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A Jury Will Decide If Google's App Store Is an Unjust Monopoly
(www.wired.com)
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this post was submitted on 06 Nov 2023
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Imagine how Apple will feel if Google got docked for this. Apple's app store is even worse. You can't even side load apps on an iPhone/iPad without jailbreak.
Yeah, I'm wondering why Google got targeted first for this when Apple locks down their ecosystem a lot more. Not to defend Google, I would cheer a decision to break them up.
They didn’t. Epic sued Apple in 2021. They lost. They’ve already filed for appeal. They are targeting Apple and Google for the same infraction. It’s not about the App Store, it’s mostly about the 30% commission both companies take on app sales AND in app purchases.
How is it not about the app store?
I guess it is, I just mean it’s not about the App Store itself, so much as the continued costs. I think it’s more the in app purchases that is the problem. Google and Apple don’t allow in app purchases without paying them a huge cut.
Epic doesn’t really have a problem using the app stores. They just don’t want to pay such a massive commission for no reason. Google makes it difficult to use other app stores, and Apple doesn’t allow it. This means that you either pay them in perpetuity for every micro transaction, or you don’t get to push your app.
So I guess my point was just that the app stores are the ultimate root of the issue, but it goes a lot deeper than just the app stores themselves to the predatory pricing structure major companies impose. If this is successful eventually, or if the Apple appeal is, we have the potential to see a real shift in the way compensation for developers is handled. I’m being optimistic of course, but it would be nice.
Apple paid off more government officials?
Because once Google play store is down, it will set a precedent to take apple store down too.
Bingo
Epic sued Apple in 2021. Google and Apple removed Fortnite from their respective app stores within hours of each other. Epic was ready with lawyers and announced they were going to court. They lost the case against Apple. They’ve already filed an appeal.
You can side load them, kinda, its just a huge pain so your point still stands
Do you have a method that keeps sideloaded apps "verified" permanently? If you do, please do tell. I'd love to install YouTube++ on my kid's tablet so they don't have to sit through ads all the time.
Just download Xcode, it's free, and it's from Apple. With that you can deploy any app (if you have the binary - or the source code, but you don't technically need the source code) on your own devices and a hundred other people's devices (it's supposed to be work colleagues, but your kid's tablet will work too in practice, who's going to check or care?).
You can also "sideload" your app to up ten thousand devices linked to other Apple IDs via TestFlight which also a service run by Apple (for a nominal subscription fee) and intended for developers to test apps that aren't ready for distribution yet, though that process does require a partial review by Apple (it's mostly just an automated malware scan, not a full app review). It's perfectly normal for an app to be in development for years without going public. Most apps I've written have never shipped, but I still use a few of them on my own devices.
As for getting a copy of YouTube++ from a reputable source, that doesn't contain malware... that's basically no different from downloading software for a Mac or PC. Be careful where you download it from yeah?
Generally though, using Xcode is safer than using AltStore since you haven't jailbroken your device and all the sandboxing/etc is still in place. I'd be more worried about malware infecting your Mac when you load it into Xcode than I would about the iPhone (though it certainly could contain a zero day that escapes the sandbox).
Check out Yattee on the App Store. It's a client for Piped.
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/yattee/id1595136629
You will need to manually add a Piped instance such as piped.video
Also note I don't own an iOS device, so I haven't tried this app myself.
Thank you so much. I'll check it out