How an invite-only meeting at Apple's luxury loft in New York set the stage for one of the biggest subscription businesses in the world
Article link:
https://www.thisisinsider.com/apple...opers-new-york-subscriptions-app-store-2018-7
You weren't invited? You're a looser!
Apple is a hardware company and has never made money from selling software, yet it wants to dictate how software companies make money. This meeting is proof Apple's App Store is failing.
Apple claims to have 300 million active subscriptions, but does not break down that number into content and app subscriptions. So it is not being honest (but rather delusional) in claiming subscriptions are the future. They offer no salient reason why the "paid model" is not sustainable (especially given their efforts to directly kill it). And no, "we're Apple and say so" is not a reason.
Best article excerpt, Jobs quote from 2008 (the beginning):
"Jobs said at the time. "They could ask us, 'What should we do?' and we're going to say, 'We don't know.' Our opinions are no better than yours because this is so new.""
At least jobs was honest at the time. Now Apple needs to have secret meetings - this is how far they have fallen.
So, Apple's opinion was no better than yours, yet then they proceeded to:
1. FAIL to allow/implement paid App upgrades - Paid upgrades would have let the version of the "Hammer App" a customer bought continue to work without immediately stopping when a subscription expires.
2. Force App developers to give away multiple copies (via Family Share) - this broke the main premise of mobile app profitability. Which was: $5-10 revenue from EVERY pocket (device) - compared to $30-100+ from every desktop.
3. Remove App Store discoverability features, including the "New Releases" list - this REALLY killed small developers with minuscule marketing budgets.
4. Implement "Curation" as a disgusting way to replace fair discoverability. Again, Apple's featuring system is an arrogant "we're Apple and say so" system that picks apps APPLE wants to be successful. Question: What was the last successful "Paid" app that Apple has featured? If you don't follow their set of diktats, and bow at their arrogance, your app will not be featured.
The App Store is in trouble, and the sooner the situation deteriorates for Apple, the better.
The only solution at this point is to allow Software Developers sell directly to customers who own iOS devices. The technology exists for macOS, so there is no reason to NOT open the iOS platform in the same way. Doing so IN NO WAY hurts iOS device owners because where you buy Apps will still be your choice (Apple's App Store, or other stores). The ONLY reason Apple will not do this is because they don't want to (actually they cannot) compete with direct 3rd party app sales. This causes a lack of competition that will ultimately kill mobile software.
Article link:
https://www.thisisinsider.com/apple...opers-new-york-subscriptions-app-store-2018-7
You weren't invited? You're a looser!
Apple is a hardware company and has never made money from selling software, yet it wants to dictate how software companies make money. This meeting is proof Apple's App Store is failing.
Apple claims to have 300 million active subscriptions, but does not break down that number into content and app subscriptions. So it is not being honest (but rather delusional) in claiming subscriptions are the future. They offer no salient reason why the "paid model" is not sustainable (especially given their efforts to directly kill it). And no, "we're Apple and say so" is not a reason.
Best article excerpt, Jobs quote from 2008 (the beginning):
"Jobs said at the time. "They could ask us, 'What should we do?' and we're going to say, 'We don't know.' Our opinions are no better than yours because this is so new.""
At least jobs was honest at the time. Now Apple needs to have secret meetings - this is how far they have fallen.
So, Apple's opinion was no better than yours, yet then they proceeded to:
1. FAIL to allow/implement paid App upgrades - Paid upgrades would have let the version of the "Hammer App" a customer bought continue to work without immediately stopping when a subscription expires.
2. Force App developers to give away multiple copies (via Family Share) - this broke the main premise of mobile app profitability. Which was: $5-10 revenue from EVERY pocket (device) - compared to $30-100+ from every desktop.
3. Remove App Store discoverability features, including the "New Releases" list - this REALLY killed small developers with minuscule marketing budgets.
4. Implement "Curation" as a disgusting way to replace fair discoverability. Again, Apple's featuring system is an arrogant "we're Apple and say so" system that picks apps APPLE wants to be successful. Question: What was the last successful "Paid" app that Apple has featured? If you don't follow their set of diktats, and bow at their arrogance, your app will not be featured.
The App Store is in trouble, and the sooner the situation deteriorates for Apple, the better.
The only solution at this point is to allow Software Developers sell directly to customers who own iOS devices. The technology exists for macOS, so there is no reason to NOT open the iOS platform in the same way. Doing so IN NO WAY hurts iOS device owners because where you buy Apps will still be your choice (Apple's App Store, or other stores). The ONLY reason Apple will not do this is because they don't want to (actually they cannot) compete with direct 3rd party app sales. This causes a lack of competition that will ultimately kill mobile software.
