be promoting their competition. That just seems really messed up. Considering it may not seem so bad since Apple isn't really that diverse but imagine if Google did the same thing at the Play Store. No mention of any other search engines, ad networks, email providers, phones, internet providers, home automation, etc. Pretty sure people would find that unacceptable.

pjc50 11y ago
Imagine if Google did the same thing in search.
- anaptdemise 11y ago
  > In a lengthy investigation, staffers in the FTC’s bureau of competition found evidence that Google boosted its own services for shopping, travel and local businesses by altering its ranking criteria and “scraping” content from other sites. It also deliberately demoted rivals. http://www.wsj.com/articles/how-google-skewed-search-results-1426793553 http://www.wsj.com/articles/how-google-skewed-search-results... > But at a press conference at the FTC's headquarters, Chairman Jon Leibowitz said that after an "exhaustive" investigation, the commission found there was not enough evidence to conclude Google's search results violate fair-competition laws. http://thehill.com/policy/technology/275429-google-dodges-federal-antitrust-lawsuit http://thehill.com/policy/technology/275429-google-dodges-fe...

danmaz74 11y ago

> Their app store - their rules IANAL, but this rule seriously smells of abuse of a dominant position.