Before let’s remind the context of this discussion. Its is motivated by a set of bipartisan regulation proposals governing the relationship between App Store and OSs/Devices.
That in turn my understanding of it is motivated by the following ….
The emergence of App Stores such as Apple App Store and Google Play lead to a market where these together cover almost 100% of the consumer population. Meaning, within the confines of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, both are fundamentally the only two merchants citizens have to choose to buy from. Furthermore, both Google and Apple do everything technically and politically(policy) possible to remain so … in cases strong holding other well known merchants, from the individual developer up to very large companies … if third parties ever so wish to reach their customers with new business proposals in their apps installed in the devices their customers use … otherwise they can always in the future open a restaurant or something …
Within the confinement of mobile devices, it is true that App Store’s policies allow, in certain cases, that instead of users paying in the app provided by the digital services they want to consume, they can opt to use their web browsers for payment. It is also true that again in certain cases, users can buy access to digital services on other devices such as personal computers while being able to access the through the app on their mobile phone without further cost.
But there is fundamental twist. Within the confines of mobile phones (100% market share for Google and Apple), SOME COMPANY App cannot provide a link to a web page outside of the App discussing pricing and eventually process payment. Other non mobile OSs like macOS, Windows, Linux, WebOS .. such restriction does not exist. If one wants to buy to the App Store go to the App Store download the app and pay … if one wants to buy to the SOME COMPANY directly, go the company, download the app and pay.
This leads to the fact that only one possible merchant is available in app. To avoid this situation is required that users know enough to discern that by paying within some COMPANY APP on their mobile device, they are in fact buying to Apple or Google, not to the COMPANY. If they ever so which to buy to the COMPANY directly, the they need to leave the COMPANY APP and use another go the the web browser … to do so … without the support of a link that woyld make the process of supporting their decision from who to buy from much more convenient and a lot clearer.
Uff … the situation above is already somewhat confusing but ok. There is not doupt that having a catalogue of all possible apps available on an OS, easily searchable is of great benefit. Both for user but also promotes the device … its a win win situation.
Now to the crux of the matter …
Given that:
- Google Play + Apple App Store have close to 100% of mobile OS market share, becoming the only self elected legit merchants
- Customers are using more and more mobile devices and OSs to buy digital content and any other kinds of goods. A well known trend
It is not unreasonable to think that together not too long for now, these will may well be the only two merchants available to users. The increasing revenues of these two merchants exposed how convenient is to use mobile phones for payment. Data also point to how convenient is to use the mobile phone to pay for anything … yes … contactless … heck even holding ones driving license. Its just the nature of computing in the pocket done well.
This of course if not other devices and OS enters the Market popular enough, which historically looks quite unlikely. Leaving the situation that the only merchants able to compete to these moguls will probably be the ones that are able to build devices and OSs.
This become a competitive problem. Because 99.9% of digital business don’t have that capacity. There are historical reasons for that. One in particular is that there always been somewhat a business model divide between hardware(device), OSs and software … what technical people call the Application layer. Only Apple, around 2009 presented the idea that the the Application layer should be entirely controlled by the one merchant, case in case, the one that sold the device and licensed the OS, and did so with iOS and the iPhone (incredible device and OS by the way).
Now this is confined to iOS and Android devices. But Greg Federighi when asked why macOS does not enforce the App Store has the only merchant considering the benefits of security and privacy he argued that such a model brings, he told that macOS is in that respect less evolved. To me clearly indicating the desire of Apple to do so also in macOS if not some technical problems yet the solve … maybe.
This is a fundamental shift in the role of the device, the OS and the application layer along with the business model around each … supporting the future of computing ... supporting the next generation of the modern digital society. By doing so, the shift basically removed the digital business innovator power over how it gets payed, for how much (yes there is a base price by there are are also promos, vouchers, bulk sales so on and so forth that aren’t covered by these App Store policies). A degree in business economics is not required to understand how such power runs deep into anyones business model as such crucial to competition … heck if proliferated to most if all sectors of computing a fundamental reorganimation of the digital economy/market … at least for the consumer … the citizens.
Uff. With this understanding from were I come from let’s debate your assement:
Competition, piracy, privacy, malware…just to name a few.
1. In what way Competition is better fostered within a world of One or Two Merchants to rule all other businesses business models compared to a world of multiple multiple merchants where each merchant/company chooses what business model to persue, down to self “publishing”? Much like we currently have outside the mobile space but its clearly being challenged the the later hence why regulators all over the world are looking at it.
2. Piracy. In what way choosing Apple App Store or Google Store reduces piracy when compared to choosing some other App Store, or a service of a dev that decides to self publish (it has his own store)?
4. Privacy: Two notes.
Note1: As you can imagine people don’t only use their mobile phones to provide contact information and pay for digital goods. They also do to order food, buying clothes, buying tickets, pay taxi ride, playing restaurants, reserve airplanes tickers … so many. So in what way there is a higher security and privacy risk in buying a digital good or subscribing to a digital service when compared to these other common practices … to the point that these deserve an ever so special treatment? This all debate look very much like cherry picking which business Apple or Google feel that may compete with in the future and which is don’t … honestely … evidence is showing … take the xCloud and Stadia … no app in the App Store for those … now look at Apple Arcade …
Note 2: At least in the EU any dev needs to comply with GDPR measure. Handling VISA cards data is not different than handling your name and email. Now in terms of secured payment and billing in what what way is Apple better than say Paypal, Apple Pay, Stripe, … so on hand so forth? Usually these payment processors / gateways charge about 3%+.3c … if you include billing and other goodies in can go up to 5% … so I would be very much interested in knowing how much better is Apple Store do grant them 30% … so would other devs.
So if the customer trust a merchant of digital goods or service other than either App Store or Google Pay why is it automatically less private, less secure, the entire ecossystem is in jeoperdy?
3. Malware … In what way the App Store and Google Play offers better curation and as such protection against malware over any other can provide? Including a self publishing if the customers trusts it? I agree that buying through well curated Store, reduces the risk … yet why the existence of other Stores dangerously increases the risk?
I would like answers to this questions, because all I’ve been reading is a number of qualities and qualifiers and very little actual comparative information between merchants to sustain them.
Sure you want apple to open up their infrastructure for nothing such that any app can easily be pushed to any device. I can see why Apple is against this.
No. That is not what I want.
Given the above and within the mobile space, I would like any user to be able to choose the merchant(s) they trust to transact directly with regardless of the device and OS of choice. If they only trust Apple App Store or Google Play, great its a choice. If they choose to do it directly to say your business, great its their choice, you have won the customers trust to do so. If not, sell through the App Store that fits your business model
I also would like merchants to be free to choose how they get payed, within their apps and outside their apps. If they prefer to be payed through the Apple App Store or Google Play fine. If they won their customers trust to directly transact with them, great too. It happens all the time in the world, … everywhere but in Apple App Store and Google Play marked systems.
So why you as an xdev are so willing to give up the power to choose the business model that best fit your business, that may provide you the chance to best fight your competition, in favor of a prebuilt catalogue of business models that you need to choose from made by someone else in order to get payed on top of selling their devices and licensing the OS?
The reason why I think this is very important is because I indeed believe in a Free Market. Furthermore its a known fact that Free Markets can lead to non Free Markets … that is why regulation is needed. In other words, a non Free Market does NOT make Non Free One much better option because it gave origin to it.
We aren’t there still … but it does not take much understanding that what gave origin to these duopoly was fundamentally base technological advancements … not a dispute between merchants selling digital goods that are now voided of power to totally decide over their business models to reach their customers using their customers device of choice.
No one chooses a car based on the gas station chain of preference. Much as neither the adoption of both iOS or iPhone, App Store or Google Play was at the base of customers decision to buy one device or the other … or sometching else. The ability to run apps by all was assumed, much like the ability of a car to run on gas (now electricity). Ask anyone who eve bought an iPhone for the first time … “Now how to I get and install apps? Oh, it has a thing called App Store …” this is the actual narrative of first time users. A father or mother teaching a child how to install an App on their iPad … oh its the App Store … it takes care of that … no cognitive perception that the App Store is indeed a merchant ruling over everyone else’s is being transferred … neither is necessary at that moment in time … the effects are felt later … “Daddy why isn’t XCloud on the iPad? Well the App Store does not want it child, and that is good for all of us”.
So no, I don’t want apps to be able to be non securely installed/pushed on the user devices. Neither I believe that its necessary for Apple or Google to open their technology/infrastructure to build an OS enforcing secured app installs, avoiding things such as malware. For me this is fundamental a technical problem, not a merchant one. It is turned to be a merchant one for some other purpose.
Waiting for what answer? That apple is okay with not getting g a commission kn every app?
You know that was not the question.
No. Customers in general. Within my family realm, apart from me, people care less if the merchant is the App Store or Netflix as long as they get Netflix. I mean, they trust “Netflix” (representing many others) as well as the App Store, they would go for whatever is closer to where they are …
if it is in their pocket already … great.
Apple and Google know that. Case in case Apple tight wraps over accessing NFC for payment for a reason … as people tend to pay more and more using their phones for whatever.
In EU it being discussed regulation over NFC, including Apple tight wraps as an incredible number of people choose the iPhone, not necessarily Apple Pay. The same concerns in the introduction are at play here.
For all of the rational discussed in this threads and other threads.
Have read very little market rational being sustained. But silver bullets like as justification, if regulation come to App Stores will bring huge security risks; less privacy; will destroy iOS and the iPhone; its against Free Market, loosers gonna be loosers (probably thinking of competing lobbies), Epic does not want to pay Apple for anything and take it all for nothing, Spotify service is horrible that is why, its Apple property, they can do whatever they want. Government hates success … Guys in the government want their lobby rates increased …
… Hum … probably that is why there are Politicians. Well at least some good ones … we can only hope …
Cheers.
PS: This is not discussion to have between a PC Guy and a Mac/Apple Guy. But between two people that stand above that. If you had a look at the technology I use you might say that I’m an Apple Guy by the way. I like both iOS and macOS … for me these are both the best OSs out there to get things done and for general digital consumption (iOS App Store policies aside).
